Vision for the 2014 European Parliamentary Elections

Dr. Zoltán Tóth

Independent Electoral Expert

London, October 2011, CPS Conference

Independent Electoral Expert

• Non-partisan

• Non-profit oriented

• International relations

• Publications

• Exchange of experiences, teaching, professional work

Vision

• Organised, structured ideas

• Concentrates on the future

• At least mid-term timeframe

• Not tied to actual practice

• Financial conditions should be formulated accordingly

• Abstract goals

Vision

• Interdisciplinary approach in the scientific thinking (theory)– Political science– Constitutional law– Sociology– Economy– Information technology

Vision in practice

• Politics

• Creating laws

• Organisations: parliament, political parties, citizen participation

• Budget

• Single database or Schengen method

Politics

• European parliamentary elections do not have common political basis/foundation

• Elections are dominated by the internal politics of the member states

• The common goals of the Union provide cohesion for the institutions of the Union

• „the feet of the Union are not planted firmly in the ground”

• MEPs are the by-products of the campaigns of the member states

• There is no Union-wide professional electoral policy

Creating Laws

• The basis of the EU parliamentary elections is EU citizenship

• There are few „tangible/concrete” rights and duties tied to EU citizenship

• There are few binding EU election laws, regulation is essentially the competence of the member states

• There is no system for financing the campaign• There is no single „election day”

Organisations

• The mandate of the European Parliament is limited (but it should not be widened at a disadvantage of the Commission)

• The parties are organised at member state level (the factions are Europe-wide)

• The election participation of citizens is low and decreasing

• The legitimacy of the MEPs is low since EU policies are represented by persons ‘cast out’ of internal/national politics

Budget

• The national costs of the elections are financed by the member states

• The campaign costs of the parties are financed within a national framework

• EU resources aimed at increasing participation are divided between the Parliament and the Commission

• There are no EU resources for the development of the electoral information technology

IT

• There is no unified IT basis for the EU elections• There are no joint developments• There are no inter-operable solutions• There is no single electoral register, the electoral

rights of those being/voting abroad is not guaranteed

• There is no common register for candidates • There is no joint system of establishing election

results

What is the reality?

• The Constitution of the EU will not change until 2014

• The catalogue of rights tied to EU citizenship will not be widened until 2014

• The competence of the Parliament and the Commission will not increase until 2014

What is the vision?

• Eliminate the parliamentary democracy deficit• Enlarge the competences of the Commission against the

sovereignty of the member states • Enhance the rights (pension, social security) and duties

(direct taxation) linked to EU citizenship • Establish EU-wide political parties• Elections based on all-European campaigns • Joint European electoral register• Single database of candidates• Common voting paper• Common system to establish election results

What can be done until 2014?

• Elect certain part of MEPs from a common EU transnational list

• Establish a professional electoral organisation for the Parliament and the Commission

• Formulate all-European electoral campaign regulations

• Finance the national costs of EU elections from EU resources

What can be done until 2014? Parliament

• Electoral reform (Duff proposals)

• Campaign to increase participation for civil organisations in every member state

• Proposal: non-partisan campaign to increase the participation of first time voters and women

Electoral reform, Duff proposals • Transnational list, EU single constituency

• The support of 1/3 of member states necessary for candidate to stand

• 25 seats (out of 776) in the European Parliament

• Closed list voting, the same voting papers for all 450 million EU voters

• Citizens can still vote for national or regional lists

• Creation of an EU-wide electoral commission for regulation and establishing of results

• Election: May 2014 instead of June

Electoral reform, Duff proposals

• The European Parliament discussed the Duff proposals on 7th July 2011 and sent them back to the Constitutional Committee for further consultation

• The 27 heads of state and Prime Ministers should agree (?)

• 27 member states should ratify (?)

What can be done until 2014?

Commission• Formulate electoral policy• Enlarge the competencies of the Justice Commissioner• Guarantee the electoral rights of those voting abroad by

electronic data swap among the electoral commissions of the member states

• Narrow down the day of election (to Saturday-Sunday)

• Announce the election results on the public service televisions of the 27 member states

What can be done until 2014?

EU-wide IT developments• Guarantee the electoral rights of those voting

abroad by electronic data swap among the electoral commissions of the member states

• Announce the election results on the public service televisions of the 27 member states

• Common system to establish the election results of the transnational lists

toth.zoltan@jegyzo.tv

• Any questions?

• Thank you for your attention!