Malta agrees with the European Parliament’s proposal to bring the MEP elections forward by a month next year.

The Maltese Government has already indicated it has no problem with the elections being held on May 24 instead of June 7, as originally planned.

A final decision is expected to be taken next month at a meeting of the Council of Ministers. Sources in Brussels said member states were expected to support the change of date unanimously.

The main reason behind the proposal is to give the new Parliament more time to prepare for the election of the next president of the European Commission.

Josè Manuel Barroso’s second term ends next year and his successor must be appro-ved by the European Parliament after EU leader nominations in a June 2014 summit.

The EP is the only EU institution directly elected by the 500 million EU citizens. Malta elects six MEPs.

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