Considering the importance of democratic representation and constant renewal of political positions, we recognize the need to establish clear eligibility criteria for the positions of MEPs as well as European Commissioners, with the aim of strengthening representativeness, independence and citizens' trust in the European institutions.
Article 1
Standardization of Election Rules
1 - All member countries of the European Union must adopt a unified electoral system for the election of MEP's.
2 - The proportional system of representation is recommended, ensuring that the number of seats is distributed in proportion to the votes received by the political parties.
Article 2
Eligibility for the office of Member of the European Parliament
1 - Establish as an eligibility criterion for the position of MEP that the individual has not been in governmental functions at any level (national, regional or local) in the last 2 years prior to the appointment.
2 - Executive, ministerial, parliamentary or administrative positions in a national government, as well as positions in international organizations or regional/local governments are considered governmental functions.
Article 3
Terms Limit
1 - Each citizen may run for the office of Member of the European Parliament for a maximum of three terms of office.
Article 4
Eligibility for the post of MEP European Commissioner
1 - Establish as a criterion of eligibility for the position of European Commissioner that the individual has not held any government position at any level (national, regional or local) in the last 4 years prior to the appointment.
2 - Governmental functions include executive, ministerial, parliamentary, or administrative positions in a national government, as well as positions in international organizations or regional/local governments.
Article 5
Nomination Process
1 - Verification of eligibility criteria is part of the appointment process for the European Commissioner.
2 - Member States are required to provide a formal declaration that the proposed candidate has not held any government position in the last 4 years.
The implementation of this proposal could contribute to guaranteeing the renewal and independence of MEPs, as well as promoting greater representativeness and diversity of experience in the European Parliament. This would strengthen the legitimacy of the decisions made and increase citizens' confidence in the democratic process of the European Union.
Great initiative. Financial literacy should be absolutely a priority.
good idea. this topic is very important for the whole society.
It would indeed be a good idea, however, only and if, it will also grant the right to refuse authenticated the person’s identity when it is not strictly necessary to, it should guarantee the privacy and security of data BOTH from private companies AND governments (unlike what eIDAS2.0 actually plans for in the Commission’s text), it should be decentralised so that the failure of a single end-point wouldn’t allow the gathering of all PII or information in general there stored, even better if End-To-End-Encrypted and under double encryption (person’s key and the data center’s) when at rest.
It also should be completely opt-in for the citizens (unlike what the Health Data Space and other EU
‘ideas’ are currently going to be as per the current text) based solely in the EU or EEA territory without any whatsoever service binding it to foreign laws and interest (eg. US’ C.L.O.U.D. Act/FISA 702 etc. etc.)
Quotas and quorums should universally exist for any kind of election, not only for EU parliament, and not only for those below 25 of age.