Elections in the European Union

Elections to the Parliament of the European Union take place every five years by universal adult suffrage. 736 MEPs[1] are elected to the European Parliament which has been directly elected since 1979. No other body is directly elected although the Council of the European Union and European Council is largely composed of nationally elected officials.[2] Europarties have the exclusive right to campaign EU-wide for the European elections.

Contents

Voting system

There is no uniform voting system for the election of MEPs; rather, each member state is free to choose its own system, subject to three restrictions:[3]

The allocation of seats to each member state is based on the principle of degressive proportionality, so that, while the size of the population of each country is taken into account, smaller states elect more MEPs than is justified by their populations. As the number of MEPs granted to each country has arisen from treaty negotiations, there is no precise formula for the apportionment of seats among member states. No change in this configuration can occur without the unanimous consent of all governments.[3][4]


European Parliament Apportionment changes between the Treaty of Nice and the Treaty of Lisbon
(as calculated for purposes of the '09 European Elections)
Member state 2007
Nice
2009
Nice
2014
Lisbon
     Member state 2007
Nice
2009
Nice
2014
Lisbon
     Member state 2007
Nice
2009
Nice
2014
Lisbon
 Germany 99 99 96  Czech Republic 24 22 22  Slovakia 14 13 13
 France 78 72 74  Greece 24 22 22  Ireland 13 12 12
 United Kingdoma 78 72 73  Hungary 24 22 22  Lithuania 13 12 12
 Italy 78 72 73  Portugal 24 22 22  Latvia 9 8 9
 Spain 54 50 54  Sweden 19 18 20  Slovenia 7 7 8
 Poland 54 50 51  Austria 18 17 19  Cyprus 6 6 6
 Romania 35 33 33  Bulgaria 18 17 18  Estonia 6 6 6
 Netherlands 27 25 26  Finland 14 13 13  Luxembourg 6 6 6
 Belgium 24 22 22  Denmark 14 13 13  Malta 5 5 6
a Includes Gibraltar, but not any other BOT, SBA or Crown dependency
b The speaker is not counted officially, thus leaving 750 MEPs.
Italicised countries are divided into sub-national constiuencies
Total: 785 736 751b

Europarties

The European Union has a multi-party system comprised by a number of ideologically diverse Europarties. As no one Europarty has ever gained power alone, their affiliated parliamentary groups must work with each other to pass legislation. Since no pan-European government is formed as a result of the European elections, long-term programmatic coalitions have yet to take place.

Europarties have the exclusive right to campaign for the European elections; their parliamentary groups are strictly forbidden to campaign and to spend funds for any campaign-related activity. With the Lisbon Treaty now in-force, Europarties are obliged from now-on to put forward a candidate for President of the European Commission; each Presidential candidate will, in fact, lead the pan-European campaign of the Europarty.

The two major parties are the centre-right European People's Party and Party of European Socialists. They form the two largest groups, (called EPP and S&D respectively) along with other smaller parties. There are numerous other groups including communists, greens, regionalists, conservatives, Liberals and eurosceptics. Together they form the seven recognised groups in the parliament.[5] MEPs that are not members of groups are known as non-inscrits.

Voter behaviour

Analysis contend that European elections are fought on national issues and used by voters to punish their governments mid-term. Turnout has also been falling steadily since the first elections in 1979 indicating increased apathy about the Parliament despite its increase in power over that period. The turnout is an increasingly big issue. Despite falling below 50% since 1999, turnout is not yet as low as that of the US Midterm elections which usually fall below 40%. The turnout has fallen in every EU election since the first. In 2009, the overall turnout was just 43%, down from 45.5% in 2004. In Britain the turnout was just 34.3%, down from 38% in 2004.

