Brussels, 14/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EP committee on constitutional affairs (AFCO) is to take a stance next Tuesday 19 April in favour of in-depth reform of the rules for European elections as of 2014. The most spectacular element of the reform set out by Rapporteur Andrew Duff (ALDE) is the creation of a pan-European constituency, in which an additional 25 MEPs would be elected. The aim of the initiative, which has the support of the four main political groups at the Parliament (EPP, S&D, ALDE, Greens/EFA) is to make European elections more widely popular (the rate of participation has fallen from 63% at the first direct election in 1979 to 43% in 2009), to increase the role of the European political parties and to strengthen the Parliament's democratic legitimacy. With the Lisbon Treaty, the EP now has exclusive right of initiative when it comes to reform of the voting system.
Amending the Treaty. After adoption of the Duff report by AFCO, the plenary vote will probably not be held until June this year. If the EP approves the initiative, a request will be made to the permanent president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, to convene an intergovernmental conference (IGC) with a view to amending the Treaty in order to include the new rules on future European votes. Ratification of this amendment to the Treaty by the parliaments of member states could then be achieved as a “package” with other amendments to be applied to the Treaty, for example on Croatia's accession (and perhaps also that of Iceland). Duff trusts that the new system will be in application by the 2014 elections. The United Kingdom is most certainly among the most sceptical member states when it comes to the EP's reform proposal but the fact that the Liberal Democrats under Nick Clegg - Andrew Duff's party - are in government may facilitate matters. Speaking to a group of journalists on Thursday 14 April, the rapporteur was reluctant to say whether the backing of the British Liberal Democrat party was already acquired or, still less, whether the government under David Cameron (whose Tories at the EP are opposed to the reform proposal) would agree to amend the Lisbon Treaty on this. On the other hand, Andrew Duff was very clear about the fact that reform of European voting should not transfer any more powers to Brussels or reduce the British representation at the EP. Consequently, it will not be necessary to hold a British referendum on the issue, he said.
Concessions. The rapporteur had to make a number of concessions compared to his initial proposal in order to rally the four main political groups to his cause. Thus, Duff was compelled to discard the idea of harmonising the minimum age for voting and eligibility (he was suggesting 16 for the right to vote, as is already the case in Austria, and 18 for eligibility to stand for elections). The result of this is that the member states remain in control of age-related provisions. Another suggestion withdrawn was that of introducing regional constituencies in all member states that have a population of more than 20 million.
Pan-European constituency. The creation of such a constituency, for which 25 representatives will be elected, is the key element of reform. Theses 25 representatives will be in addition to the 751 MEPs whose number is fixed in the Lisbon Treaty. The future parliament would therefore be comprised of 776 members in total. Each European party will be presenting a transnational list with 25 candidates from at least one third of the member states (half of whom will be men, and half women). These candidates will be eligible to run for election in all member states. Each voter will therefore have two votes: one for choosing one of the candidates on the pan-European lists, and the other for a candidate or a list in his/her own regional constituency. Candidates on pan-European lists may also stand for election in their regional/national constituencies. It is obvious that European political parties will be tempted to make up lists comprising the names of people who are celebrities known throughout Europe, such as footballers or artists “but that is OK if it brings Europe closer to the people”, Duff explains.
Redistributing the seats. Reform also provides for the 751 national seats to be redistributed (not those for candidates on the pan-European list) between member states according to an objective mathematical formula which remains to be determined but which complies with the principle of “degressive proportionality”. The Duff report also floats the idea of bringing forward the date of European elections from June to May. This would allow the new Parliament to vote on the president of the European Commission as of July and not simply after the summer, Duff explains. The voting should, moreover, be restricted to Saturdays and Sundays. (H.B./transl.jl)