European Parliament electoral reform

Alessandro, an Italian living in Brussels asks Andrew Duff, MEP from the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe:

“Do you think having transnational lists for the next European Parliament elections would help make the European Parliament be more accountable to the citizens that it is supposed to represent and would also help to reduce the so called ‘democratic deficit ? Grazie.”

Andrew Duff: “Well, my answer is that I hope so. That is precisely the intention of the proposal that I make. I think there is a category of European people, a growing category that is, as it were, post-national in its aspirations and in its political loyalties, frustrated by the constraints of the old states.

‘I especially do understand why Alessandro as an Italian feels that we need a new polity which is bigger, which is European in order to confront the challenges of the 21st century.

‘Through a paneuropean seat, we will have, we will grow transnational political parties. There will not be the old style Christian democrat, Liberal, Socialist parties, there will be new parties or parties more attuned to contemporary dynamics.

‘It will transform the quality of the election campaign, it will make it interesting and it will make the candidates address the sort of serious political issues that we are confronting here in this parliament each day. But at present, these issues do not resonate out to the broader political sphere.”

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