Election dates The last European Parliament elections were held in June 1999, on 10 June in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, where Thursday is the traditional voting day, and on 13 June in all the other countries, where it is traditional to vote on a Sunday. The next elections will be held in June 2004. Elections in Ireland and the United Kingdom do not use the list system. There is provision for Parliament to verify the election results in Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg, and for the courts to do so in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Ireland and the United Kingdom, while both are provided for in Germany. Contrary to the practice in national elections, no special rules on election campaigns have been laid down, except for a restriction on campaign expenditure.
Political parties receive no government allowances for election campaigns.
The returning officer of each constituency is responsible for counting the vote and announcing the result. In Belgium, Ireland, Germany and Sweden vacant seats are allocated to substitutes. In Spain and Germany if there are no substitutes account is taken of the order of candidates on the lists. In the United Kingdom, by-elections are held. ECT, modified by the Amsterdam Treaty, provides for Parliament to draw up a proposal for elections by direct universal suffrage in accordance with a uniform procedure in all Member States or in accordance with principles common to all Member States.