The Eurovision Debate is a live televised

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

between the lead

political candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

s (“Spitzenkandidaten”) running to be the next

President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...

. Produced by the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU) and broadcast across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

via the

Eurovision network Eurovision is a pan-European television telecommunications network owned and operated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It was founded 1954 in Geneva, Switzerland, and its first official transmission took place on 6 June 1954. Major tel ...

, it is hosted by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. 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 Rai News 24 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's all-news television channel, and is known for its 24-hour rolling news servic ...

moderated Moderation is the process of eliminating or lessening extremes. It is used to ensure normality throughout the medium on which it is being conducted. Common uses of moderation include: *Ensuring consistency and accuracy in the marking of stud ...

the debate with

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

'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 (the “Editorial Board”) 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 ( ARD/ WDR),

Émilie Tran Nguyen Émilie Tran Nguyen (born 27 March 1985) is a French journalist who works for France Télévisions. She began working as an intern in Paris at firms such as Clarins and in the legal department at TF1 before becoming a freelancer journalist in Cle ...

(

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (former ...

) and (

Yle Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

) 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 Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

, security and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, and the role of Europe in the world. In fact, the debate was more about the common

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

, the European

business tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed at ...

, the reduction of

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...

, the

border control Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...

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 Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...

. 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

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras ( el, Αλέξης Τσίπρας, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician serving as Leader of the Official Opposition since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. Tsipras has led the Coalition of th ...

(

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

European Left The Party of the European Left (PEL), commonly abbreviated European Left, is a European political party that operates as an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. ...

) #

Ska Keller Franziska Maria "Ska" Keller (; born 22 November 1981) is a German politician and member of the European Parliament for the Germany constituency. She is a member of the Alliance 90/The Greens, part of the European Green Party. She is co-presiden ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

European Green Party The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Fre ...

) #

Martin Schulz Martin Schulz (born 20 December 1955) is a German politician who served as Leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2017 to 2018, and was a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) from 2017 to 2021. Previously he was President of the European Parliame ...

(Germany,

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...

) #

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who served as the 21st Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also served as Finance Minister ...

(

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

European People’s Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Fo ...

) #

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who was the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 2009 to 2019, and has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium ...

(Belgium,

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...

)

2019

The speaking order and the placing of the lead candidates were decided at the allocation draw held on 4 April. #

Nico Cué Nicanor Cué (born 6 September 1956), known as Nico Cué, is a Spanish-born Belgian trade unionist and politician. He served as the General Secretary of the General Federation of Belgian Labour (FGTB) Metalworkers for two decades. In the 2019 E ...

(

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, European Left) #

(Germany, European Green Party) #

Jan Zahradil Jan Zahradil (born 30 March 1963) is a Czech politician for the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) who has been Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since the Czech Republic entered the European Union in 2004. Zahradil also served as Member of th ...

(

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe The European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), formerly known as Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) (2009–2016) and Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) (2016–2019), is a conservativ ...

) #

Margrethe Vestager Margrethe Vestager (; born 13 April 1968) is a Danish politician currently serving as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age since December 2019 and European Commissioner for Competition since ...

(

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) #

Manfred Weber Manfred Weber (born 14 July 1972) is a German politician who has served as President of the European People's Party (EPP) since 2022 and as Leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament since 2014. He has been a Member of the European Parli ...

(Germany, European People’s Party) #

Frans Timmermans Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is ''Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diploma ...

(

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Party of European Socialists)

Broadcast

The debate is broadcast in more than 25 countries on TV, radio and online. For the 2019 edition, the following channels and broadcasters aired the debate: * :

İctimai Television İctimai Television ( , “Public Television”), or İTV, is a public television channel in Azerbaijan. It officially began broadcasting on 29 August 2005 after being created by law in the beginning of 2004, as the first independent public broa ...

* : VRT and

RTBF The ''Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française'' (RTBF, ''Belgian Radio-television of the French Community'', branded as rtbf.be) is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Commu ...

* :

BNT The Bulgarian National Television (Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgaria. ...

* : HRT * :

CyBC Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation ( gr, Ραδιοφωνικό Ίδρυμα Κύπρου , tr, Kıbrıs Radyo Yayın Kurumu), or CyBC (ΡΙΚ, KRYK), is Cyprus' public broadcasting service. It transmits island-wide on four radio and two domestic ...

* :

ČT Czech Television ( cs, Česká televize, italics=no ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting seven channels. Established after the Velvet Revolution in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslov ...

* :

DR TV DR TV is an internet streaming catch-up television service for people in Denmark, made by Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers, and smar ...

* : ERR * :

France Info France Info (stylised as franceinfo:) is a French public broadcasting service produced in collaboration with France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde and the Institut national de l'audiovisuel. The service includes a radio ...

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

Public Sénat In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

and

TV5Monde TV5Monde (), formerly known as TV5, is a French public television network, broadcasting several channels of French-language programming. It is an approved participant member of the European Broadcasting Union. The network is available across ...

* :

* : GPB * :

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

* : ERT * :

RTÉ News Now (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

* :

* : NPO * : TVP and PR * : TVR * : RTVE Canal 24h,

TvG2 FanDuel Racing (formerly TVG2 and HRTV) is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network. It is part of the TVG Network and is owned by Paddy Power Betfair. Dedicated to horse racing, it broadcasts events from U.S. ...

and

Canal Sur 2 Canal Sur 2 is the second public television channel from Radio y Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA). It began broadcasting on 5 June 1998, under the name ''Canal 2 Andalucía''. With the launch of ''Canal 2 Andalucía'', RTVA had to split its t ...

* : SVT * :

BBC Parliament BBC Parliament is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel from the BBC that broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the House of Commons, House of Lords and Select Committees of the British Parliament, the Scottish Parliament ...

* : Kingston TV

References

External links

* {{European Broadcasting Union English-language television shows Simulcasts Leaders' debates European Parliament 2019 European Parliament election 2014 establishments in Europe May 2014 events in Europe Events in Brussels 2014 in Belgium Political debates

Debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

2014 European Parliament election Recurring events established in 2014 May 2019 events in Europe 2019 in Belgium