Policy paper – Make European elections more meaningful

01/10/2020

The EU is characterised by an unusually high degree of institutional entanglement and little majoritarian decision-making. This strong consensualism not only reduces decision-making efficiency but also the competitiveness among pro-European parties and hence the democratic meaningfulness of EP elections. At the same time, the absence of a loyal opposition within the system reinforces populist anti-EU parties. To overcome this situation, it is necessary to make EP elections more consequential and to increase the scope of majoritarian decision-making in the EU. The first paper outlines short and long-term reform paths regarding European electoral reform, the parliamentarisation of the European Commission, and the reform of the legislative procedure.