I am looking across the channel and to the very odd Andrew Duff MEP. The ALDE spokeman for Constitutional affairs has had a peek at the way we elect our MEPs and he doesn't like it. Obviously note federalist enough for him.
So here are his ideas, designed as he says to,
enhancing the popularity of Parliament across the Union,So what do you think?
Votes at 16 for EU elections, which in countries where for national elections the franchise is set at 18 could cause all sorts of problems.
a redistribution of the 751 seats will take place, if justified objectively by figuresNot such a bad idea, but I can see the scope for almighty costs and confusion. The possibility of rows between countries are legion which could hold up the whole process interminably.
authorised by Eurostat, before every election; the redistribution will be announced at least twelve months before the end of the mandate;
an electoral authority will be established at EU level in order to regulate the conductNot sure what the purpose of this is, and I canot see it hittig the g spot of popularity.
and to verify the result of the election taking place from the EU-wide list; the
electoral authority will be composed of representatives of Parliament, the
Commission and the States;
the timing of the election will be brought forward from June to May;I guess that this is to facilitate the horse trading that will be going on between political groups about who to support for the EU president's job.
And my own personal favourite,
an additional 25 MEPs will be elected by a single constituency formed of the whole territory of the European Union; transnational lists will be composed of candidates drawn from at least one third of the States, and will be gender-balanced; each elector will be enabled to cast one vote for the EU-wide list in addition to their vote for the national or regional list:The method of organisation for that one leaves me struggling for breath.
How will anybody have the first idea what they are for, who they are and why they should be voting for them. The only thing that is certain is that anybody who doesn't believe in deeper integration will not get a look in.
Such a good democrat our Andrew.
Oh, and in my haste last night I was insufferably rude and missed my hat tip. So doff of the tifter to The European Citizen
2 comments:
Duff always reminds me of Derek Jacobi’s title character in I Claudius.
Not a frivolous observation given the conspiracy theory that the EU is some sort of continuation of a Roman Empire.
Mr Duff has also on several occasions described the EU parliament as the place for – “post-national democracy”
Frightening.
These electoral reforms can have a great impact on the EU if these are not thoroughly scrutinized. The Lib Dems might have hidden interests that are not yet obviously seen by the parliament. Time is to be taken before these reforms will be approved or it might be too late to take it back.
Post a Comment