The election campaign for the June 7 2009 elections for Bulgarian members of the European Parliament will start on May 17 2009 and end on June 6 2009, the Central Election Committee (CEC) said on April 8 2009.

By May 12 2009 all parties, coalitions and initiative committees must register with the CEC. By May 15 2009 all candidates for MPs must also register.

Parties must pay a deposit of 50 000 leva and collect 15 000 signatures in support. Coalitions have to deposit 100 000 leva each and should have 20 000 signatures.

An initiative committee must be composed of at least seven people and must deposit 15 000 leva and present 10 000 signatures in their support.

By April 22 2009 all members of the 31 Regional Election Committees must be appointed. Each will have 25 members.

These will be the first elections in Bulgaria's history without a day of contemplation after MPs decided to forego it on this occasion.

The election campaign was also cut by a week because the country is about to hold elections to the Bulgarian Parliament this summer and MPs decided that two long election campaigns would be too tiring.

The date for elections to the Bulgarian Parliament is yet to be announced by President Georgi Purvanov. Elections can be held between June 28 and July 5 2009 after the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party decided not to support the opposition's request for holding the two elections on the same day.

Bulgaria currently has 18 MEPs. Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov's party, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, won five seats in Bulgaria's 2007 elections. The senior partner in the ruling coalition, the Bulgarian Socialist Party, achieved the same result.

The junior coalition partner the Movement for Rights and Freedoms was third with four MEPs, followed by ultra-nationalist Ataka party with three MEPs and the third coalition partner, the National Movement for Stability and Progress, with one MEP. The right-wing parties failed to win any seats.