Earlier this year, on the 3rd of May, the constitutional affairs committee proposed to reform
the European Electoral Act, defining common minimum electoral standards and a Unionwide constituency #MajorReform to EU electoral laws!

Transnational list: the what, the why, the what next?

To avoid all the heavy jargon that politics brings with it, this reform would have seen 28 additional MEPs that would be elected on an EU-wide list, but would not substitute for the Member State MEP list. The parameters of this transnational list would also ensure a balanced geographical representation, equal access to ballots with postal voting and gender-balanced lists, as well as a minimum age to stand for said election.

All this was brought forward in the hopes of building a real European public sphere that
would foster essentially political debates on key issues that we as EU citizens face, as well as
the threats that directly impact the Union.

While to some this might simply be pure idealism, the transnational list was also proposed to contribute to the solidification of a truly and democratic European political system. Essentially, we the voters, would have voted for the National list (our 6 Maltese MEPs) and voted for the European list (the one that is made up of said 28 MEPs).

This 2-ballot list is there to address the plethora of political issues, inefficiencies, and the needs of the people.

For the most part, its not uncommon that people do not give a rat’s arse to secondary elections. Can`t quite blame them completely if they do not understand nor feel as close to the EU as they wish. Why would they when Brussels is so far away in their hearts, since most of what goes on is not communicated that well. Then, you have the problem of secondary elections not given as much care, whereby the parties that start gobbling it up are the ones that instead of wanting to better the Union and the lives of its people, they want to cripple it. Our country, like many other EU states, has been faced with the rise of Euroscepticism, Nativist, and Far-Right tendencies. You see this with each EU election. In our very own
country, the ultra-far right party keeps gathering sizeable support.

Now this proposed reform would have given more validity to European elections, would have ensured that MEPs do not succumb to national bias, held accountable by all, and push for stronger European political families in parliament that would all translate into a more democratic parliament and EU.

Drafted Termination

According to the draft conclusion prepared in advance to the upcoming EU leaders gathering, the Council indicated that there was “no unanimity in favour of the European Parliament`s proposal as it stands”. Most of the delegation seemed to be opposed to the key political innovations. The worry is that this undermines “the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality concerning provisions which go in the direction of establishing a uniform procedure in all member states.

Concluding remarks

As citizens we have the duty to listen to the decisions taken by the ones we elect. It is our
duty to hold them accountable and educate ourselves to things that will inherently affect us,
whether we like it or not.

As students we should not shy away from reading, from understanding and whatnot the
realities of the world around us. To not let ourselves be cut off from those realities as we
submerge ourselves in our studies, as that will only dull us.

The intention of this piece was to bring EU Affairs closer to your attention, while hoping to raise awareness for the much needed activism, active citizenship, and EU reformation, for this Christmas, we are most likely going to see the once brightly lit up Spitzenkandidat Christmas tree, effectively getting the axe.

This article was written by an independent writer whose views are not associated with The Third Eye. The Third Eye strives to be the student’s voice, and that entails giving them a platform to voice their opinions.

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A statement was issued by KSU – (Kunsill Studenti Universitarji) on the 19th of August 2021 calling for the resignation of those Members of Parliament who formed part of Joseph Muscat’s Cabinet. After consultations with the student body, this statement was endorsed by 13 student organisations and 11 student representatives.

The statement was issued after the released public inquiry which relates to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

KSU stated that ‘The Cabinet, led by Joseph Muscat, were well aware of the corruption and impunity developing within the highest level of Government’.

It continued on to explain that: ‘The connections and close relationships with those accused of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder show hazed and unclear lines between those governing the State and those who resort to criminality and corruption. The silence from members of the Cabinet has led to an unfortunate lack of accountability that KSU feels is owed to the Maltese public.’

It is for this reason that KSU decided to publish such a statement stating that ‘the fraternisation between the Minister of Justice and Good Governance, Hon. Dr Edward Zammit Lewis and accused mastermind, Yorgen Fenech’ is unacceptable. 

Moreover, KSU specifically calls for the resignation of Hon. Dr Zammit Lewis, explaining that ‘It is unacceptable to accept a scenario where the Minister whose main purpose is to preserve and ensure the pursuit of Justice and Rule of Law to be heavily associated and intimately linked with an accused mastermind behind the assassination of a journalist’.

This statement released by KSU aims to address this situation by hoping that ‘the State will seriously address and implement the recommendations put forward by the Inquiry without delay.’ 