However that situation is not criticised so much due to the fact the US President is elected separately, whereas the EU Commission President is appointed. Some such as former Parliament President Pat Cox has also noted that the 1999 election turnout was higher than the previous US Presidential election.[6][7] It is hoped though that by more closely linking that post to the elections, turnout should increase.[8][9][10]

Results

List of previous elections
List of European Parliament elections by state


Historical percentage results in union-wide elections of the three major groups by region.[11]

REGION 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009
3.6 6.3 6.3 22 35.3 31.2 10.9
Northern[12] 3.6 2.7 4.5 6.8 16.7 18.1 20.3
23.2 33 45.5 56.8 27.6 23.9 21
33.6 30.9 26.7 31.9 36.4 34.9 37.3
Western[13] 6.5 10.6 12 8.5 5.2 11.9 12.5
34.1 32.7 32.7 29.9 27.9 30.2 20.8
37 34.3 29.6 25.9 39.8 38.2 45.2
Southern[14] 6.2 4.8 9.5 8.5 5 7.9 5
16 21 29.1 29.9 30.8 33 35
- - - - - 46.4 41
Eastern[15] - - - - - 14.3 10
- - - - - 21.4 23.7
26 25.3 23.4 27.7 37.2 36.9 36
Total 9.8 7.1 9.5 7.6 8 12.4 11.4
27.6 30 34.2 34.9 28.8 28.3 25
Turnout 63 61 58.5 56.8 49.4 45.5 43

Legend:   [     ] Socialist (PES/S&D) – [     ] Liberal (ELDR/ALDE) – [     ] People's (EPP/EPP-ED)

Proposed reforms

As of 2011 reforms by liberal MEP Andrew Duff are being considered by Parliament which are seen as the most significant overhaul of the electoral system since elections began. 25 extra MEPs would be added on a transnational European list with its candidates being selected by the European party groups rather than national member parties. The candidate lists would have to represent a third of member states and are seen as a way to personalise and dramatise the elections in order to reengage an apathetic electorate. Duff sees the next Commission President possibly coming from the transnational list. Duff's proposals also include a single electoral roll, regular reapportioning of seats, one set of immunity rules and the holding of elections in May rather than June. However, due to a waning of support and possible opposition from member states, Duff has taken the proposal back to committee in order to get broader support before putting them before the plenary in autumn 2011.[16]

Commission President

Election Largest Group President Party
1994 PES Jacques Santer EPP
1999 EPP-ED Romano Prodi PES
2004 EPP José Manuel Barroso EPP
2009 EPP José Manuel Barroso EPP

The third Delors Commission had a short mandate, in order to bring the terms of the Commission in line with that of the Parliament. Under the European Constitution the European Council would have to take into account the results of the latest European elections and, furthermore, the Parliament would ceremonially "elect", rather than simply approve, the Council's proposed candidate. This was taken as the parliament's cue to have its parties run with candidates for the President of the European Commission with the candidate of the winning party being proposed by the Council.[17]

This was partly put into practice in 2004 when the European Council selected a candidate from the political party which won that year's election. However at that time only one party had run with a specific candidate: the European Green Party, who had the first true pan-European political party with a common campaign,[18] put forward Daniel Cohn-Bendit.[17] However the fractious nature of the other political parties led to no other candidates, the People's Party only mentioned four or five people they'd like to be President.[19] The Constitution failed ratification but these amendments have been carried over to the Treaty of Lisbon which came into force in 2009.

There are plans to strengthen the European political parties[10] in order for them to propose candidates for the 2009 election.[9][20] The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party have already indicated, in their October 2007 congress, their intention for forward a candidate for the post as part of a common campaign.[21] They failed to do so however the European People's Party did select Barroso as their candidate and, as the largest party, Barroso's turn was renewed. The Socialists, disappointed at the 2009 election, agreed to put forward a candidate for Commission President at all subsequent elections. There is a campaign within that party to have open primaries for said candidate.[22]

In February 2008, President Barroso admitted there was a problem in legitimacy and that, despite having the same legitimacy as Prime Ministers in theory, in practice it was not the case. The low turnout creates a problem for the President's legitimacy, with the lack of a "European political sphere", but analysis claim that if citizens were voting for a list of candidates for the post of President, turn out would be much higher than that seen in recent years.[23]

With the Lisbon Treaty now in-force, Europarties are obliged from now-on to put forward a candidate for President of the European Commission; each Presidential candidate will, in fact, lead the pan-European campaign of the Europarty.

