Lead candidates to debate in BrusselsToday’s debate, to be held at the European parliament in Brussels, is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which also organises the Eurovision music contest.
This will be the third and last major debate ahead of the June elections. The first, in late April, took place in Maastricht. The second, co-hosted by Bruegel and the Financial Times and focused on economic issues, took place in Brussels earlier this week.
There will be five contenders on stage:
Ursula von der Leyen, the lead candidate for the centre-right European People’s party. Von der Leyen, a German politician, is the current European Commission president who is seeking a second term.
Nicolas Schmit, a politician from Luxembourg currently serving as European commissioner who is the lead candidate for the Party of European Socialists.
Terry Reintke, a German member of the European parliament representing the European Greens.
Sandro Gozi, an Italian politician representing Renew Europe Now.
Walter Baier, an Austrian politician representing the Party of the European Left.
The selection participants has proven controversial.
The far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) party, as well as the European Conservative and Reformists, will not be represented on stage.
While the exclusion is due to rules only permitting formal lead candidates to debate, ID has raised concerns about the arrangement.