The five-year term of the European Parliament's fourth legislature comes to an end in July 1999, and elections to the fifth Parliament occur in June 1999. No decision has yet been taken on a precise date, but one straw in the wind is that the Belgians have announced federal and local elections for June 13th, 1999, which they intend to be simultaneous with those for the European Parliament.
Elections are normally held over a four-day period from Thursday to Sunday, to allow the different countries to vote on their traditional days. This State has so far voted on a Thursday, and if this practice holds, and the Belgians are correct, we could be going to the polls on Thursday, June 10th, 1999.