European Parliament election, 2014
Encyclopedia
Elections to the
European Parliament
will be held in all member states of the European Union (EU) during June 2014. It will be the eighth Europe-wide election to the European Parliament since the first direct elections in 1979.
shall elect the European Commission president, head of the "EU Executive", on the basis of a proposal made by the European Council
taking into account the European elections. This provision will apply for the first time for the 2014 elections.
Basing on these new provisions, several European political parties are considering designating their frontrunners ahead of the 2014 election, who will at the same time be their nominees for Commission President. The main parties have already committed to proceed to such a designation.
Different models of primaries
are possible in the European context:
Some parties have already considered open forms of primaries:
The European think-tank Notre Europe
also evokes the idea that European political parties should designate their candidates for Vice-president / High representative of the Union for foreign affairs
. This would lead European parties to have "presidential tickets" on the American model.
Other alliances, such as the national parties forming the parliamentary group "Europe of Freedom and Democracy
", are envisaging Nigel Farage
to lead their campaign.
It had been the stated desire of the member-state governments to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon
before the 2009 election
so that its articles governing the European Parliament could enter force as of this election. However, this was blocked by the Irish rejection of the treaty in a referendum. Therefore, in June 2009, the European Parliament was elected under the rules of the Treaty of Nice
, which foresaw 736 seats, instead of the 751 foreseen in the Treaty of Lisbon.
The Lisbon Treaty was subsequently ratified, and it is planned to give the additional seats to the "increasing" countries already before the 2014 elections, without withdrawing the 3 extra-seats of Germany. The 18 additional MEPs would bring the number of MEPs to 754 for a transitional period until 2014. These 18 "phantom MEPs" would first have an observer statute, before becoming full members of parliament if an additional protocol is ratified by 2014.
As a consequence, the 2014 election will be the first to apply the apportionment of seats foreseen in application of the Lisbon treaty.
Duff suggests the following measures:
Elections in the European Union
Elections to the Parliament of the European Union take place every five years by universal adult suffrage. 736 MEPs are elected to the European Parliament which has been directly elected since 1979. No other body is directly elected although the Council of the European Union and European Council is...
European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
will be held in all member states of the European Union (EU) during June 2014. It will be the eighth Europe-wide election to the European Parliament since the first direct elections in 1979.
Presidential nominees
The Lisbon treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, provides that the European ParliamentEuropean Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
shall elect the European Commission president, head of the "EU Executive", on the basis of a proposal made by the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
taking into account the European elections. This provision will apply for the first time for the 2014 elections.
Basing on these new provisions, several European political parties are considering designating their frontrunners ahead of the 2014 election, who will at the same time be their nominees for Commission President. The main parties have already committed to proceed to such a designation.
Debate about European presidential primaries
Each European political party will first have to define the type of primary they will organise, i.e. the process and timetable for qualifying, selecting, and making the formal decision on their candidate for Commission president.Different models of primaries
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
are possible in the European context:
- a closed-door centralised party decision. Presidential nominees would be designated by the European parties' decision-making bodies, such as the conference of national leaders, the party congress, or the party presidency. Such a designation process is often denied the qualification of "primary".
- A public centralised party decision. Under this model, the selection of the candidate is still made at the level of the party's bodies, but candidates are formally known in advance to allow for a collective debate.
- Closed primary. A closed primary would allow all individual party members (in this case, the members of national parties constitutive of the European political party) to designate the party nominee themselves.
- Open primaryOpen primaryAn open primary is a primary election that does not require voters to be affiliated with a political party in order to vote for partisan candidates. In a traditional open primary, voters may select one party's ballot and vote for that party's nomination. As in a closed primary, the highest voted...
. A European party embarking on an open primary would enable any European citizen to elect its presidential nominee. - A decentralised primary election (American-style primaryUnited States presidential primaryThe series of presidential primary elections and caucuses is one of the first steps in the process of electing the President of the United States of America. The primary elections are run by state and local governments, while caucuses are private events run by the political parties...