The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek proposed in 2010 that Commissioners be directly elected, by member states placing their candidate at the top of their voting lists in European elections. That would give them individually, and the body as a whole, a democratic mandate.[24]

See also

European Union

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
the European Union

References

  1. ^ "Euro election country-by-country". BBC News. 7 June 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8059690.stm. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  2. ^ European Parliament: Welcome europarl.europa.eu
  3. ^ a b c The European Parliament: electoral procedures europarl.europa.eu
  4. ^ The election of members of the European Parliament European Navigator
  5. ^ MEPs by Member State and political group – sixth parliamentary term europarl.europa.eu
  6. ^ Mulvey, Stephen (21 November 2003) The EU's democratic challenge BBC News
  7. ^ Q&A: European elections, BBC News 21 July 2004
  8. ^ Spongenberg, Helena (26 February 2007). "EU wants to dress up 2009 elections on TV". EU Observer. http://www.euobserver.com/9/23566. Retrieved 8 July 2007. 
  9. ^ a b Palmer, John (10 January 2007). "Size shouldn't matter". The Guardian (London). http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/john_palmer/2007/01/good_rather_than_bad_not_b_ig.html. Retrieved 28 June 2007. 
  10. ^ a b Mahony, Honor (27 June 2007). "European politics to get more political". EU Observer. http://euobserver.com/9/24370. Retrieved 28 June 2007. 
  11. ^ Europe Politique: Parlement européen (in French)
  12. ^  Denmark,  Finland,  Ireland,  Sweden and  United Kingdom
  13. ^  Austria,  Belgium,  France,  Germany,  Luxembourg and  Netherlands
  14. ^  Cyprus,  Greece,  Italy,  Malta,  Portugal and  Spain
  15. ^  Bulgaria,  Czech Republic,  Estonia,  Hungary,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Romania,  Slovakia and  Slovenia
  16. ^ Mahony, Honor (7 July 2011) MEPs put off controversial electoral reform, EU Observer
  17. ^ a b Hughes, Kirsty. "Nearing Compromise as Convention goes into Final Week?" (PDF). EPIN. http://www.epin.org/pdf/comment_Hughes2_june03.pdf. Retrieved 30 January 2008. 
  18. ^ "European Greens Found European Greens". Deutsche Welle. 23 February 2004. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1119463,00.html. Retrieved 30 January 2008. 
  19. ^ "The EP elections: Deepening the democratic deficit". Euractiv. 16 June 2004. http://www.euractiv.com/en/future-eu/ep-elections-deepening-democratic-deficit/article-128495. Retrieved 27 July 2007. 
  20. ^ "Leadership of the EU". Federal Union. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070609002711/http://www.federalunion.org.uk/europe/democracyleadership.shtml. Retrieved 27 August 2007. 
  21. ^ "Resolution ELDR Congress in Berlin 18–19&Nbsp;October&Nbsp;2007". ELDR party. 24 October 2007. http://www.eldr.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1127. Retrieved 4 January 2008. 
  22. ^ Phillips, Leigh (12 August 2010). "Socialists want US-style primaries for commission president candidate". EU Observer. http://euobserver.com/9/30615. Retrieved 12 August 2010. 
  23. ^ Mahony, Honor (28 February 2008). "Barroso admits legitimacy problem for commission president post". EU Observer. http://euobserver.com/9/25740. Retrieved 29 February 2008. 
  24. ^ Mahony, Honor (23 March 2010) EP president suggests election of future EU commissioners, EU Observer

Statistics

External links