Pan-European List – withdrawn for revision

Strasburg, July 7 – The proposal to introduce pan-European lists in the European Parliament, has been sent back to the drawing board after its main author, the British liberal Andrew Duff, was confronted with unexpectedly high resistance from almost all parliamentary groups. Intended to become ‘the greatest shake-up of electoral procedures since the European parliament was first elected in the 1970’ (EUobserver), the proposal had been embraced by a large majority of the Parliaments’ constitutional commission in April.

Galvanised across frontiers

But when put to the vote, a disappointed Duff explained during a press conference, only the Greens/EFA would have been almost unanimously in favour, and part of the European People’s Party, whereas large parts of the Socialists & Democrats and Duff’s own Liberals proved to be sceptical.

Duff, who has been working on the reform for well over a year, is convinced of the advantages. Adding 25 seats to the current 751, elected by the entire European electorate from lists of candidates from at least a third of the member states, he believes, will create a EU-wide political space. The European political families, now basically consulting bodies without power, will be ‘galvanised across frontiers’ to become true campaigning machines that have to address European issues instead of, like now, fighting national fights. And European politics will be personalised through European faces, he told Euractiv Germany last year, especially if celebrities like Verhofstadt, Schwarzenegger, or Blair join the lists.

Euro-stars

Outside the inner circle that prepared the text, however, objections prevail. The extra seats, Duff said in euinside, would create two classes of MEP’s: Euro-stars and second-hand national deputies. Extra seats would require a new treaty reform at a moment many still have the long and painful Lisbon reform in mind. Most national political parties would not be too keen, because they would lose ground.

Lack of information

The main reason for the lack of support, however, is a lack of information, shadow rapporteur Gerald Häfner said to GreenYourope last week: whereas the Greens had discussed the proposal at least four times, the other groups – including Duff’s Liberals – had hardly done any homework. By withdrawing the text, going back to the constitution al commission and putting it to the vote in October, Duff hopes to convince his colleagues to get wider support.