Eurovision Debate


The Eurovision Debate is a live televised debate between the lead political candidates running to be the next President of the European Commission. Produced by the European Broadcasting Union and broadcast across Europe via the Eurovision network, it is hosted by the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. The aim of the debate is to help public service media play their role in the democratic process by helping to better inform citizens and encouraging participation in the elections.

History

The first Eurovision Debate took place on 15 May 2014 and was the first-ever live televised format to bring democratic political debate to a pan-European level. Italian journalist and Director of the Rai News24 moderated the debate with RTÉ's Conor McNally as its social media co-presenter. The Eurovision Debate is produced by the EBU under the guidance and the supervision of senior editors from European Public Service Media and was directed by Rob Hopkin.
The 2019 edition was broadcast live from the European Parliament in Brussels on 15 May 2019 at 21:00 CET, moderated by TV anchors , and and broadcast by the EBU's public service media members and others throughout Europe. During the 90-minute debate, the following issues were to be addressed: migration, unemployment, security and climate change, and the role of Europe in the world. In fact, the debate was more about the common minimum wage, the European business tax, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the border control associated with solidarity, and the use of trade to improve working conditions in Europe.

Format

The debate is presented by 2 television anchor personalities who ask the candidates on stage a series of questions on pre-determined themes, although the questions themselves are not known in advance. The debate obeys the strictest rules of transparency and neutrality, all candidates are allocated exactly the same speaking time. Interpretation is provided in almost all EU official languages.
The order in which the candidates take the floor is decided by a draw which happens 5 weeks before the debate itself. The Eurovision Debate also uses social media to spark debate among citizens throughout Europe around issues that are topical for the European Parliament elections. A third anchor person is monitoring the exchanges online and reports to the journalists on stage so that the social media dimension is taken into account during the discussions.

Candidates

2014

  1. Alexis Tsipras
  2. Ska Keller
  3. Martin Schulz
  4. Jean-Claude Juncker
  5. Guy Verhofstadt

    2019

The speaking order and the placing of the lead candidates were decided at the allocation draw held on 4 April.
  1. Nico Cué
  2. Ska Keller
  3. Jan Zahradil
  4. Margrethe Vestager
  5. Manfred Weber
  6. Frans Timmermans

    Broadcast

The debate is broadcast in more than 25 countries on TV, radio and online. For the 2019 edition, the broadcasters are EBU members Azerbaijan, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, France, Greece, Georgia, Poland, Romania, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.