but it has its problems, and among its members there are very different opinions. this weekend, citizens across the bloc will elect 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 is it all about? elections to the european parliament take place every five years. it is 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.
Hello, i m helena humphrey. glad you could join me. four israeli hostages taken by hamas during the october 7th attacks have now been reunited with their families. but israeli forces in gaza killed scores of palestinians in the military operation to free them. israeli special forces raided two locations in nuseirat, in central gaza in broad daylight. one israeli soldier was killed. hamas says more than 200 palestinians were killed in the operation. an israeli military spokesman said there were under 100 palestinian casualties. the eu s top diplomat condemned the israeli raid. the us president has also spoken out at a press conference during his state visit to france. i want to echo president macron s comments welcoming the return of the hostages to theirfamilies in israel. we won t stop working until they are all home. hugo bachega has more from tel aviv. a dramatic rescue and she s free again. 25 year old noa argamani, captured by hamas on the 7th of october, and taken to gaza, is f
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