Could the European Parliament be more European?

The proposal, the result of intense negotiations, was released on Tuesday 19 April after a formal vote by the European Parliament Constitutional Affairs Committee.


A transnational list

The flagship idea of this reform is to implement a European-wide electoral district, from which 25 MEPs would be elected. These MEPs would be chosen from European lists and would come from at least one third of EU member states. On election day voters would thus vote twice; once for their “national” representative, and once for their “European” one. Two envelops, two ballot papers, two votes.

According to Duff’s idea, national authorities would be in charge of organizing the vote and would refer to a European electoral authority created to gather the results. The MEPs selected from the transnational lists would join the 751 MEPs chosen from the national lists, with the total number of MEPS rising to 776.


The starting point for a reinforced legitimacy

The objective of this reform is to increase the legitimacy of the European Parliament by taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the Lisbon Treaty. The result would be a “Europeanization” of the domestic electoral campaign, with different nationalities on the same lists. It would force candidates to campaign across Europe and adapt their political message and programs. A transnational election would also throw some much-needed weight behind the role of the European political parties - quite invisible up to now - affording them the responsibility of setting up election lists and organizing campaigns.

The proposal hopes to take a sizeable step towards a deeper European political sphere, with more clearly-identified European political parties led by more visible and authoritative political leaders. These transnational MEPs would be required to offer political programs that are focused on a general European interest, rather than focusing solely on national concerns and stakes. For Andrew Duff, "under Lisbon, MEPs now represent citizens and parties and not states" but that to date “national politicians have been rather bad at connecting citizens with the EU”. The hope is also that these new transnational lists would be made up of impressive; Europe-focused politicians rather than failed national politicians who in the past have often failed to engage a disinterested European public.


Obstacles on the path

Duff is optimistic that this reform can be implemented before the next European Parliament elections in 2014. There are however, some obstacles that need to be overcome.
Firstly the proposal requires the support of the European parliament itself, in a vote during its June plenary session. However off the back of several compromises a favorable vote here looks increasingly likely.

The second obstacle, to convince Member States of the merits of such a proposal, looks decidedly trickier. Especially as the proposals will required a treaty revision, for which unanimity is required
Back in March, Duff tried to preempt this issue by proposing a simplification of the ratification process, replacing the unanimity rule with the more lenient requirement of the assent of four fifths of Member States. Avoiding unanimity has taken on greater pertinence with the UK Parliament looking SET to pass the European Union Bill within the next months. This bill, which requires approval by national referendum for any significant transfer of competences from the member state to the EU, has the potential to seriously slow down Duff’s proposal.


A necessary electoral reform

Despite these obstacles, it is increasingly clear that reform to the electoral process is crucial. One of the other issues that Duff sought to tackle in his report was the current allocation of MEPs across member states. Past enlargements have seen the number of MEPs rise to 736, a number that is SET to rise further to 751 with the passing of the Lisbon Treaty. Duff proposed a new mathematical formula for allotting seats across countries. This proposal which appeared to be more in favor of the big countries reduced the number of representatives of 16 countries and was rejected in the Parliament.

The Croatian accession, tentatively SET for 2013, will take place before the next parliament elections and thus looks SET to bring attention back to this subject of the allocation of MEP seats. Optimists hope that it will also provide a ripe occasion to reform the only European institution directly elected by the European citizens, and maybe, at the same time, to reinforce its European identity.


Rémi Praud


Photo Credit (c) European Parliament, 2011