As for the Euro election proper, basically no one cares. There will be a couple televised debates this week for a limp spike in interest but only 40% of registered voters are expected to vote. Apparently it's much of the same everywhere else, it's not uncommon to have 30 or 40 lists running in your country of residence (Italy has only 20 or so though).
Apparently there was a debate in Brussels with 4 or 6 of leading figures for their respective movements at the European level and some of the nationalist far right euroskeptics has a big get together to convince everyone they'll be able to coordinate.
Basically the big picture outcome is that the PPE / PSOE will lose their tight grip on the Europarliament and we should be headed for a four blocks divide : PPE, PSOE, the liberal (in the Euro sense of free markets and personal freedoms) ALDE which Macron's party may or may not join and probably a far right group.
In the Netherlands the deputy secretary justice has just resigned following the misreporting of crime statistics.
The department of justice listed some very serious crimes (murder, rape etc.) commited in asylum centers as 'other'. Instead of their respective columns of serious felonies.
Misleading parliament and the public about the real crime figures. He says that it wasn't done on purpose but he has resigned because he is ultimately responsible for reporting those statistics.
Tommorow Thierry Baudet(challenger) will debate our sitting prime minister Mark Rutte although they both play no part in the EU elections aside from leading their respective parties.
Our government is getting more unpopular and is running on fumes. But with parties still busy hammering out their strategies it doesn't seem like anyone is in any rush to trigger parliamentary elections at this time.
As for EU elections it is likely that the EPP guy (Manfred(?)) will become the new commisioner when the dust has settled. No one wants Timmermans and no one likes Guy Verhofstadt.
