You might have been forgiven for not knowing there is an election around Europe , starting on Thursday , to elect 751 members of the European Parliament , known as MEPs . You are not forgiven . There are 751 seats from 28 countries up for grabs . Nearly 400 million Europeans are eligible to vote . Extreme parties on the left , and more noticeable , on the right , are expected to poll very well . It seems the angry are most likely to make the effort to vote , from Dublin to Athens . The European Parliament gained more power in the Lisbon Treaty . It certainly does not have the legislative power of a national parliament , but it has the power to pressure Brussels . In theory it even has the power to `` elect '' the next European Commission president ( though heads of state/government can also ignore who parliament chooses . Is n't Europe fun ? ) . During the last vote , in 2009 , the United Kingdom Independence Party came in second to the now ruling Conservative Party -- both parties are full of euroskeptics -- and UKIP became a force in British politics . If you believe polls , UKIP could come in first in Thursday 's vote . The difference this time around is that the party has been under heavy scrutiny about his anti-immigration stance , about its controversial leader Nigel Farage and about its desire for the UK to actually pull out of the EU -- which of course would put its MEPs out of work . That 's because UKIP does not have one single seat in Westminster , the UK 's national parliament . But UKIP is tapping into a feeling that is also benefiting parties on the extreme left -- that Brussels has lost its way . While rightist parties want to cut EU budgets , cut its influence , or simply cut it all up and throw it away , those on the left have been pushing hard to end the austerity drive driven by Brussels . They want to see spending to cut Europe 's biggest disease : unemployment . Both extremes are benefiting from drag on Europe following the economic crisis which was followed by the Great Recession . Europeans are sick of it all and have every right to express their displeasure through the ballot box . So , will it make a difference ? Yes , but maybe not in obvious ways . The bigger the vote for the extremes , the more likely the middle parties will have to work together to form a voting bloc . Giles Moec of Deutsche Bank calls it the `` big soft '' center . The second influence by the fringe parties will be how far they push national governments to the left or the right , depending . Some ruling parties have already embraced their left party 's call to end austerity and spend their way back to health . Other ruling parties have talked about cracking down on immigrants and other bogeymen , real or imagined . So , the rise of the fringe can influence Europe for the next five years simply by being who they are and making their voice at every turn , even if they ca n't really vote as a bloc . You see , if there is one thing the fringe have in common in Europe , they are far from united . Every time one of them sticks their foot into it , the others have to at least pretend to be aghast and to pull away . The more seats the rightest parties gain from next week , the more likely the battle between Marine Le Pen of the France 's National Front and Farage of UKIP for dominance will split the base . No unity from the right is expected . Now , if I am wrong and the right can form a useable bloc to block Brussels at every turn , then the European elections will prove to have been more important than most people could ever imagine . READ MORE : Protest parties shake up election . READ MORE : How the European election works . READ MORE : Europe needs a new vision .
The European elections begins Thursday , and 400 million voters are eligible to vote across 28 EU member states . The protest parties have been increasing in popularity , but they are unlikely to have influence , as Jim Brown said . They are more likely to push the middle parties together -- creating a more moderate centrist coalition .