On Transnational Lists

EGP Resolution adopted at the 33rd EGP Council, 25-29 May 2021

On Transnational Lists

The European Greens have long fought for a democratic future for Europe and have long campaigned for the creation of a joint European constituency for the European elections allowing citizens to vote for transnational lists. We believe this democratic innovation would be an important step towards the building of a real European public space and will strengthen the European dimension of the European elections. With this resolution, we wish to establish the European Greens’ proposal for a joint European constituency for the next European elections.

1. Members of the European Parliaments represent all European citizens and vote on laws that apply to all. However, the current European electoral system does not provide a real European political space to discuss political proposals at the EU level. Instead, 27 national elections are organized, with campaigns often focused on national debates that will not play a role in the European Parliament. The creation of a joint European constituency for European elections would guarantee a more pan-European campaign and participate in the building of a European sphere of debate. This will push the political forces to build projects that speak to all EU citizens and take into account the interests of all. This can be done already for the 2024 European elections, without reducing the number of MEPs currently elected in each member state.
    

2. A joint European constituency comprising all the European Union's territory shall be created for the 2024 European elections and shall, as a first step, elect 46 Members of the European Parliament. A review clause that assesses the experience and allows a progressive increase of this number should be envisaged.
    

3. Transnational lists should either be supported by a European political party, or by a defined number of Members of the European Parliament and/or of members of national or regional parliaments from at least 7 Member States, or by a group of citizens of the European Union with sufficient quantitative and geographical representation, based on a formula using a similar system like the European Citizens' Initiative's one.
    

4. Transnational lists should ensure fair representation of all genders. While current gender quota systems work to redress the underrepresentation of women, they should be further developed in order to fairly include non-binary candidates. Hence, in order to include women, but also non-binary candidates and other underrepresented genders, rules shall foresee that a candidate list is composed of at least 50% women, while male candidates have to always alternate spots with a candidate from another gender.
    

5. The leading candidate (Spitzenkandidaten) should be the political family candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission.
    

6. In order to be able to run, transnational lists should have candidates residing in at least one-quarter of the Member States. There should be no nationality repeated every seven slots. Candidates shall be allowed to run on both the transnational list and their national/regional list and, in case of being elected in both, shall take up their seat in the transnational list. Provisions should foresee minimum democratic standards for the process of appointing candidates in each transnational list.
    

7. Young people make up 20% of the electorate in the European Union, yet they are underrepresented at every level. Youth representation shall be improved.
    

8. Every citizen of the European Union aged 16 or older shall have the right to vote and to stand as a candidate. Minimum standards for accessibility of the vote (including to homeless people, disabled people, prisoners) shall be put in place. Provisions to ensure a larger participation for all citizens, including non-EU citizens living in the EU and EU citizens living outside the EU, shall exist and member states should ensure at least a system of proxy voting, e-voting or postal voting, according to national rules.
    

9. The European constituency for European elections shall be established under a closed list system with a proportional voting system such as d’Hondt or, preferably, Sainte-Laguë.
    
10. To guarantee transparency of the electoral process a series of rules for the European constituency shall be put in place, including:

11. The European political affiliation of the lists in both the European and the national/regional constituencies shall be made transparent, including the logo of the political party at the European level that the list belongs to and the political group in the European Parliament it intends to join.
    
    
12. If put in place for the next European election, the EGP Council would adopt rules for forming the European Greens list and for voting procedure.

• These rules should foresee that candidates are asked to be supported by a minimum of member parties.
• Non-party members could also run on our list if supported and ask to commit to Green values.
• Representation of candidates from marginalised backgrounds (race or ethnicity, LGBTQIA+, disabled, age, socioeconomic background) will be ensured.