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Less interest of voters in election of European Parliament is paradox: Director of Programmes at European Policy Centre

Politics Materials 27 May 2009 18:37 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, May 27/ Trend , E.Ostapenko/  

The European Parliament is an institute having power and if fewer people bother to go to the polls, there is a problem in terms of democracy, leading European analyst Antonio Missiroli said.

"It is a paradox! In 1979 when the European Parliament started being elected by the citizens [EU countries], the powers were close to zero, but many people went to the polls to elect it. Today the powers are very strong, but very few people go to the polls," Missiroli told Trend in a telephone conversation from Brussels.

The next European parliamentary elections will be held on 4-7 June in all 27 EU countries. Formerly, the European Parliament members were appointed by the parliaments of the EU member states. Not only the party composition of the supreme legislative body of the EU, but also the prospects of the organization undergoing a difficult period of restructuring depend on the June elections.

Since the establishment of the European Parliament, its powers have continuously expanded. Nevertheless, its competence is more than the majority of national parliaments.

The European Parliament was established in 1957. Initially, the members were appointed by the parliaments of the member states, but since 1979 they have been elected every five years by the population of these countries.

"The European Parliament is a strange institution. It is probably more similar to US Congress than to the national parliaments," said Missiroli, Director of Programme at European Policy Centre (Brussels), adding that it is a sort of institution that checks on other institutions and a sort of final word of legislation.

Over the past thirty years the power of the European Parliament has increased, Missiroli noted.

And especially the new treaty - the Lisbon Treaty - enters into force later this year, basically the European parties left hold the official power on almost everything, on all EU legislation, which makes it an important institution, Missiroli said.

The Lisbon Treaty should replace the draft of the European Constitution, which was abandoned after in a national referendum in 2005 France and Holland rejected it, putting into doubt the future of the EU as an effective regional organization.

Speaking of the problem of pre-election campaigns in EU member states, Missiroli noted that there is no single specific issue that is discussed in all 27 countries.

Actually, the election of the European Parliament is still predominantly the collection of 27 separate national campaigns, in which national, domestic issues are discussed, he said.

So they are in many ways more a sort of opinion polls on the popularity on the relevant national governments rather than a truly genuine European election, Missiroli said.

"That is also why it is probably going to be election with very law turn-out," Missiroli stated.

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