Renew Europe warmly welcomes the vote during this week’s plenary in Strasbourg on the Electoral Law report. With this important text, the European Parliament takes another step forward for the reinforcement of European democracy. Since its inception, Renew Europe has fought for the strengthening of the European Union, European public sphere and European Parliament.

Transnational lists are the ideal way to reinforce a sense of belonging to the EU. With this electoral reform, 28 transnational seats for the EU-wide constituency on the top of the current 705 seats should be created. This reform guarantees a geographic and gender balance, a key point. 

Renew Europe would like to see the implementation of this reform ready for the 2024 elections. The Conference on the Future of Europe - which ended last weekend – has shown that EU citizens support the idea of transnational lists to “Europeanise” European elections. In these uncertain times and after the contributions of citizens to the Conference, we cannot fail them. Strengthening European democracy is the path we must choose.

Guy Verhofstadt MEP (Open VLD, BE), Renew Europe shadow rapporteur on Electoral Reform, declared: “The European Parliament launches wholesale reform of our EU elections: lowering the voting age to 16, holding elections on the same day across Europe - Europe Day, 9 May – and transnational lists to underpin a system of Spitzenkandidaten. A real democracy needs real accountability. This is the way forward.”

Breaking — transnational lists approved with large majority.

The European electoral law incl. 9 May elections, voting age 16, Spitzenkandidaten is a big deal for European democracy !
🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/8onZq0Df9I

— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) May 3, 2022

Photo credit: Guy Verhofstadt