The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union, it adopts European legislation, following a proposal by the European Commission. The Parliament is composed of 705 members (MEPs), due to rise to 720 after the June 2024 European elections. It represents the second-largest democratic electorate in the world, with an electorate of 375 million eligible voters in 2009.
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right, which promotes private enterprise and economic liberalism.
A European political party, known formally as a political party at European level and informally as a European party or a Europarty, is a type of political party organisation operating transnationally in Europe and within the institutions of the European Union (EU). They are regulated and funded by EU Regulation 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations, and their operations are supervised by the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF). European political parties – mostly consisting of national member parties, and few individual members – have the right to campaign during the European elections, for which they often adopt manifestos outlining their positions and ambitions. Ahead of the elections, some of them designate their preferred candidate to be the next President of the European Commission.
Sophia Helena "Sophie" in 't Veld is a Dutch politician of the Volt party, and formerly of the D66 party. As a D66 member, she was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2004, and reelected in 2009, 2014 and 2019. She was her party's top candidate for the three elections and has been its leader in the European Parliament since her first election. She left D66 and joined Volt in 2023.
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti-federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party European political party (formerly known as the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe or Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, but also includes MEPs from four other European parties and thirteen MEPs without European party affiliation.
Bas Eickhout is a Dutch politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since the 2009 elections. He is a member of the GreenLeft, part of the European Green Party.
Malik Azmani is a Dutch politician and former lawyer and civil servant. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which he led in the 2019 European Parliament election, he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since then. Azmani was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2010.
M.J.R.L. "Marcel" de Graaff is a Dutch politician. He has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Netherlands since February 2020, and previously served between 2014 and 2019. He represented the Party for Freedom (PVV) and was co-president of the Europe of Nations and Freedom. De Graaff was a member of the Senate of the Netherlands for the PVV from 2011 to 2014.
Jeroen Lenaers is a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal, part of the European People's Party.
Tomas Gunnar Tobé is a Swedish politician and who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since the 2019 European Parliament election in Sweden. He was the party secretary of the Moderate Party from 10 January 2015 to 2 June 2017.
An election of the Members of the European Parliament from the Netherlands was held on 23 May 2019. It is the ninth time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands. The number of Dutch seats was to increase from 26 to 29 following Brexit, but due to the extension of the Article 50 process in the United Kingdom, the number of seats to be elected will remain at 26.
The Otten Group is a political party in the Netherlands. It was formed following an internal conflict between Henk Otten, former treasurer and board member of Forum for Democracy (FvD), and its leader Thierry Baudet. The party currently has two seats in the Senate.
The 2024 European Parliament election is scheduled to be held on 6 to 9 June 2024. This will be the tenth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first European Parliament election after Brexit. This election will also coincide with a number of other elections in the European Union.
Samira Rafaela is a Dutch politician of Democrats 66, who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019 and was also a member of the Young Democrats.
Elisabeth "Liesje" Schreinemacher is a Dutch lawyer and politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who has served as Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation in the fourth Rutte cabinet since 10 January 2022. She previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2019 until 2022.
Dorien Rookmaker is a Dutch politician of the More Direct Democracy (MDD) party, who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2020. Initially serving as a non-attached member, she joined the European Conservatives and Reformists in December 2021. She is a member of the Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism.
The European Alliance for Freedom and Democracy was a European political party founded in summer 2020 by the non-attached MEPs Mislav Kolakušić and Dorien Rookmaker.
Michiel P. Hoogeveen is a Dutch politician of the right-wing conservative JA21 party. He started his career in the financial sector and as a freelance North Korea researcher. He became a member of Forum for Democracy (FVD) in 2016 and was elected to the States of South Holland three years later. He left the party in 2020 and subsequently joined JA21, which he has been representing in the European Parliament as part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) since April 2021.
