[ParlTrack]

Motion for a resolution
Citation 2

~~– having regard to its resolution of 22 November 2012 on the elections to the European Parliament in 20142, __________________ 2 Texts~~deleted adopted, P7_TA(2012)0462.

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Citation 3

~~– having regard to its resolution of 13 March 2013 on the composition of the European Parliament with a view to the 20143 elections, __________________ 3~~deleted Texts adopted, P7_TA(2013)0082.

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Citation 4

~~– having regard to its resolution of 4 July 2013 on improving the practical arrangements for the holding of the European elections in 20144, __________________ 4 Texts~~deleted adopted, P7_TA(2013)0323.

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Citation 6

~~– having regard to the Commission communication of 8 May 2015 entitled ‘Report on the 2014 European Parliament elections’6, __________________ 6~~deleted COM(2015)0206.

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas the reform of Parliament's electoral procedure should aim at enhancing the democratic dimension of the European elections, reinforce the concept of citizenship of the Union, improve the functioning of the European Parliament and the governance of the Union, make the work of the European Parliament more legitimate and efficient, enhance the effectiveness of the system for conducting European elections, and provide for greater electoral equality for citizens of the Union;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

~~D. whereas the possibility of developing a uniform electoral procedure based on direct universal suffrage has been enshrined in the Treaties since 1957;~~deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas Parliament's competencies have been gradually increasing since the first direct elections in 1979 and are now such that Parliament has equal status as co-legislator with the Council in most of the Union's policy areas, most notably as a result of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the Lisbon Treaty changed the mandate of Members of the European Parliament, making them9 direct representatives of the Union's citizens instead of ‘representatives of the peoples of the States brought together in the Community’10; __________________ 9 Articles 10Article 189(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Communitydeleted 10(2) and 14(2) TEU.

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas the only reform of the Electoral Act itself took place in 2002 through Council Decision 2002/772/EC, Euratom11, which requires the Member States to conduct the elections on the basis of proportional representation using a list system or a single transferable vote system and which abolished the dual mandate for Members of the European Parliament; __________________ 11 OJ L 283, 21.10.2002, p. 1.

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas a comprehensive agreement on a truly uniform electoral procedure has not yet been achieved, though some convergence of electoral systems has gradually taken place, inter alia through secondary legislation, such as Council Directive 93/109/EC on the right to vote and stand as candidate in elections to the Parliament for Union citizens residing in another Member State;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital I

I. whereas the concept of citizenship of the Union, formally introduced into the constitutional order by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993, includes the right of Union citizens to participate in European and municipal elections in their Member States, and in their State of residence under the same conditions as nationals of that State12; whereas the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which now has binding legal force under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, has reinforced that right; __________________ 12deleted Article 20(2) TFEU.

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital J

J. whereas despite these reforms, European elections are still governed for the most part by national laws, electoral campaigning remains national, and European political parties cannot sufficiently fulfil their constitutional mandate and “contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the will of citizens of the Union” as required by Article 10(4) TEU;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital K

K. whereas European political parties are best placed to ‘contribute to forming European political awareness’13 and should therefore play a stronger role in the campaigns for Parliament elections, so as to improve their visibility and to show the link between a vote for a particular national party and the impact it has on the size of a European political group in the European Parliament; __________________ 13deleted Article 10(4) TEU.

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital L

L. whereas the deadlines for finalising electoral lists ahead of European elections vary greatly among Member States, currently ranging from 17 days to 83 days, which puts candidates and voters across the Union in an unequal position when it comes to the time they have to campaign or to reflect on their voting choice;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital M

M. whereas the existing European electoral rules allow for a non-obligatory threshold of up to 5 % of votes cast to be set for European elections, and 15 Member States have availed themselves of this opportunity and have introduced a threshold of between 3 % and 5 %; whereas in smaller Member States, and in Member States that have subdivided their electoral area into constituencies, the de facto threshold nevertheless lies above 3 %, even though no legal thresholds exist;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital N

N. whereas although Article 10(2) of the Electoral Act expressly prohibits the early publication of the results of elections, such results have been made public in the past; whereas a harmonised time for the close of polling in all Member States would contribute strongly to the common European character of the European elections and would reduce the possibility of their outcome being influenced if election results in some Member States are made public before the close of polling in all Member States;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital O