). Such a model would allow to organise votes on a state-by-state basis, over several weeks, each national party remaining relatively free to define how it will decide between the different contenders (through a presidency decision, a congress vote, a closed primary, or an open primary at national level). A variant would be to elect delegates at national level for a party congress in charge of designating the presidential nominee.
Some parties have already considered open forms of primaries:
- Already in April 2004, a former British ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MEPMember of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
, Tom SpencerTom Spencer (politician)Thomas Newnham Bayley Spencer is a British Conservative politician and former Member of the European Parliament.Spencer was educated at Pangbourne Nautical College and the University of Southampton. He served as Conservative MEP for Derbyshire from 1979–1984, Conservative MEP for Surrey West from...
, advocated for American-style primaries in the European People's PartyEuropean People's PartyThe European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
.
- Following the defeat of the Party of European SocialistsParty of European SocialistsThe Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
during the European elections of June 2009European Parliament election, 2009Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
, the PES Congress gathering in Brussels in November 2011 made the decision that PES would designate its candidate for Commission president through internal primaries taking place in January 2014 in each of its member parties and organisations. Member parties and organisations are free to determine their own voting process, including by opening it to non-members.
- This responded to a claim of PES activists and supporters who had campaigned for a PES primary since June 2010.
The European think-tank Notre Europe
Notre Europe
Notre Europe is an independent think tank based in Paris. Founded in 1996 by Jacques Delors, it aims to "think a united Europe."-Research:Notre Europe's research is focused around four axes:...
also evokes the idea that European political parties should designate their candidates for Vice-president / High representative of the Union for foreign affairs
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is the main co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy within the European Union...
. This would lead European parties to have "presidential tickets" on the American model.
Possible presidential candidates for 2014
So far, few politicians have been mentioned or have express the desire of being candidate for Commission president with a view to the 2014 election. According to Financial Times Deutschland, the following names are considered:- European People's PartyEuropean People's PartyThe European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
: Donald TuskDonald TuskDonald Franciszek Tusk is a Polish politician who has been Prime Minister of Poland since 2007. He was a co-founder and is chairman of the Civic Platform party.... - Party of European SocialistsParty of European SocialistsThe Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
: David MilibandDavid MilibandDavid Wright Miliband is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South Shields since 2001, and was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2007 to 2010. He is the elder son of the late Marxist theorist Ralph Miliband...
, Martin SchulzMartin SchulzMartin Schulz is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Social Democratic Party of Germany, since 2004 leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament .-Career:* 1975-1977: Apprentice...
, José Luis Zapatero, Margot WallströmMargot WallströmMargot Elisabeth Wallström is a Swedish social democratic, currently holding the job as . Prior to this post, she served as European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy... - European Liberal Democrat and Reform PartyEuropean Liberal Democrat and Reform PartyThe European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...
: Guy VerhofstadtGuy VerhofstadtGuy Verhofstadt is a Belgian politician who was the 47th Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He is currently a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.- Early career :... - European Green PartyEuropean Green PartyThe European Green Party is the Green political party at European level. As such it is a federation of green parties in Europe.-History:...
: Daniel Cohn Bendit
Other alliances, such as the national parties forming the parliamentary group "Europe of Freedom and Democracy
Europe of Freedom and Democracy
Europe of Freedom and Democracy is a Eurosceptic political group in the European Parliament. Formed after the European parliamentary election in 2009, it is mostly made up of elements of the now defunct Independence/Democracy and Union for a Europe of Nations groups from the out-going...
", are envisaging Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage MEP , a position he previously held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a current Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group....
to lead their campaign.
