Activities of Domènec RUIZ DEVESA related to 2020/2088(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Stocktaking of European elections (continuation of debate)
Amendments (34)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 14 a (new)
Citation 14 a (new)
- having regard to its resolution of 13 February 2019 on the state of the debate on the future of Europe,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
- having regard to its decision of 18 June 2020 on setting up a special committee on foreign interference in all democratic processes in the European Union, including disinformation, and defining its responsibilities, numerical strength and term of office;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the 2019 European elections registered the highest turnout of the any elections to the European Parliament in the last 20 years, with 50.2 %, ( an increase of eight percentage points compared to 2014), sending a positive signal that European citizens believe that many of their concerns can be addressed at EU level; whereas the 2019 turnout still remains low and more needs to be done to increase participation in EU elections;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas results of the Eurobarometer survey commissioned by the European Parliament after the European elections shows that the state of the economy and the environment were the two main priorities for voters which clearly indicates that citizens who take part in European elections wish to have more action at the European level in these two policy fields of shared competence between the EU and the national level;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas the relentless engagement of civil society played a crucial role for a pro-European discourse ahead of the European elections;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas gender equality among Members of the European Parliament has improved (41 % women in 2019, up from 37 % in 2014); whereas Ursula von der Leyen is the first female President of the European Commission and her Commission has historically the largest share of female Commissioners, with 12 women Commissioners;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas 15 Member States still restrict voting rights for people with disabilities, thus preventing the meaningful participation and representation of these citizens in democratic processes; whereas, due to national rules, an estimated 800 000 EU citizens were not able to exercise their right to vote in the last European elections because of their disabilities or mental health problems;1a _________________ 1aEuropean Economic and Social Committee's information report of 20 March 2019 on 'The real right of persons with disabilities to vote in European Parliament elections'
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the reform of the Electoral Act of 1976, as adopted by the European Parliament in its legislative resolution of 4 July 2018 on the draft Council decision amending the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, annexed to Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of 20 September 197614 , is still not fully ratified owing to the unwillingness of Germany, Spain and Cyprus to take the last necessary steps in their national legislation, and thereby blocking the evolution of the regulatory framework for European electionby three Member States; _________________ 14 J C 118, 8.4.2020, p. 246.
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the amended Electoral Act, still pending ratification by some Member States, already requires further improvements (i.e. regarding parental leave for MEPs);
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the outcome of the 2019 European elections fragmented political representation in Parliament, leading to increased complexity in the decision- making processhas led to the emergence of a new parliamentary majority composed of different political groups with a clear pro-European identity;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas the Spitzenkandidaten system needs to be urgently improved and formalised in the EU’s primary law after an in-depth institutional reflection, by taking into account the proportional nature of the European electoral system, and to be ready to be applied at the next European elections in 2024; whereas this reflection should also include the de facto political role of the Commission and its President and any related changes to the decision- making process of the Union;
Amendment 85 #
L a. whereas the fact that only 8% of EU voters said to have voted in the last elections in order to influence the choice of the next President of the European Commission1a underlines that the process of the selection of the President of the European Commission needs to urgently be clarified and be made more transparent to the voters; _________________ 1a Eurobarometer 91.5, September 2019
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas institutional improvements such as transnational lists, as acknowledged by Parliament in its resolution of 7 February 2018 on the composition of the European Parliament, or the transformation of the Council into a second legislative chamber of the Union, as proposed in its resolution of 16 February 2017 on possible evolutions of and adjustments to the current institutional set- up of the European Union, would radicallyhelp to transform the European elections into one trua single European election, as opposed to the collection of 27 separate national elections that it is today;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas the intensified political exchanges in Parliament have also highlighted the shortcomings of several standing procedures such as the hearings of Commissioners-designate, with particular regard to the conditprocess of examination of the declarations of interests and the hearings of the designated European Commissioners by the European Parliament was an important step in increasing the Commission’s for the legal assessaccountability to the European Parliament ofand their applications (e.g. declarations of financial interests) public in general; whereas this process can and should be further improved in the future;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas democratic processes at both Member State and EU levels have been targeted by foreign powers sometimes in connection with internal actors in order to influence the outcome of elections and weaken the Union; whereas the mechanisms put in place by the European