European Parliament
What did the MEP – our (?) representatives in the Europen Parliament – do for us – citizens and voters – over the last five years of their mandate ? Why should we vote (again)? And is/was their a real choice? Asking this question in the just started election campaign it’s not easy to get really useful answers. What we see: EP and other EU-institutions spent a lot of (taxpayers/voters) money to sell their ’success stories’. The aim of this expensive exercise is clear: the EU-power-elite tries to get a high voting participation-rate.
Why? It’s one of the main justifications of politicians. For what? Doing during their mandate – what they want: “You voted for us, so let us in peace an doing our job”, we often hear the years after we gave them our vote. Frustrating – especially in this hard times when governments spent in some weeks time billions of Euro and Dollars to save “systemrelevant” banks, other companies and – last but not least – their own power.
Are there indicators, to illustrate the work of MEPs? The presence in the plenary or committees sessions? Not easy stuff. If even the attendance-statistics are not transparent. And: ‘terrain polititique, liaisons dangereuse’. Some Journalists and others got over the last weeks an impression, how sensitive MEPs are, when you ask for their attendance in the Brussel or Strasbourg hemicyle .
Interesting again the french reports of Jean Quatremer of Libération. Despite all transparency-rethoric: the EP ist full of secrets and some hidden knowledge. Congratulations, Monsieur Flavien Deltort. The former assistant of the italian MEP Marco Cappato did a great job and listed all available MEP-statistics on the attendance and other activities of MEP.
Not easy to measure reports, resolutions or questions. And does high quantity also means high quality? To be present doesn’t mean automatically doing a good job. Deltorts also looked at the attendance-statistics. His source: the EP-administration.
One of Deltorts results might be interesting for german readers, especially for me – coming from the german City “Köln”(english and french: Cologne): die leading german Liberal in the EP, Silvaner Koch-Mehrin, was - after Deltorts calculations, which Mrs. Koch-Mehrin’s lawyer strongly denies - only 38,9 % of plenary sessions (physically?) present in Strasbourg or Brussels.
Oh God, Sil(ly)vana(er). Your election-campaign-slogan in Cologne is “Eine Kölnerin für Europa”. Did you spent the time in Cologne instead of being in the EU-bubble? I heard, you live in Brussels. So, what about this Cologne-connection?
A lot of questions, but something is clear: Monsieur Deltort didn’t know, that Mrs. Koch-Mehrin got a child and the EP-administration allowed her motherhood’-holidays for eight months. This is important – last but not least to get the famous secretarial allowances.
Thank’s God, this is possible under the internal EP-regulations. By this wonderful ruling Mrs Koch-Mehrin attendance rate was adjusted and the Honourable Lady declared, her attendance rate would be – taking into account this special ruling - 76,2 % – which ist not bad at all.
And – meanwhile supported by harsh letters by her lawyer to Mr. Deltort and some journalists – Mrs. Koch-Mehrin declared: even without this additionals 8 month calculation her attendance rate would have been 54,6 %. Interesting. Where do this figures come from?
Statistics, statistics, statistics – where is the truth? “I only trust the figures, manipulated by myself”, a former colleague often said when political strategies were accompanied by statistics/polls.
It’s fascinating – the Brussel/Strasbourg-bubble: the generous EP-rulings are really promoting woman. They allow for instance wonderful career perspectives: as more children a MEP gets during her mandate, the mor she is ‘present’ and gets her attendance allowances…I’m waiting for complaints at the European Court of Justice. Why? Some men might feeling discriminated. Paradise EU-europe – so many opportunities for lawyers to make money.
Coming back to our sexy figures(statistics): figures are highly political and sometimes have direct financial implications. That’s why the EP-administration obviously doesn’t hand out the public (taxpayer) the full picture of figures – this we learn thanks some backgrounds german journalist Michael Stabenow (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and FAZ net) found out – to bring light in the case of the self-declared Cologne-fellow Koch-Mehrin. Michael Stabenow wrote: MEPs get their monthly allowances (actually around 17.000 Euro!) only if they are present more than 50% of the sessions.
The story still goes on. Because of several complaints and threatenings of legal procedures, for instance by a Hamburg based lawyer of the liberal (sic!) MEP (Silly?) Koch-Mehrin the webpage www.parlorama.eu of Flavien Deltort’s is actually offline. We are waiting for the day. Mr. Deltort will go online again and present his old or new figures. Something is clear: we can learn a lot by this case. Not only: ever trust the figures you get – even you get them by publicly accessible EU-sources. Also a lot about our famous young and ambitious Liberals and their special definition of civil liberties.
Back to the story: Thanks to the colleagues of “Euractiv” and “EurActiv Frankreich” we got some days ago a broader picture of this case. And strange again: the website of “EurActiv France” seems also to be offline. What happened? They remind us, that already last december a webpage disappeared: the public money for the Romanian Institute for public policy was stopped, when it tried to get an overview on the activities of politicians (source: EurActiv, January 1, 2009).
