EuroparlTV shows you the first voter reactions just after the British and the Dutch went to the polls to shape Europe’s future.

Elections kick off in the UK and the Netherlands

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/11807846/n001-140523-001-enxxx.srt

They’re off! In the heart  of the English countryside,

the first voting in the  European elections 2014 on Thursday,

in the heart of a country  in which immigration and euro-scepticism

have dominated the debate  and the preoccupations of many voters.

I don’t agree with what they’re doing,  we should govern ourselves.

I’d like to see us  have more control over our own borders.

And more control of our laws, and to see us  dictate how we live - not Europe.

Recent polls show a majority of Britons  want to stay in the EU.

Fast forward to the urban heart  of northern England, Manchester,

where voting was sluggish  and the electorate more divided.

A fact reflected in turnout  estimates of around 36 per cent.

Europe is quite far away,  I think a lot of people

don't realise  how much Europe affects them

and so they don't  feel that they should vote.

I'm gonna vote for Ukip.  I have nothing against foreigners,

it's just the amount of foreigners  coming to the country.

Actually the majority of people  who come over to Britain

come here to work, they pay into our  system, they pay taxes,

so I think it's a myth that's pedalled  by the likes of Ukip and others.

At the same time,  voting took place in the Netherlands.

In the UK it was also for local councils

and it's focused largely on this man,  Nigel Farage,

the anti-EU United Kingdom  Independence Party leader.

the Europe of Freedom and Democracy  Group in Parliament.

Mr Farage promises to shake-up  British and European politics.

We won’t know if, or how, he’s succeeded

until official election results  from 28 Member States

for 751 parliamentary seats are announced  in Brussels late on Sunday.