O. whereas the Lisbon Treaty established a new constitutional order by granting the European Parliament the right to elect the President of the European Commission14 instead of merely giving its consent; whereas the 2014 elections set an important precedent in this respect; whereas the procedure for the nomination and selection of lead candidates for this position should furthermore be an integral part of the election campaigns; and whereas the deadline for the nomination of candidates by European political parties should be codified in the Electoral Act; __________________ 14 Article 17(7) TEU.deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital P

P. whereas not all Member States afford their citizens the possibility of voting from abroad, and among those that do, the conditions for deprivation of the right to vote vary greatly; whereas granting all Union citizens residing outside the Union the right to participate in elections would contribute to electoral equality;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital Q

Q. whereas the minimum age for eligibility to stand as a candidate across the 28 Member States varies between 18 and 25, and the minimum age for eligibility to vote ranges from 16 to 18, due to the divergent constitutional and electoral traditions in the Member States; whereas harmonisation of the voting age, and of the minimum age for candidates, would be highly desirable as a means of providing Union citizens with real voting equality, and would enable discrimination to be avoided in the most fundamental area of citizenship: the right to participate in the democratic process;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital R

R. whereas postal, electronic and internet voting could make the conduct of European elections more efficient and more appealing for voters, provided that the highest possible standards of data protection are ensured;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital S

~~S. whereas in most Member States, members of the executive can seek election to the parliament without having to discontinue their institutional activity;~~deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Recital T

~~T. whereas first projections of the electoral results should be announced simultaneously in all Member States on the last day of the election period at 21:00 hours CET;~~deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. Decides to reform its electoral procedure in good time before the 2019 elections, with the aim of enhancing the democratic dimension of the European elections, reinforcing the concept of citizenship of the Union, improving the functioning of the European Parliament and the governance of the Union, making the work of the European Parliament more legitimate and efficient, enhancing the effectiveness of the system for conducting European elections, and providing for greater electoral equality for citizens of the Unionhat, apart from technical adjustments, such as for example the number of languages in which the Act is written (Article 15) or the updating of Article 7(2), nothing should be amended or inserted in the Electoral Act of 20 September 1976;

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Observes that, in its existing form, the Act guarantees direct general elections in accordance with democratic principles;

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1b. Adds that the Member States have the autonomous power to decide for themselves the conditions and procedures for the elections which apply to their citizens;

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Proposes that the visibility of European political parties be enhanced by placing their names and logos on the ballot papers, and recommends that the same should also appear on posters and other material used in European election campaigns, since those measures would render European elections more transparent and improve the democratic manner in which they are conducted, as citizens will be able to clearly link their vote with the impact it has on the size of a European political group in the European Parliament;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Determines to set a common minimum deadline of twelve weeks before election day for the establishment of lists at national level, in order to enhance electoral equality by providing candidates and voters across the Union with the same period in which to prepare and reflect ahead of the vote;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4

4. Suggests the introduction of an obligatory threshold, ranging between 3% and 5%, for the allocation of seats in single-constituency Member States and constituencies in which the list system is used and which comprise more than 26 seats; considers this measure important for safeguarding the functioning the European Parliament, since it will avoid further fragmentation;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Determines to set a common deadline for the nomination of lead candidates by European political parties 12 weeks in advance of European elections; considers that the process of nomination of lead candidates constitutes an important aspect of electoral campaigns due to the implicit link between the results of European elections and the selection of the Commission President as enshrined in the Treaty of Lisbon;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7

7. Proposes that Union citizens who reside in a third country be granted the right to cast their vote in elections to the European Parliament; considers that this would finally give all Union citizens the same right to vote in European elections under the same conditions, irrespective of their place of residence or nationality;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

~~8. As a future step, recommends to Member States that they should consider ways to harmonise the minimum age of voters at 16, in order to further enhance electoral equality among Union citizens;~~deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

~~9. Encourages Member States to use postal electronic and internet voting in order to make voting easier for people with reduced mobility and for those living abroad;~~deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10

10. Calls on the institutions involved to review the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission, with a view to adapting the rules on Commissioners seeking elections to the European Parliament, in order not to impede the institutional efficiency of the Commission in times of elections, while avoiding the misuse of institutional resources;deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

~~11. Determines to give Parliament the right to fix the electoral period for elections to the European Parliament after consulting the Council;~~deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

~~12. Encourages Member States to take measures to promote gender balance in every aspect of European elections;~~deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

Gerolf ANNEMANS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13

~~13. Submits to the Council the annexed proposal for amendment of the Act concerning the election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage;~~deleted

2015/09/01
Committee: AFCO

36 Amendments of Gerolf ANNEMANS related to 2015/2035(INL)

ParlTrack - 2011-2024