The Committee takes the view that the measures proposed by the European Parliament will not contribute to effective achievement of the pursued objectives, even though the objectives of the Proposal – to reinforce democratic legitimacy of the Union decision-making process; to enhance the democratic and transnational dimension of the European elections and the concept of citizenship of the Union; to stimulate voter interest in the European elections and move towards a more effective system for conducting European elections – may be worthy of support.
The Proposal is annexed to the European Parliament resolution of 11 November 2015 on the reform of the electoral law of the European Union and envisages essential alterations to the system and procedure for conducting European elections (establishment of a joint constituency, uniform minimum deadline for the establishment of electoral lists and electoral rolls across the Union, greater convergence between the rules governing electoral campaigns, etc.), which would centralise the system of European elections.
Having carefully examined the Proposal and having assessed the conclusions of the specialised committees of the Seimas (the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities and the Committee on Legal Affairs), the opinions of the Seimas political groups, experts (the European Law Department and the Legal Department of the Office of the Seimas) and stakeholder institutions (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the Central Electoral Commission) concerning the Proposal, the Working Group established by the Committee drew up a draft political opinion, noting that the Proposal fails to take into account that the organisation of elections lies primarily within the remit of Member States, where a significant role is played by the national legal system, political culture, and democratic traditions. The adopted document also includes the Committee’s opinion on individual provisions of the Proposal.
The Committee on European Affairs began the consideration of the Proposal in January 2016, marking it as a highly relevant EU legislative proposal. It established a Working Group for the consideration of the Proposal and requested the committees and political groups of the Seimas to provide their opinion and conclusions on the Proposal.
The Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities and the Committee on Legal Affairs of the Seimas considered the compliance of the Proposal with the principle of subsidiarity. While the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities determined that there was no possible breach of the principle of subsidiarity, the Committee on Legal Affairs concluded that the Proposal was in breach of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. The Committee on European Affairs did not see any breach of the principle of subsidiarity, but concluded that the Proposal was not sufficiently substantiated, as required by the Protocol on the Application of the Principles of Subsidiarity and Proportionality, annexed to the Treaty on European Union (the Lisbon Treaty). The EU institutions and national Parliaments will be informed about the opinion adopted by the Committee.