Brussels, 28/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The 3% threshold in Germany for participating in the European elections goes against the constitution and was declared invalid with immediate effect by the German Constitutional Court on Thursday 27 February. This decision will result in the way being paved to the European Parliament for a myriad of small parties. Around a dozen could now make their entry.
In its ruling, the German Constitutional Court (the highest court in Germany) highlighted a serious obstacle to the “principles of electoral equality and equal opportunities”, which cannot be justified in the case of the European elections.
For the general elections in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, a threshold of 5% was set in order to guarantee political stability - which the court considers to be a legitimate concern.
“A real impact on the European Parliament's ability to operate is not currently foreseen”, the ruling states. The 5% threshold was established for the 2009 elections and was removed again in 2011 by the BverfG, but the parliament reacted by setting the 3% rule. There were 19 parties that lodged a complaint against the new legislation.
According to some media, the eurosceptic AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) party, to which the “boss” of German businesspeople belongs, would easily reach the 5% threshold. In 2009, seven additional German parties would reportedly have entered the European Parliament with one or two seats if the 5% rule had not existed - the strongest party being the Freie Wähler (Free Voters). The Pirate Party and also other smaller parties - such as the animal rights supporters and the Retired People's Party - also have a change of gaining seats at the European Parliament, according to French news agency AFP. (SP)