Looking forward webpage “Vote WatchEU“, which will come up may, 11. Co-Founder Sara Hagemann promissed facts and proofs what MEP did und decided – without naming MEPs. Why do you not want ‘name and shame’, Sara?
Conclusions: Not easy to take. But many questions are on the agenda: How shall we vote in June without any indications of names and parties, Sara? Or - are they all the same – good, bad and ugly? If there is no choice, why vote?
Photo: European Parliamanet, Media Service
#1 by johannes on May 11th, 2009 - 3:02 pm
Don’t give them your vote !
My German wife and I are going to express our so-called democratic rights by NOT voting.
The EU parliament is not legitimate in our view.
No-one was asked if they wanted it.
It does not have an opposition.
Proposed legislation doesn’t originate in the parliament but from an un-elected commission.
The system of voting rights is un-democratic and means that a Maltese member has six times the voting clout of a German.
The parliament does not represent a nation,country or state so has no citizens/voters of it’s own but has to borrow them from nation states.
The commission and parliament are DEAF to the opinions of Europeans when it comes to big issues like the Constitution/Lisbon Treaty or future enlargement (e.g. Turkey ).
Their salaries are bloated and corruption is rife.
Do we plan to vote for this ?
NEIN DANKE.
#2 by Andy on May 12th, 2009 - 5:58 pm
I like sexy statistics, too.
Does anyone have figures on what proportion of the EU public (by country) know who their MEP/s are – and what party they represent?
#3 by Thomas on May 13th, 2009 - 9:50 am
Of course it would be way to difficult to make a fair assessment of the EP and its politics by comparing it to national politics rather than to some standard of democratic politics that has never existed.. or would it? At least it would be so much less convenient for critics of the EU. After all, they might find that at home not everything works well. But why bother about the real world if it is so exhaustingly complex?
A few notes on what “Johannes” above writes:
- so you think that German legislation originates in parliament and not in the executive? interesting…
- the governments you elected have set up the EU – perhaps you should pay more attention when voting?
- Salaries of German MEPs are equivalent to those paid in Germany..
- How many corruption problems have we had in Germany with politicians? MOre or less than in the EP?
- The Lisbon treaty has been adopted by national parliaments across Europe – vote for other parties if you don’t agree..
And on a personal note: I have much more in common with individuals in similar socio-economic situations and with similar political views outside Germany than with individuals having different characteristics but living inside Germany. Why would I make the nation-state my highest value? Why would I not want to ally politically across rather than within borders?
#4 by John on May 13th, 2009 - 10:42 am
There are 785 MEPs for — as far as I can ascertain — an electorate of some 375,000,000 EU-voters. Each MEP must therefore “represent” some half a million citizens (477,707).
#5 by Anne Palmer on May 13th, 2009 - 11:01 am
We are for now, stuck with an EU Parliament. I beg you to use your vote by filling it with true “eurosceptic” parties-whatever name they go under in member Countries. Give them a stronger voice. I would like the whole building to be filled with such proud national people that have been denied a say on the Treaty of Lisbon. Use your vote in place of the referendum on Lisbon you were denied (ignored). The Commission are all eager for the taxes you pay on everything, particularly global warming, they just do not want to hear your voice or read where you might have placed a little ‘tick’ on a voting paper. Democracy was the very first victim to die, quite painlessly actually, because we didn’t even know it was in its death throws until it was too late to save.
#6 by Dada on May 13th, 2009 - 4:45 pm
QUOTE: “The Lisbon treaty has been adopted by national parliaments across Europe – vote for other parties if you don’t agree..” UNQUOTE
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Thomas,
I voted for a party that promised a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty – alas, they lied to us. They will now lose heavily in the next election. The new (v likely) governing party also promises a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty – no doubt we’ll be betrayed again. Democracy? Legitimacy?
#7 by Andy on May 13th, 2009 - 4:56 pm
Thomas, I’m impressed by your honesty in admitting that you vote along class lines:
["I have much more in common with individuals in similar socio-economic situations .. Why would I not want to ally politically across rather than within borders?"]
Why stop at Europe? Why not vote with your class across the whole western world or the entire planet?
There may be a terrible price to pay for our global culture, we are putting all our eggs in one basket.
#8 by Anne Palmer on May 13th, 2009 - 5:03 pm
The Lisbon Treaty can be withdrawn certainly as long as the 27 Nation States have not ratified it. In any case, all the UK Government have to do to be FREE is to repeal the European Communities Act 1972. I know that is true because our Honourable MP’s say that. That is why our parliament is still sovereign even though it is over-rules at times by the ECJ.
#9 by David on May 14th, 2009 - 4:08 pm
Anne Palmer, interesting, I’ve not heard that before.
It’s all academic though as no politician would do it. In any case how long will separate national parliaments exist? Remember the Lisbon Treaty gives the EU the power to increase its own power. Presumably the UK and Ireland will become 13 EU regions. How could EU regions ever repeal Acts of a non-existent parliament?