Véron, N. (2014) “How unequal is the European Parliament’s representation?“, Bruegel Think Tank, 16 May.
The European Parliament election of May 22-25, 2014 has several unprecedented features. It is the first election under the Lisbon Treaty. As a consequence, and for the first time, the main pan-European parties – including the center-right European Peoples’ Party (EPP) and the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) – are fielding lead candidates for European Commission President. Turning the election into a presidential horse race was intended to increase electoral participation and enhance the Parliament’s democratic legitimacy, even though it remains to be seen whether voters will actually see things this way.
The European citizens’ relative lack of interest in the European Parliament is often blamed by critics on its inherent inequality of representation. Voters in smaller member states are overrepresented. Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court, when ruling on the Lisbon Treaty on June 30, 2009, said that the European Parliamentary election process “does not take due account of equality.” In the Court’s view, this constitutes one of two key factors in the European Union’s “structural democratic deficit,” the other being the European Parliament’s “position in the European competence structure,” i.e. its lack of power compared to other EU institutions.
How much change would produce an acceptable level of equality of representation? Article 14(2) of the Treaty on European Union gives disproportionate weight to smaller countries, stipulating that “no “Representation of citizens should be degressively proportional, with a minimum threshold of six members [of the European Parliament] per [EU] Member State. No Member State shall be allocated more than ninety-six seats.” But the treaty does not provide a specific formula for representation, and the exact composition is to be adopted by unanimous decision of the European Council. The latest apportionment decision was adopted on June 28, 2013 (European Council Decision 2013/312/EU), in the run-up to the accession of Croatia as the EU’s 28th member state.
Relevant posts:
- James, H. (2014) “The Reconstruction of European Politics“, Project Syndicate, 15 May.
- Leonard, M. & Torreblanca, I. (2014) “The Eurosceptic Surge and How to Respond to It“, Policy Brief, European Council on Foreign Relations, 08 May.
- Puntscher, S., Wydraa, D., (2013) “Representation in the European State of Emergency: Parliaments against Governments?“, Journal of European Integration, Vol. 35, Issue 5, pp. 565-582.