RESOLUTION A3-0186/92

Resolution on a uniform electoral procedure: a scheme for allocating the seats of Members of the European Parliament

The European Parliament,

-having regard to Article 138 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, which gives the European Parliament a right of initiative and requires its assent in respect of the uniform electoral procedure applicable to the election of Members of the European Parliament,

-having regard to the Declaration contained in the Final Act of the Conferences on the number of Members of the Commission and of the European Parliament, which stipulates that the Member States will examine these questions not later than the end of 1992 with a view to establishing the necessary legal basis for fixing the number of Members of the European Parliament in good time for the 1994 elections, the Member States being required to take into consideration, in fixing that number, the prospect of further enlargements of the Community,

-having regard to the Declaration made by the President of the European Council on 12 December 1991 at the part-session of Parliament in which he indicated that the European Parliament would be closely associated with the procedure for implementing that Declaration,

-having regard to its resolution of 9 October 1991OJ No. C 280, 28.10.1991, p. 94 on democratic representation in the European Parliament of the 16 million new German EC citizens in which it stated its conviction of the need to increase by 18 the number of German Members of the European Parliament and its resolution of 10 October 1991OJ No. C 280, 28.10.1991, p. 141 on the European Parliament's guidelines for the draft uniform electoral procedure,

-having regard to the applications for accession to the European Community and to the likelihood of further applications in the future,

-having regard to Rule 121 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the second interim report of the Committee on Institutional Affairs (A3-0186/92),

A.considering it highly desirable for an objective and permanent scheme to be instituted for allocating seats in the European Parliament between the Member States,

B.whereas the number of Members of the European Parliament should not exceed a certain threshold, which must reflect the need for Parliament to be able to operate efficiently and the need for a direct relationship between voters and Members; whereas this threshold could be fixed at 700 Members,

C.whereas the existing basis of allocation must be adjusted to take account of the new demographic reality in the Community and of the development of the European Parliament as an institution,

D.whereas any reduction in the number of seats allocated to each of the twelve Member States would cause unnecessary disruption to the political life of the Member State concerned and must therefore not be allowed as long as the number of seats within Parliament does not exceed 700,

1.Asserts that, in determining the number of Members of the European Parliament, due consideration should be given to institutional developments in the Community;

2.Considers that the development of a federal type of European Union has not reached a sufficiently advanced stage for proportional representation in the European Parliament to be introduced;

3.Considers that certain distortions in the composition of the European Parliament should be corrected;

4.Considers that Article 2 of the Act of 20 September 1976 should be replaced by the following:

Belgium 25

Denmark 16

Germany 99

Greece 25

Spain 64

France 87

Ireland 15

Italy 87

Luxembourg 6

The Netherlands 31

Portugal 25

United Kingdom 87

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5.Recommends that, for those countries which have already applied for Community membership and on which the Commission has not delivered a negative opinion, seats should be allocated as follows:

Austria 20

Sweden 21

Finland 16

Switzerland 18

Malta 4

Cyprus 6

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85

6.Considers that the minimum threshold for the application of this rule should be the number of seats currently held by the Member States;

7.Calls for this scheme of allocation to be implemented in time for the European elections in 1994 and to remain in force until the number of seats in the European Parliament exceeds 700, in which case the allocation of seats will be altered in accordance with the state of institutional development;

8.Considers that the allocation of seats in the European Parliament should be reviewed every ten years on the basis of the results of general population censuses, as required pursuant to the provisions laid down in the Council Directive of 26 May 1987OJ No. L 143, 3.6.1987, p.33;

9.Calls for a uniform electoral procedure - to be proposed by this Parliament - to be introduced for the 1994 elections; also believes that the changes demanded by German unification and the forthcoming enlargements of the Union confirm that the institutional development of the European Parliament towards a genuine balance of power with the Council is a matter of urgency; reaffirms its commitment to submitting, on the basis of the guidelines adopted in its above-mentioned resolution of 10 October 1991, a draft uniform electoral procedure in time for it to be adopted before the next European elections in 1994, and draws attention to the demand, in its resolution of 7 April 1992 on the results of the intergovernmental conferencesMinutes of that sitting, Part II, Item 2, for institutional changes to be adopted before 1994, in order specifically to make good the Community's democratic deficit;

10.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and to the parliaments and governments of the Member States.