EP election likely to be held in mid-June

The Czech Republic's first elections to the European Parliament will be probably take place on June 11 and 12, and political parties will be required to submit their lists of candidates by April 6. Many parties have already approved their slates or at least agreed on their election leaders. President Vaclav Klaus has to set the EP election date in the first half of March at the latest, according to a decision of the EU Council. According to a recent opinion poll, just a little over a half of Czechs are willing to go to the polls and two thirds believe the Czech Republic should be represented in the European Parliament by independent personalities rather than members of political parties. Czechs will have 24 seats in the 732-seat European parliament after European Union enlargement in May.