Vision for the 2014 European Parliamentary E lections

1. Vision for the 2014 European Parliamentary Elections Dr. Zoltán Tóth Independent Electoral Expert London, October 2011, CPS Conference

2. Independent Electoral Expert • Non-partisan • Non-profit oriented • International relations • Publications • Exchange of experiences, teaching, professional work

3. 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

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

5. Vision in practice • Politics • Creating laws • Organisations: parliament, political parties, citizen participation • Budget • Single database or Schengen method

6. 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

7. Creating Laws • The basis of the EU parliamentary elections isEU 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”

8. 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

9. 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 increasingparticipation are divided between the Parliament and the Commission • There are no EU resources for the development of the electoral information technology

10. 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 commonregister for candidates There is no joint system of establishing election results IT

11. What is the reality? • The Constitution of the EU will not change until 2014 • The catalogue of rights tiedto EU citizenship will not be widened until 2014 • The competence of the Parliament and the Commission will not increase until 2014

12. 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 • Electionsbased on all-European campaigns • Joint European electoral register • Singledatabase of candidates • Commonvoting paper • Common system to establish election results

13. 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

14. 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 What can be done until 2014?

15. 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

16. 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 (?)

17. 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

18. 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 • Commonsystem to establish the election results of the transnational lists

19. toth.zoltan@jegyzo.tv • Any questions? • Thank you for your attention!