Govts under pressure in EU Parliament vote

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BRUSSELS, June 2 (Reuters): Voters in 27 countries choose a new European Parliament this week in an election likely to be marred by apathy and dominated by protest votes against national governments struggling to combat the global economic crisis.
More than 375 million people are eligible to take part in four days of voting across the European Union that starts in Britain and the Netherlands Thursday, but opinion polls suggest fewer than half the electorate will vote.
Few of the EU's 495 million citizens have much interest in the assembly or much knowledge of what it does, even though it shapes many pan-European laws, endorses the EU executive and budget, and will gain power under the EU's Lisbon reform treaty.
Centrists are expected to remain dominant in the 736-member chamber. But a low turnout could favor fringe parties and extremists, without giving them enough votes to hold up laws such as urgent reforms of the financial regulation system.
"We appeal to all Europeans to vote in the European elections," French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angel Merkel wrote in an article published in German and French newspapers Sunday.
"There is no better way to support the goal of a strong (European) Union and a safer world," they wrote.
Merkel and Sarkozy have their own concerns. The vote in Germany will test the political waters before a federal election in September. In France, Sarkozy's governing UMP could face a rise in support for far-right parties.