institutions, such as the Code of Practice against Disinformation and the Rapid Alert System for elections contributed to the mitigation of foreign interference during the election campaign;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas the Commission’s requests to social media platforms ahead of the elections created confusion and had unintended consequences such as the ban on Europe-wide political advertisements, which is the only way foran important instrument that European political parties use to advertise during European election campaigns; whereas especially on that matter, the institutions should develop an interinstitutional approach in order to have a positive impact on the security and stability of the electoral process;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Takes note ofWelcomes the higher turnout in the 2019 European elections, which demonstrates that the trend of decreasing voter turnout in Europe can be reversed; recognizes the important role of campaigns led by the EU institutions and civil society organisations to increase the turnout, such as the ‘This Time I’m Voting’ campaign; considers that this higher turnout shows that an increasing proportion of citizens consider the EU to be the appropriate level at which to address the challenges of our time such as climate change and environmental concerns, social and gender inequalities, sustainable growth, and geopolitical concerns such as migration and foreign policy; underlines that the state of the economy and the environment were the two main priorities for voters clearly indicating that citizens who take part in European elections wish to have more action at the European level in these two policy fields of shared competence between the EU and the national level; urges all the European institutions, therefore, to take responsibility and to act upon the mandate they have been given, directly or indirectly, by the citizens; regrets both the lack of decisiveness by the Council and the lack of clear intent to achieve solutions based on a common approach;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the substantial increase of youth participation in the elections; reiterates its call on the Council and the Commission to take into account their concerns, which are critical for the lives of the next generations; however, expresses concern that only 42% of people aged 16/18 to 24 cast a ballot in the2019 European elections;1a recommends that Member States should consider ways to harmonise the minimum age of voters at 16, in order to further enhance the participation of young voters; reiterates its call on the Council and the Commission to take into account their concerns, which are critical for the lives of the next generations; expresses concern, however, that across the EU almost half of all eligible voters did not cast a vote; stresses that more actions need to be undertaken at a local, regional, national, and European level to incentivise voters to participate in European elections; _________________ 1a Eurobarometer 91.5, September 2019
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Deplores the fact that the outcome of the elections did not lead to genuine gender balance in Parliament; recognizes that there are substantial differences between Member States, with some electing more than 50% of women and others which did not elect a single female Member of the European Parliament; calls on Member States and the institutions of the Union to take all necessary measures to promote the principle of equality between men and women throughout the whole electoral process; emphasises in this connection the importance of gender-balanced electoral lists; calls on the Commission, in cooperation with Parliament and other bodies such as the Venice Commission, to formulate recommendations to Member States with a view to increasing the representation of women in the European Parliament by, for example, encouraging national parties to present list of candidates with an equal number of male and female candidates;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that similar recommendations could be made concerning the exercise of passive and active voting rights of citizens with disabilities; recalls with great concern that in several Member States an estimated 800 000 citizens with disabilities were not able to vote in 2019 because of unsuitable electoral material or infrastructure at polling stations; calls on Member States to guarantee that all those who have the right to vote, including EU citizens living outside their country of origin and prisoners who are granted such a right in accordance with national laws, are able to exercise this right;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Is of the opinion that the reason why the Spitzenkandidaten process failed to produce a President of the European Commission after the 2019 elections is because no improvements were made to it following the expeformally binding framework for the application of the Spitzenkandidat prience ofiple has been adopted since 2014; intends to strengthen the democratic process for choosing the Commission President before the next European elections of 2024;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the up-coming joint declaration of the three European institutions on the Conference on the Future of Europe, recalls the commitment by the Commission President to address the issue of transnational lists and the Spitzenkandidaten process as the priority institutional issues during the Conferenceduring the Conference, in accordance with the decisions taken by the Conference itself on the list of priorities to be addressed, and in order to be applicable at the next European election in 2024;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that the election of the Commission President depends on a majority of Parliament’s members, which de facto requires the formation of a coalition; recommends that the election procedure be reverprocess of selection and election of the President of the European Commission should be consolidated, in line with the Lisbon Treaty’s provisions and based son thate Parliament proposes and elects the’s requests to appoint as President of the Commission, after obtaining the consent of the European Council candidate that can be backed by a majority of Parliament’s members, which de facto requires the formation of a programmatic agreement;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. ConsiderBelieves that the outcome of the European elections has reinforced