Transnational lists for truly European elections: JEF votes in favour!

Based on the long standing federalist aspiration (see JEF´s Political Programme) to create transnational lists for the European Parliament elections, JEF-Europe is leading a campaign on the creation of an EU-wide Constituency.

The Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) of the European Parliament approved a ground-breaking proposal by MEP Andrew Duff with a large majority on 19 April which could strongly boost the Parliament's democratic legitimacy. According to this proposal an additional 25 Members would be elected from transnational lists during the elections to the European Parliament. Each EU Citizen could thus have two ballots, one for national lists and the other one for EU-wide lists, already at the elections in 2014.

JEF-Europe is mobilising its entire network to promote this historical reform that will boost the democratic legitimacy of the EU's legislature.

JEF-Europe is calling on its network and partners to:

• Promote the PDF version of the Open Letter that was co-signed by 7 organisations in total representing a wide political spectrum, among MEPs, journalists, local members and partners until the discussion and vote in the EP plenary on 6-7 July. Alternatively, one can translate the Word version of the Open Letter in order to reach out to policy-makers and the wider public in different languages.
• Reach out to policy-makers and bloggers via social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) using the shortened link to the PDF version of the Open Letter http://bit.ly/k5T0Vp and entering in debate with them!
• Organise events, activities, conferences and street actions about the creation of an EU-wide constituency.
• Write articles on www.thenewfederalist.eu to promote electoral reform among a wider range of readers.
• Disseminate the message of the specific Article on EurActiv by MEP Andrew Duff, President of the UEF, to raise awareness.

=> Do keep JEF-Europe informed of any actions you are undertaking and send your pictures to sg(at)jef.eu so we can mention the achievements on this webpage and multiply our common voice!

Depending on the result of the vote, we could decide to prolong our campaign and also lead it at the national level!

JEF-Europe has already undertaken the following concrete actions:

• Issued a Press Release on 20 April welcoming the result of the vote in AFCO and calling on its network to gear up in view of the plenary.
• Invited its members to talk about the EU-wide Constituency proposal during their activities in the framework of EuropeDay thus reaching out to the wider public.
• Promoted the idea of the creation of an EU-wide Constituency by mentioning it at the occassion of the Berlin seminar, the Congress of JEF-Italy and the Members Council of the European Movement International.
• Discussed a draft Open Letter with PC2 - Federal Society and WG Project Development as well as several youth organisations. The final version was co-signed by 6 partners who are all forwarding the Open Letter to the MEPs they have close relations with. JEF sent the Open Letter to a number of federalist-minded MEPs, among others from the Spinelli Group.
• Invited MEP Andrew Duff to the JEF Jour Fixe in Brussels on Wednesday 1 June, who spoke about the ongoing debates in the corridors of the European Parliament and summarise the objective and content of his Report.
• On 8 June, the magazine of the European Parliament quoted the Open Letter in an article.
• On Wednesday, 16 June, JEF-Europe spoke up at a conference of the Spinelli Group asking the pannelists whether there are any better alternatives than the creation of an EU-wide constituency to improve the democratic character and popular legitimacy of the EP. JEF-Europe also gave the Open Letter personally to Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Isabelle Durant at the end. 
• Organised a Press Conference in the EP Information Office to Belgium, at Place Lux, on Monday 27 June, at the start of the week when the political groups in the EP determine their positions, ahead of the scheduled discussions and vote on the Duff Report in plenary on 7 July. Representatives from all signing organisations of the Open Letter voiced their support while Andrew Duff was present to reply to any questions from the public. He issued a Press Release afterwards to resonate the message of the conference.
• Early July, the Newsletter from the Spinelli Group mentioned the Open Letter initiative of JEF.
• Held a twitter campaign in the week of 7 July directly discussing the proposal with MEPs and asking for their support.

More info about the Duff Report:

The main features of the Duff Report as how it was approved by AFCO are the following: (source)

Additional 25 MEPs from transnational lists. An additional 25 MEPs above the current ceiling of 751 will be elected in a pan-EU constituency from transnational lists which will be gender balanced with candidates drawn from at least a third of states. These lists will be established by the European political parties and the election will be regulated by a new EU electoral authority. In effect, every elector would have two votes - one for the national or regional list and one for the transnational list.

Mathematical formula for the redistribution of current 751 seats. The report calls for a dialogue to be opened with the Council on finding a mathematical formula for the redistribution of the current 751 seats in order to prepare for enlargement and to bring the composition of the House in line with the Treaty-based principle of degressive proportionality.

Bringing forward the election date. The report calls for the election date to be brought forward from June to May thereby enabling Parliament to constitute itself properly prior to the election of the new Commission President (ideally in July).

Representation of women and minority candidates. The resolution calls on greater efforts to increase the representation of women and minority candidates.

New draft Directive on the right of EU citizens. The resolution calls on the Commission to represent a new draft Directive on the right of EU citizens to stand and vote in a state other than their own.

Revising Protocol on Immunities and Privileges. Finally, the report proposes a revision to the 1965 Protocol on Immunities and Privileges which would install a supranational regime for the European Parliament designed for modern standards.

As referred to already above, EurActiv published an article by Andrew Duff on 16 May 2011 about the reform of the composition and the electoral procedure of the European Parliament that you can find here.

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