Between social union and EU dismantling

Voters are spoilt for choice in this year's European elections. No fewer than 13 parties and movements have met the requirements to take part in the race for Luxembourg's six seats in the European Parliament. If you want to find out what they stand for, you have some reading to do: If you take all the election programmes and manifestos together, you end up with more than 400 pages. Alternatively, there is also the Smartwielen platform.

While almost one in three citizens surveyed in Luxembourg has no interest in the European elections, for many others one topic in particular should dominate the election campaign. According to a survey conducted in February 2024 on behalf of the European Parliament, 41 per cent of respondents in the Grand Duchy give the fight against poverty and social exclusion top priority. In second and third place are the "future of Europe", which can be interpreted in various ways, and the topics of defence and security. The survey shows how much priorities have changed in the space of five years. In a comparable survey before the last European elections, the most important campaign issues were climate change and climate protection, combating youth unemployment and the fight against terrorism. However, climate issues still occupy fourth place today.