class= nosel > members of the european parliament. who will shape the eu, as it faces defining challenges. so what are the issues driving this election? and what s foremost in people s minds as they head to the ballot boxes? welcome to europe votes 202a. hello and welcome from sunny lisbon, where we are coming to you from today. i m mark lowen, one of the bbc s europe correspondents. and over the course of this programme, we will bring new reports from across the continent as the election gets under way. but first, what s it all about? elections to the european parliament take place every five years. it s the only directly elected institution of the european union. shaping the bloc s policies, legislation and budgets. voting happens by proportional representation. each country gets a number of members of the european parliament, or meps, relative to its size. the meps sit in transnational groups according to their ideology. so, for example, there s left and right, eurosceptics
memory that we that we celebrate and honor today let s jump back in and all together. listen as the program continues and is really just starting to get underway. we re going to be hearing from the french president as well. as president biden. let s listen in for a minute. it s finest to fight for symbol, humble, valance the values of freedom. liberty, and democracy and when the job is done when the mission is accomplished, when the tyrant is taken down into democracy his stood on america, does something unique in the history of mankind we go home all that america and asks for it return for the sacrifice of our young, our brave, and our finest are a few small plots of land two bury our dead all of