New apportionment of seats foreseen by the Lisbon Treaty
| Constituency | 2007 | 2009 | Early 2014 | Prop. A. Duff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pan-European constituency | - | - | - | 25 |
 Germany |
99 | 99 | 99 | 96 |
 Early Modern France |
78 | 72 | 74 | 85 |
 United Kingdom |
78 | 72 | 73 | 81 |
 Italy |
78 | 72 | 73 | 79 |
 Spain |
54 | 50 | 54 | 62 |
 Poland |
54 | 50 | 51 | 52 |
 Kingdom of Romania |
35 | 33 | 33 | 32 |
 Netherlands |
27 | 25 | 26 | 26 |
 Greece |
24 | 22 | 22 | 19 |
 Belgium |
24 | 22 | 22 | 19 |
 Czech Republic |
24 | 22 | 22 | 18 |
 Hungary |
24 | 22 | 22 | 18 |
 Portugal |
24 | 22 | 22 | 18 |
 Sweden |
19 | 18 | 20 | 17 |
 Austria |
18 | 17 | 19 | 16 |
 Kingdom of Bulgaria |
18 | 17 | 18 | 15 |
 Finland |
14 | 13 | 13 | 12 |
 Denmark |
14 | 13 | 13 | 12 |
 Independent State of Croatia |
14 | 13 | 13 | ? |
 Slovakia |
14 | 13 | 13 | 12 |
 Republic of Ireland |
13 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
 Lithuania |
13 | 12 | 12 | 10 |
 Latvia |
9 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
 Slovenia |
7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
 Estonia |
6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
 Cyprus |
6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
 Luxembourg |
6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
 Malta |
5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| total | 785 | 736 | 754 | 776 |
It had been the stated desire of the member-state governments to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
before the 2009 election
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
so that its articles governing the European Parliament could enter force as of this election. However, this was blocked by the Irish rejection of the treaty in a referendum. Therefore, in June 2009, the European Parliament was elected under the rules of the Treaty of Nice
Treaty of Nice
The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome...
, which foresaw 736 seats, instead of the 751 foreseen in the Treaty of Lisbon.
The Lisbon Treaty was subsequently ratified, and it is planned to give the additional seats to the "increasing" countries already before the 2014 elections, without withdrawing the 3 extra-seats of Germany. The 18 additional MEPs would bring the number of MEPs to 754 for a transitional period until 2014. These 18 "phantom MEPs" would first have an observer statute, before becoming full members of parliament if an additional protocol is ratified by 2014.
As a consequence, the 2014 election will be the first to apply the apportionment of seats foreseen in application of the Lisbon treaty.
Debates about a reform of EU electoral law
MEP Andrew Duff (ALDE, UK) is rapporteur on a the reform of the EU electoral law, which the European Parliament could propose to the Council before 2014. The MEP presented on 4 May 2010 in the parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) a draft aimed at amending the act of 20 September 1976 concerning the election of MEPs by direct universal suffrage. The Parliament has a right of initiative on this matter.Duff suggests the following measures:
- the creation of a pan-European constituency for 25 additional seats.
Parties competing for these seats would have to present transnational lists, composed of candidates from at least one third of Union countries and with gender balance. Each voter would have two votes: one for candidates on transnational lists and one for candidates from the national or regional lists. - the creation of regional constituencies in larger member states like those that already exist in France and Italy.
- allowing voters to favour individual candidates on a list when voting for this list (Semi-open list systemOpen listOpen list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected...
). - establishing an EU ‘election authority’ to lay down rules and supervise the elections.
- restricting election days to Saturday and Sunday.
- pushing the elections forward from June to May.
- harmonising voting age for the European elections at 16 years and eligibility at 18 years.
- establishing common rules for MEPs’ privileges and immunities.
- expanding participation to EU citizens residing in states other than their country of origin.
- finally, applying a mathematical formula that would allow in the future to re-apportion the 751 national seats automatically, in a clear, objective, and transparent way, respecting the principle of ‘degressive proportionalityDegressive proportionalityDegressive proportionality is a type of formula for electing the members of a legislature or other decision-making body. If a body is elected by a number of regions, states or other subdivisions, degressive proportionality means that while the subdivisions do not each elect an equal number of...
’, and regardless to how many countries the EU will enlargeEnlargement of the European UnionThe Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
in the next decades. A concrete proposal was elaborated by mathematicians in January 2011, abusively called "Cambridge compromise". It would consist in establishing more proportionality between the number of seats allocated and the member states populations (see opposite table).