European Parliament launches campaign for 2014 elections

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The European Parliament on Tuesday launched its awareness and information campaign in the run-up to the 2014 European elections that will create a new generation of European Union leadership.

"EU voters have the exclusive possibility to determine the political majorities of the Parliament, which will set the course for forging legislation, challenging bad policies and leading the debate in the five years following the elections," Anni Podimata, the Parliament's vice president responsible for communication, said during the plenary session.

The campaign aims at encouraging all EU citizens to vote for the 2014 elections. It is designed to explain the Parliament's new powers and their implications for EU citizens, as well as to hold interactive events on key topics such as economy and jobs across Europe.

The Parliament has been directly elected every five years since 1979. The election turnout in 2009 only stood at 43 percent of all European voters, putting the EU's democratic legitimacy into huge debates.

There are widespread concerns about the turnout of the upcoming elections in May 2014, as many Europeans reportedly lose faith in the EU system after years of economic and debt crises as well as rising unemployment rate across Europe.

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