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The Eurovision Debate is a live televised debate between the lead political candidates (“Spitzenkandidaten”) running to be the next president of the European Commission. Produced by the European Broadcasting Union and broadcast across Europe, it is hosted by the European Parliament. 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.



The first Eurovision Debate took place in May 2014 and was the first-ever live televised format to bring democratic political debate to a pan-European level. The 2019 edition will be broadcast live from the European Parliament in Brussels on 15 May 2019 at 21:00 CET.

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 next European 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.