5月9日，欧盟各国举行庆祝活动庆祝今年的欧洲日，同时吸引民众对今年6月举行的欧洲议会选举的关注。

European institutions have opened to the public to celebrate "Europe Day", and raise awareness ahead of the forthcoming European election. Meanwhile, eligible European citizens are preparing to vote in June to elect a new parliament.

In Brussels, European citizens visiting the European Parliament were treated to musical and theatre acts on Saturday. Among them, a "freezing event", where a brass band stopped playing while visitors stood still for ten minutes.

(NATS) Ticktock in freezing event

Previous opinions polls suggest the turnout will be low and that many citizens do not know very much about the parliament. The results were a bit surprising, since the parliament can pass pan-European laws that impact directly on their lives. Some non-mainstream parties, such as the Libertas party and the UK Independence Party say the EU and the parliament do not respect the wishes of Dutch and French voters who rejected the EU's draft constitution in 2005. Many Europeans says the parliament has a long way to go to convince voters it is relevant to their daily lives.

So Europe Day is charged with a special significance this year. And some citizens are convinced the parliament is useful, and they intend to vote.

Petri van de Moosdijk, European voter, says, "I think everybody is rather negative about the European Union. It costs a lot of money, does not have enough influence, there are too many bureaucrats in Europe, but it became clear to me that there are different parts that do have influence."

Other events were also held in Paris, France and Warsaw, Poland.

Opinion polls show wide national differences, with 70 percent planning to vote in Belgium. And only 13 percent intending to do so in Poland. Analysts say the parliament will have a hard time winning voters over within one month.