Between Thursday and Sunday every country in the European Union will stage elections for the European Parliament in Brussels. But most voters couldn’t tell you much about it. Campaigning across the continent is largely muted, and only a small minority of citizens could name either of the two leading candidates for president of the European Commission, German conservative Manfred Weber and Dutch social democrat Frans Timmermans.

After forty years of existence, the EU’s only elected legislative body generates little enthusiasm among its 500 million constituents. Participation has declined steadily since the Parliament’s inception and rarely cracks 50 percent. The lack of interest is understandable. The Commission president isn’t directly elected: in fact, whatever the election results are, the “winner” will be appointed by the European Council, before this choice is ratified by Parliament. It’s quite possible the Council, made up of the leaders of national governments, will pick neither of the main candidates.

Formally speaking, the European Parliament is the second-largest legislature in the world. Yet in reality its 751 members have little say in the nitty gritty of EU politics. It cannot initiate or pass EU-wide laws, but only modify or reject proposals coming from the European Commission, which is in turn appointed by the Council.