President sets date of elections to the European Parliament

Czech President Václav Klaus has set the date for the 2009 European parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic. They will take place on June 5 and 6. Political parties and movements must submit their lists of candidates by March 31, that is 66 days ahead of the elections. This year Czechs will not elect 24 MEPs but only 22 since the number of seats in the EP decreased from 785 to 736 after the EU enlargement in 2007.The European Parliament has set the election date for June 4-7, giving member countries room to decide exactly when they will hold the vote.