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Written by Nikos Chircop 

Turnout during the 2019 European elections increased by 8%; however, the overall figure remains a meagre 50.62%. But who can blame people for resisting to elect toothless representatives? 

“Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity.”

Robert Schuman

Robert Schuman, one of the founding fathers of the post-war European Ideal clearly stated that a United Europe requires the condition of solidarity between the peoples of this continent. Evidently, I argue that with the shameful austerity imposed on the people of Greece in the early 2010s and the utter mishandling of the on-going migration crisis. Europe today is lacking in solidarity.

The EU in present times

Nowadays, the EU is engineered to care primarily for the self-interest of individual member states. In fact, both the European Council and the Council of Ministers are directly formed by the national governments. Then for the crowning cherry on the cake, you have the Commission, whose president is the result of a pan-European horse-trading saga between, surprise surprise, the national governments (RIP Spitzenkandidat)! 

If the European system is so meticulously designed to be so subservient to the national governments, it should come as no surprise that the narrow individual interests of each individual member state will always have priority over timely, united European action. For how can you ever establish conditions of continental solidarity if the Union is used as a scapegoat for all that goes wrong, and concurrently a source of funding for the great projects which national leaders are more than happy to take credit for?

De facto solidarity

This is why I believe that before our European Project can be furthered in any other sphere; structural reform to shift Europa’s subservience from national governments, directly to Europeans is needed. A structured shift towards the people, through an empowering Parliament, and a reformed Commission. This is how Schuman’s “de facto solidarity” will be fostered. 

The “God-given” right

Currently, the European Parliament only has the power to adopt and amend legislation, on an equal footing with the Council of Ministers, but proposing legislation seems to be the “God-given” right of the Commission. The fact that MEPs do not have the power to propose legislation is nothing less than a disgrace, and a clear signal that Brussels does not have faith in the people’s representatives to effectively legislate.

This only undermines our democratic values and surely should be on the agenda of Commission President Von der Leyen and her new Commissioner for a “European Way of Life” (whatever that means exactly): Margaritis Schinas. That being said, the Council of Ministers should be empowered to amend legislation, providing that the Parliament votes in favour of the amendment. Nonetheless, the Council should never be able to just scrap a bill. This measure alone should aid in energising the masses to vote, support, and indeed care about what is happening in their common 

Should MEPs have more duties?

Parliament. They may think again for whom to vote for once realising that their candidate of choice could become directly responsible for life-changing legislation. More so, the masses will be invigorated to participate in the democratic process once they witness radical reform of the Commission. 

The system of selecting the members of the EU’s executive body is, shall we say, rather unorthodox. With the individual Commissioners liberally handpicked by the national leader of each member state and the President being decided opaquely by the national leaders and only requiring the European Parliament’s rubber stamp, we can clearly see how accountable the Commission must be.

The way forward

Hence, I think that the Commission President and Commissioners should be made up of sitting MEPs from the Parliament, on the basis of them being able to command a majority of seats. Through this method, the Commission will finally become the true direct voice of Europeans and the route to change and possible integration will be clearer. A Commission of MEPs will mean that not only will the people be voting for their true legislators, but also for their executive. 

The European Council, made up of the national leaders, will admittedly have diminished power in influencing the agenda of the EU’s general direction, as the Commission will no longer be responsible to them, but to the Parliament and therefore the people. There should be a new role for national leaders in this system, whereupon unanimous agreement; legislation can be proposed, amended and temporarily suspended.

In addition, the European Commission and European Council should formally assemble once a year in a “European Conference”, with the aim of the two institutions compiling a legally binding document outlining the general political direction the Union shall be striving towards in the coming year.

cover image: source

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KNŻ expressed that “this move is surely a step in the right direction and KNZ believes that Malta should now increase it focus on a number of other issues in relation to youths’ rights.”

Moreover, KNŻ continued to emphasise the need for both formal and informal methods of education to increase knowledge-based civic education so as to increase vote 16’s effectiveness and recognition amongst the Maltese population in general. The Council also pointed out that there is a number of anomalies in Maltese law, namely the current sexual age of consent at the age of 18 and the current state of Maltese law, whereby youths are encouraged to become active citizens and involve themselves in voluntary organisation, whilst prohibiting voluntary organisations from registration if they allow the involvement of youths under the age of 18.

On Social Media, the European Youth Forum also wrote “today is a historic day not only for the country but also for young people across Europe.”

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