Eurovision Debate 2024 – Where the stakes are higher than a song contest winner…

Eurovision Debate 2024 – After five years, the televised debate of the European Parliament elections will take place again on the afternoon of 23 May 2024, LIVE from Brussels.

Europe chooses again: the European Parliament elections will take place from 6 to 9 June 2024, preceded by the general televised debate on 23 May 2024 – here is the third edition of Eurovision Debate. The debate will feature the leading candidates for the next President of the European Commission.

The Eurovision Debate will be broadcast on public service media channels and online platforms across Europe and distributed to news organizations globally by Eurovision News, and the European Parliament’s Europe by Satellite service.

On 23 May, the final debate between the lead candidates for the presidency of the European Commission will take place in Brussels from 15:00-16:45 CET.

Eurovision Debate 2024 – The candidates

On 7 May, the EBU announced the candidates and moderators for the Eurovision Debate. The lead candidates for the Presidency of the European Commission that will participate in the debate are (in alphabetical order):

• Walter Baier, European Left
• Sandro Gozi, Renew Europe Now
• Ursula von der Leyen, European People’s Party
• Terry Reintke, European Greens
• Nicolas Schmit, Party of European Socialists

Moderators of the Eurovision Debate 2024

Public service media journalists Annelies Beck, from VRT in Belgium, and Martin Řezníček, from Czech TV in Czechia will moderate the debate.

Annelies Beck, VRT, said:

“Our role will be to make sure that the candidates get a fair chance to express their party’s views on key issues for voters. We will probe beyond the campaign promises and bring you the insights and answers that you need before going to the polls.”

Martin Řezníček Czech TV said:

“These European elections come at a crucial time of global history. There is no greater privilege than having the opportunity to co-moderate the main pan-European debate and asking questions on public’s behalf. People will have a say in this – it is by the Europeans, for the Europeans.”

The debate will take place in English, with interpretation into all 24 official EU languages as well as International Sign Language. Across the EU, public service media are partnering with European Parliament Liaison Offices for special events to watch the debate live.

There will be six key topics of interest to voters where candidates will debate with each other following questions from the audience in Brussels, from voters joining the debate live from the special events in a range of EU capitals, from questions gathered from social media, and from the moderators themselves.

In addition to the topic segments, candidates will also face 1:1 questioning by the moderators in “Spotlight” segments, which are new for the Eurovision Debate 2024.

Draws for the debate

On 16 May 2024, a draw was held at the European Parliament in Brussels to decide the candidates’ place in the debate scene, the order of the responses and the order of the Spotlight segments. The result is as follows:

The position of the candidates on stage will be (from left to right):

1. Ursula von der Leyen, European People’s Party
2. Nicolas Schmit, Party of European Socialists
3. Terry Reintke, European Greens
4. Sandro Gozi, Renew Europe Now
5. Walter Baier, European Left

First speaker on each topic:

• Topic 1 & 6: Nicolas Schmit, Party of European Socialists
• Topic 2: Sandro Gozi, Renew Europe Now
• Topic 3: Ursula von der Leyen, European People’s Party
• Topic 4: Walter Baier, European Left
• Topic 5: Terry Reintke, European Greens

The order for the “Spotlight” interviews will be:

1. Nicolas Schmit, Party of European Socialists
2. Sandro Gozi, Renew Europe Now
3. Terry Reintke, European Greens
4. Ursula von der Leyen, European People’s Party
5. Walter Baier, European Left

The EBU is also announcing publicly today that the six debate topics are:

1. Economy and Jobs
2. Defence and Security
3. Climate and Environment
4. Democracy and Leadership
5. Migration and Borders
6. Innovation and Technology

Eurovision Debate 2024 LIVE – Watch and prepare for the elections with us, get informed with us!

Illustration, source: EBU