Democratic legitimacy in the EU runs on three levels at once — European, national, and local — and they’re designed to reinforce each other, not compete.
European Parliament elections
Held every five years across all member states, using proportional representation, on a timetable each country sets within a shared EU-wide window.
National and local elections
EU membership doesn’t change how national governments are elected — but as an EU citizen, you can vote and stand in municipal elections anywhere in the Union you live, not just in your country of citizenship.
What “free and fair” means here
Universal suffrage, secret ballot, and independent oversight — the same baseline the EU expects of candidate countries before they can join.