di: José Miguel Aguado
President of the European Centre of the Politics for Unity Movement
More than 400 million European citizens will be called to the polls between 6 and 9 June this year to elect the 720 MEPs (15 more than in previous elections) who will make up the European Parliament for the next five years.
The European Parliament is the only multinational parliamentary assembly in the world elected by universal suffrage, and the only European institution whose members have been elected by direct popular vote since 1979.
Some readers are probably wondering what the European Parliament does; you only have to go to https://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en to find a wealth of information. In this article we will just give a brief overview, highlighting the importance of its functions.
MEPs deal with important political, economic and social issues and defend the values of the European Union: respect for human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. The Parliament also adopts the Union’s budget and monitors how it is implemented. It also elects the President of the European Commission, appoints its Commissioners and requires them to be accountable for their work.
In addition, MEPs, together with representatives of the governments of the countries that make up the Union, process and approve new rules that will then, directly or indirectly, be applied in all Member States, influencing many aspects of the life of every citizen of the European Union. A good example of this are the farmers’ demonstrations that are taking place in many European capitals, including Brussels, as a result of the application of Community regulations – in this case, the Common Agricultural Policy – which absolutely condition the sector.
This is why our participation in the European elections is so important, as the elected MEPs will represent the interests of the almost 450 million inhabitants spread across the 27 Member States that constitute the Union today.
We at the European Centre of the Politics for Unity Movement (MPPU) www.mppu.org are convinced that the European elections in June will be decisive in defining the role of the Union at this crucial moment. Therefore, in order to provide citizens with decision-making material and the possibility to interact with their political representatives in Europe, we have prepared a series of questions on issues that we consider important for the Union: European citizenship, common foreign and security policy, ecological transition, reform of the Treaties, European Civil Peace Corps, enlargement of the Union, and so on.
We have sent the questions to each of the political groups in the European Parliament, asking them to respond by proposing the actions they intend to take in the next legislature on each of the issues included in the question paper.
The answers will be published on our website and on our social networks. They will also serve as inspiration for debates, round tables, conferences, …, that the MPPU may organise in the different Member States, and will be very useful for the citizens around us to learn about the proposals of each political group on the issues raised.
Inspired by its motto “unity in diversity”, the European Union is a collective reality of supranational integration and co-decision that is unique in the world; it is an area of coexistence, where the defence of the rule of law, freedom, democracy and human rights is a priority. However, the Union is going through a difficult and turbulent period, in which its response to major challenges such as the war in Ukraine, the resurgence of nationalism, the lack of understanding between some Member States and the European institutions, the migratory phenomenon, etc., is being tested.
The guarantee of overcoming the current European and global challenges requires a “revitalisation” – updated but faithful – of the principles and values of the founding fathers of the Union. To this end, it will be necessary to summon the European Convention for the reform of the Treaties during the next legislature, in which the European Parliament will certainly play a decisive role. Thus, with our vote next June, we will have the opportunity – and the responsibility – to participate in the future shape of the Union; let us take advantage of it.
