Brussels, 30/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 28 May, members of the European Parliament's constitutional affairs committee adopted a number of recommendations aiming to improve European elections. In the non-legislative resolution of Andrew Duff (ALDE, United Kingdom) that they adopted (by 20 votes to four), the MEPs want the national parties to mention on their ballot papers and campaign material the European party to which they belong.
The MEPs also want the national political parties to make reference to the candidate that they support for the post of European Commission president. European parties should name their Commission president candidates “sufficiently well in advance” to allow them to conduct a European-wide electoral campaign on EU issues, the MEPs state. The candidates should be selected transparently and democratically, the MEPs add. In the opinion of the constitutional affairs committee, the candidate proposed for the Commission presidency by the European political party that won the most seats in the elections should be the top candidate selected upon examination of his/her candidacy for the post due to his/her ability to obtain the support of the absolute majority needed from the European Parliament. The president of the Commission is currently chosen by the heads of state and government.
The constitutional affairs committee also wants the political parties to ensure that the names of candidate MEPs be made public at least six weeks before the start of polling - in other words, at the beginning of April 2014 at the latest. The constitutional affairs committee MEPs encourage the presence of more women on the lists, as they do more citizens residing in a member state other than their own.
Duff - whose resolution will be voted upon during the July plenary session - said “the 2014 electoral campaign will be more interesting, more European and more political than previous elections”. Sylvie Guillaume (S&D, France) regretted that the European electoral campaigns conducted by national parties have often emphasised purely national issues with virtually no direct connection with the EU as a whole. She underlined that during the next European elections, European citizens will have the chance to vote for a major change by the choice of their representatives at the European Parliament, as well as their candidate for the president of the European Commission. (CG/transl.fl)