A committee of the European Parliament voted Monday, March 28 in favor of the establishment of transnational lists, supported by France and Germany, as part of a reform of the electoral system for European women, which will still have to go through several stages.
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The Constitutional Affairs Committee supported this proposal by 19 votes for, 9 against and no abstentions, according to a press release from the European Parliament.
The next European elections are due to take place in 2024. It provides for each voter to have two ballot papers, one to elect MEPs in national constituencies, and the other for MEPs from different countries who would stand in the framework of a single European constituency.
Twenty-eight additional MEPs would thus be elected, in addition to the current 705 seats.
Unanimous adoption required
These transnational lists should ensure geographical representation so that smaller member states are not disadvantaged, the statement said.
A new European electoral authority would be responsible for registering these lists.
The reform proposal also provides that “
every European citizen over the age of 18 should have the right to stand as a candidate
” in the European elections.
The minimum age for eligibility is 18 in just over half of the Member States, the others providing thresholds between 21 and 25 years.
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The text provides that the elections take place on May 9 in all the Member States.
The Constitutional Affairs Committee still has to decide on Tuesday on a resolution accompanying this reform project.
The two texts will be submitted to the vote of MEPs gathered in plenary, “
probably
” during the session from May 2 to 5, according to the press release.
The legislative proposal will still have to be adopted unanimously by the 27 EU countries within the Council, and approved by the national parliaments according to the constitutional provisions of the Member States.
The Renew Europe group welcomed this vote.
“
The Conference on the Future of Europe shows us that European citizens support the idea of transnational lists
,” he said in a press release.
When she arrived at the head of the European Commission in 2019, Ursula von der Leyen had proposed thinking about transnational lists, with candidates from different countries.
This idea had already been put forward, without success, by French President Emmanuel Macron for the May 2019 elections. The ruling coalition in Germany led by Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz also defends such a reform.
In 2018, this proposal was rejected under the impetus of the main political force in Parliament, the EPP (right).