the political dimension of the election of the European Commission, and therefore the need for more accurate and objective scrutinyEuropean Parliament's examination of the declaration of interests and hearings of the Commissioners-designate was a necessary exercise that increased the democratic accountability of the Commission in front of the Parliament; believes, however, that this process has highlighted the need for a technical and super partes evaluation of the declarations of interests of the Commissioners- designate; calls, to this end, for the creation of an independent body, endowed with the appropriate means, to have thise scrutiny included in its responsibilitiesof the declarations of interests of the Commissioners-designate included in its responsibilities; underlines, however, that the approval or rejection of each Commissioner-designate and of the College of Commissioners should ultimately be a political exercise firmly in the hands of the European Parliament;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Regrets that the attribution of portfolios in the Commission follows solely a logic where national interests take priority over the European common interest; recalls that Article 17(5) TEU provides for the limitation of the practice of having one Commissioner per Member State; calls on the Council to enact the Treaty provision under article 17(5) TEU;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Insists that all European voters should be allowed to vote for their preferred candidate for the President of the Commission; reiterates, therefore, that the Spitzenkandidaten should be able to stand as official candidates at the next elections in a joint European constituency across all Member States; stresses that, taking into account the proportional electoral system of the EU, the election of the President of the European Commission should depend on his or her ability to be supported by a majority of Members of the European Parliament;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Believes that granting European voters a second vote for transnational lists in a joint European constituency, drawn up by European political parties and movements, would contribute to elevate the European elections above purely national campaigns based on national interests, particularly if such lists were headed by the respective Spitzenkandidaten; calls on the Commission and Council, together with the Parliament and in line with the works of the Conference on the Future of Europe, to analyse the possibility of introducing a pan-European constituency for the elections of the European Parliament; stresses that the transnational lists should, if introduced, include rules that ensure gender equality and geographical balance;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Acknowledges that despite the fact that the agreed reform of the Electoral Law has not yet been ratified by some Member States, further improvements are required, such as provisions for remote voting operationsalternative voting methods, including in defined or exceptional circumstances, in order to incentivise voter turnout, as well as on the elections in the joint European constituency;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. TExpresses deep concern about the fact that evidence of interferences and disinformation campaigns is continuously coming to light, often with indications of foreign influence, in the run-up to the 2019 European elections; takes note of the efforts by the Commission and other institutions to tackle foreign interference during the electoral campaign; points out, nevertheless, that the financial and human resources needed to counter these attacks on European democracy, including at national level, are many times superior to the combined designated European resources; urges the Commission and the Member States to raise significantly the financing they make available for the fight against foreign interference;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Urges the Commission and the Council to consider, in accordance with the work of Parliament’s Special Committee on Foreign interference and Disinformation, the urgent creation of a European organisation dedicated to the fight against foreign interference; encourages the Commission and the Council to work much more closely with Parliament on these matters, as the protection of our democratic institutions is a core competence of the European Parliamenttake all necessary measures to combat foreign interference effectively, and to implement the recommendations made by the European Parliament's special committee on foreign interference in all democratic processes in the European Union, including disinformation, as soon as its conclusions are delivered and before the next European elections;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Recognises the important role of European political parties and foundations in fostering a European political debate; points out, however, that owing to restrictive measures at European and national levels, European political parties cannot fully participate in European election campaigns; stresses, moreover, that they are not allowed to campaign in referendums that concern European matters, including international trade agreements or the UK’s 2016 referendum on EU membership; calls for a further alignment of national and EU level legislation in order to level the playing field across the EU for the European elections; 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 all materials used in European election campaigns;
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Considers that the outcome of the European elections is a clear signal for an in-depth institutional reflection that will allow citizens, civil society and their representatives to shape the future of the Union; underlines that the outbreak of Covid-19 increased the urgency of an institutional reform process on the European level; calls, therefore, on all institutional partners to assume their responsibility and deliver an ambitious framework for the Conference on the Future of Europe, and to follow up on its conclusions in order to achieve significant and tangible changes in the policies and institutional architecture of the EU; considers that following the Covid-19 crisis the Conference on the Future of Europe will represent an opportunity for a deep reflection on the European recovery, notably on the need to readdress the European socio-economic model towards solidarity and cohesion;