“To
be honest, I was wrong about the Spitzenkandidaten process. It is an important
first step to give the EU a face – and it gives the public a buy-in to EU
politics”, mentioned a former UK cabinet minister at an event in Brussels, under
the Chatham House rule.
In
2014 the European Union introduced primary elections for the first
time in the European history. The election of the new European
Commission president confirmed that the primaries mattered and are a
step forward for European democracy.
Although
still more than 4 years until the next European Parliament elections, it is
important to already discuss what kind of EU primary elections we would want to
have in 2019.
Further
reforms will be needed to improve the election of the successor of President Juncker
in 2019. The year 2015 is the perfect time for starting with discussions in European
political parties, internal debate about their experience with the primary elections
in 2014 and how we could improve the system for the European elections in 2019.
Europe's
citizens are eager to understand the European project better and would want to
be involved in choosing their leaders democratically. European political
parties have a responsibility to propose real, transparent and functional
systems.
Dan
LUCA / Brussels
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu