Europe, Headlines

POLTICS-EUROPE: Voting for the Unknown Power

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Jun 7 2004 (IPS) - Uncertainty and apathy continue to linger over elections to the European Parliament later this week.

More than half of 349 million voters in the 25-member European parliament are expected stay away in the polling between Thursday and Sunday to elect the 732- member parliament.

A European Parliament Gallup survey revealed last month that only 37 percent of Europeans know that elections to the European Parliament are taking place in June.

In spite of efforts to publicise the elections, including messages on beer mats, appeals from national football stars, hot air balloons, comic strips and ingenious websites, the only directly elected institution in the European Union (EU) remains remote from voters.

Of those polled last month, 57 percent said they did not think their vote would change anything.

A message from a British voter on the BBC’s Euro election website is typical of many views.

"I will be voting but none of the candidates have made themselves known to me, and their policies remain a mystery," wrote Phillip Holleys from Cambridge in Britain. "I will have to research their backgrounds and policies myself to come to a decision. I am not therefore surprised that many people either don’t vote or follow the media’s backings slavishly."

Another poll report released by the Brussels-based think-tank ‘The Centre’ Friday (June 4), showed that more than 73 percent of those questioned said the parliament does not communicate effectively with the public.

Voter enthusiasm has been hit further by a growing mistrust of politicians and by a series of expenses scams involving members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Several MEPs have pointed accusing fingers at their own colleagues.

Ministers for European affairs in the 25 member states have been saying to European citizens that their votes count.

"Far from being an abstract concept, Europe is a feature of the daily lives of each and every one of us," they said in a joint statement. "Most of the common rules that affect your everyday lives go through the Parliament. Over the next five years, the Parliament will be involved in adopting vital decisions that matter to Europe and your future."

So why should anyone vote, and more importantly, care about the result?

The European Parliament aims to bring a measure of democratic control and accountability over the other EU bodies. Its powers have increased over recent years with new EU treaties.

These treaties have transformed the Parliament from a consultative assembly into a legislative parliament that exercises powers similar to those of national parliaments. The Parliament passes most of the laws which affect the lives of Europe’s citizens.

MEPs can also force the European Commission, the EU executive, to resign, as they did just before the 1999 election. They can vet commissioners before appointment, and have considerable control over the EU budget.

Before enlargement in May the Parliament had 626 seats. It now has 788 seats, but this figure will drop to 732 after the elections.

Germany will continue to have 99 MEPs, but Britain, France and Italy will see their representation go down from 87 to 78 members each. Among the new member states Poland will the most seats (54) while Malta will have the fewest, five.

Most MEPs belong to one of seven political groups. No group has overall majority, so amendments need the support of more than one group to get through.

A political group in Parliament must have at least 16 members from a fifth of member states to be recognised. The larger the group, the more funding it receives, the more committee positions it gets and the longer it can speak in debates.

The largest group in the outgoing Parliament is the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) along with the European Democrats with 297 seats, followed by the Party of European Socialists (PSE) with 232 seats.

The European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party has 66 seats, the Greens/ European Free Alliance 45, the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left 56, the Union for Europe of the Nations Group 30, and the group for a Europe of Democracies and Diversities 18. There are also 44 non-attached MEPs.

A continuing factor in voting in the European Parliament has been that national issues override European issues.

In line with earlier trends, many voters are expected to use the European vote to protest against policies of national governments.

Outgoing president of the Parliament Pat Cox has called on voters to see that the elections are dominated by European rather than national issues.