The European Elections 2024

The Committee on Constitutional Affairs jointly adopted the own-initiative report by Sven SIMON (EPP, DE) and Domènec RUIZ DEVESA (S&D, ES) on the European Elections 2024.

Strengthening European democracy at the next election

While welcoming the higher turnout in the 2019 European elections (50.66 % of the electorate), Members strive to work on further increasing the turnout at the 2024 European elections. They regretted the lack of progress by the Council towards the adoption of the new European electoral law as adopted by the European Parliament on 3 May 2022 and called for its swift approval by the Council.

Members regretted that the lead candidate system for the election of the President of the European Commission was not implemented at the 2019 European elections. They believe that a clear and credible link between the choice of voters and the election of the Commission President is needed. They called on the European Council to provide certainty on the lead candidate system to European citizens and to put a stop to deals behind closed doors. All European political parties should nominate their candidates for the position of President of the Commission in due time, at least 12 weeks before election day. Members stated that the main candidates and the presidents of European political parties and their respective parliamentary groups should start negotiations immediately after the 2024 European elections to agree, on behalf of the European Parliament, on a common candidate to chair the Commission before the European Council makes its proposal.

Once again, Members recalled the prerogative of the European Parliament to choose its own President.

It is considered that establishing a single common European voting day would create a more coherent pan-European election.

Citizens’ participation and enfranchisement

Members reiterated their call on Member States to allow all citizens of the Union living or working in a third country to be granted the right to cast their vote in elections to the European Parliament.

The report also encouraged the introduction of postal voting to ensure that the inability to go to the polling stations on Election Day does not prevent citizens of the Union from exercising their right to vote. Complementary tools to facilitate voting should also be encouraged, such as advance physical voting and proxy voting, as well as electronic and online voting.

Member States should consider aligning and lowering the voting age and the minimum age for standing as a candidate, as indicated in the electoral law proposal and the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

Institutional resilience

The report pointed to the ongoing interinstitutional negotiations on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European political parties and foundations, and on transparency and targeting of political advertising. It called on the Commission and the Council to pursue interinstitutional negotiations in the spirit of sincere cooperation, with a view to allowing its legal provisions to be in force ahead of the electoral campaign for the 2024 European elections.

Members called for a reform of the Treaties and, in particular, of Article 223 TFEU on the provisions necessary for the election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage to avoid unanimity and ratifications by national parliaments. They urged the Council and, ultimately, the European Council to act on its proposal to trigger Article 48 TEU in order to establish a convention with the aim of also reforming European electoral processes.