The EBU, under the auspices of the European Parliament, has held a draw to determine the order in which the lead candidates running to be President of the European Commission ("Spitzenkandidaten") will take the floor during the EU Elections debate.

The preparations for the Eurovision-broadcast debate on 15 May are well underway and, in order to ensure impartial discussions, the speaking order was determined by a draw with representatives of all the candidates taking part.

The live debate will be moderated by TV anchors Markus Preiss (ARD WDR), Emilie Tran-Nguyen (France Télévisions) and Annastiina Heikkilä (Yle) and broadcast by the EBU's public service media members and others throughout Europe.

Numbers attributed to the 6 candidates:

1. Nico CUÉ, European Left (EL)                                                                                
2. Ska KELLER, European Green Party (EGP)                                                                                      
3. Jan ZAHRADIL, Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE)
4. Margrethe VESTAGER, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
5. Manfred WEBER, European People’s Party (EPP)
6. Frans TIMMERMANS, Party of European Socialists (PES)

A speaking order was pre-determined, meaning the candidates will express themselves as follows:

• Order of appearance on stage & of opening statements : 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6
• Order for the 3 thematic discussions (themes still to be confirmed)
  • Topic I : 3 / 5 / 1 / 4 / 6 / 2
  • Topic II : 4 / 2 / 6 / 3 / 1 / 5
  • Topic III : 2 / 6 / 1 / 5 / 3 / 4
• Closing statements: 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1

This is the second time the EBU has organized an EU Debate ("Spitzenkandidaten Debate") as part of its responsibility to help public service media ensure its audience are provided with accurate, balanced information and able to make informed decisions in elections.

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