The General Affairs Council Discussed the Reform in European Election Legislation
17 April 2018 News
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva chaired the regular meeting of the General Affairs Council, which was held today in Luxemburg. Ministers focused on the Act on the Election of Members of the European Parliament, the state of affairs as regards the rule of law in Poland, and the Enlargement Package.
The Ministers discussed the compromise proposal by the Bulgarian Presidency concerning amendments to the Act on the Election of Members of the EP of 1976. The council resolved to allow member states more time to reach a consensus by the end of April in order for the amendments to enter into force in time for the upcoming EP elections in 2019.
The Council has spent more than 2 years working on the EP’s proposals for amendments to the EU’s election legislation adopted in 2015. Since the beginning of 2016, the proposal has been tabled by the working parties in the Council, and December 2017 marked the reaching of agreement on 7 areas including: the introduction of a minimum deadline of 3 weeks before the elections by which candidates have to be announced; the opportunity for member states to allow the name and the logo of European political families to feature on ballots; a provision to harmonise the dissemination of election material on EP elections with national election practices; the opportunity to grant, under certain conditions, the option for indicative voting, voting by post, electronic and Internet-based voting; a commitment on the part of member states to ensure efficient, proportionate and dissuasive penalties for cases of voting twice, etc.
The Bulgarian Presidency continued working on the file, and presented a compromise proposal. The so-called 7 + 2 Package includes the areas already agreed upon within the framework of the previous 4 Presidencies, and two more provisions: on introducing minimal thresholds and on voting in third countries. The 7 + 2 Package proposed by the Bulgarian Presidency represents a balanced compromise that takes into account the different positions and national interests of member states.
The first provision introduces a mandatory minimal threshold of 2% for constituencies accounting for more than 35 MEPs. This wording is founded on the reasoning that the higher number of seats in a constituency that is subject to the existing thresholds has to be compensated by a mandatory minimal threshold to avoid discrimination. The provision is to enter into force in time for the EP elections in 2024.
The provision on voting in third countries gives the opportunity to proceed with optional measures, in compliance with national election regulations, to allow a member state’s nationals residing in third countries to vote in EP elections.
The Commission presented the Enlargement Package, which had been adopted on the same day. The Bulgarian Presidency welcomed the reports presented, and expressed its hopes that work in the Council in the coming weeks would be fruitful in view of adopting its Conclusions in June.
‘We are very pleased with the EC’s recommendation to start negotiations with the Republic of Macedonia and with Albania. I am grateful to the Commission,’ Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva commented for journalists.
The EC informed the Ministers on the state of play when it comes to the rule of law in Poland and the ongoing dialogue with Polish authorities. The Council is going to table the matter again during its next meeting in May.
You can watch the press conference following the General Affairs Council HERE
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