Election of the representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, amending the Act annexed to the Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom

By adopting the report by Mr José Maria GIL-ROBLES GIL-DELGADO (EPP-ED, E), with a majority of 399 votes for and 111 against, the Parliament approved the draft Council decision amending the act concerning the election of Members of the European Parliament. The changes proposed in the Council draft decision take up Parliament's own main demands, such as the principle of proportional representation, with Member States authorised to use a preferential list system; the right for Member States to establish regional constituencies (provided this does not affect the essentially proportional nature of the system), the incompatibility of being a Member of the European Parliament and a member of a national parliament (with the exemptions for the UK and Ireland until the 2009 elections); the right for each State to set a ceiling for the expenses of candidates for election campaigns.