The 2014 European Parliamentary Elections: The Most Important European Elections Yet?
In 2014 citizens have an opportunity to express their views about the EU and evaluate how successful policy makers were in tackling the crisis. It will be the eighth Europe-wide election since the introduction of direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979. The outcome will see a new parliament, responsible in part for governing the EU and Single Market for the next five years. The prolonged Eurozone crisis and severe effects of it have had a negative impact on the way people see EU. Cuts in public spending in the Eurozone have largely been imposed by the European Commission, European Council and Member States themselves. Nevertheless, a lot of people who were severely affected by the crisis will punish the Parliament for imposing harsh measures, even though the austerity policies were shaped by other factors. This might lead to more Eurosceptics in the European Parliament. Having this in mind, the European parliamentary elections of 2014 arguably will be the most important elections to date. In this post I will briefly discuss how the European Parliament is preparing for elections and what challenges it is facing.
According to Eurostat, overall voter turnout at the European Parliamentary elections has been steadily declining. In 1979 62% took part, whereas in 2009 only 43% turned out to vote. In April Croatia the newest member of the Union witnessed one of the lowest levels of electoral participation; less than 21% took part. This data suggests that there is an increasing gap between the EU’s only directly-elected institution and its electorate. The absence of feeling ‘European’ and lack of understanding might be the biggest factors in fueling this trend. Therefore, getting people to vote remains one of the biggest challenges for the European Parliament.
There has been talk on how to bring Europe closer to its citizens, but the EU lacks the necessary tools. For example, the European Citizen’s Initiative was designed to give an opportunity for EU citizens to participate directly in the development of EU policies, but due complicated registration process it is difficult to collect the required one million signatures. Besides, even if you succeed in collecting necessary amount of signatures, there is no legal obligation for the Commission to make a legislative proposal.
Turning to the low voter turnout issue, MEPs recommended holding the next elections in May, rather than June. The 5-8 June 2014 coincides with the ‘White weekend’, which falls during the school holidays in many member states. Holding elections earlier will not only improve participation, but it will also give the new Parliament more time to prepare for the election of the European Commission President in July. The resolution bringing forward the next European election dates was passed by 601 votes to 31, with 16 abstentions. For the first time next year’s votes will also be helping to choose the next European Union Commission President. According to the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament shall elect the European Commission President on the basis of a proposal made by the European Council taking into account the European elections. This should encourage people to take interest in the eighth Europe wide elections.
One of the biggest misconception why European elections do not matter is the feeling that the European Parliament does not have enough power to influence EU policies. However, this is not true. The Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 of December 2009 was a game changer. A proposal for legislation can take years and hundreds of amendments. Since MEPs tend to vote according to their ideological positions tiny changes in the proposal can mean big things from a legal perspective. Therefore, the idea that voters cannot change EU policies is wrong. It is easier to influence EU policies through EP rather than through national elections.
The European parties are planning to propose candidates for next president of the EU Commission. The candidate from the largest party in the new Parliament is likely to then be elected as the next Commission President. Since the Eurozone crisis had a negative impact on the way people see EU this might lead to more Eurosceptic Parliament. A report by transparency group VoteWatch found that the make-up of the Parliament matters, the number of seats for each political group is important and how cohesive they are within the groups and the sorts of coalitions that form. More anti-European than pro-European could undermine the stability of future coalitions. This could have a knock-on effects for the key pieces of European legislation. One issue may be the EU rules permitting the free movement of persons shifting to free movement of labour.
So, under these circumstances, it is extremely important for the European electorate to remain active during the election process. With parties competing not only over the Parliament seats, but also the presidency of the Commission it is surely going to be an election to watch. Whatever the outcome, it is clear that the next Commission President and his or her manifesto will shape EU for the next five years.
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Written by Edgaras Mascinskas
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