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Reform of European electoral law: vote postponed
Members voted to postpone the vote on the reform of the European electoral law (rule 190) to the first November plenary session, at the suggestion of co-rapporteurs Danuta Hübner (EPP, PL) and Jo Leinen (S&D, DE).
European elections should be fought with formally endorsed EU-wide lead candidates for the European Commission Presidency, says the draft "parliamentary legislative initiative". It advocates mandatory thresholds for obtaining seats in the European Parliament, ranging from 3 to 5% of the vote, to be applied in single-constituency countries and constituencies with more than 26 seats in countries using the list system. And all EU citizens living abroad must be able to vote in EU elections.
Background
The EU Treaties (TFEU Article 223.1) give the European Parliament the right to initiate a procedure to reform the European electoral and draw up proposals to this end. These proposals would then need to be endorsed by the Council, acting unanimously and approved by all member states.
