Since 1979, the members of the European Parliament (the parliamentary assemby
of the European Community) have been elected directly by the citizens of the
Member States. Before, the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were just
Members of National Parliaments (MNPs) elected by and from among their peers.

In the European Parliament, every Member State has a fixed number of seats,
which increases less than proportionally with the population. Once in five
years, a general European election is being held, in which the citizens of all
Member States choose their representatives to the European Parliament. Next
elections are due in 1994.

Now the voting system for these European elections still differs from one
country to another. Although the European Treaty enabling the direct election
of the MEPs requires a uniform voting system, up to now every country has just
used its own system, more or less the same one used for national elections.
British MEPs are elected in a first-past-the-post system with one MEP per
district; nearly all other States have chosen a system with proportional
representation. But then in some countries (France, Italy) MEPs are allowed to
be a MNP as well, whilst in others they are not (Belgium, Netherlands).

The European Parliament is now working on a uniform election system for its
own members, so that every candidate should have the same regulations to
comply with, regardless of the Member State (s)he wants to be elected for. I
would like to know what you people out there think of the following questions:

1. Do you think it is necessary to have uniform regulations or should every
Member State continue to use its own regulations (for European elections that
is)?

2. Do you think a system of majority voting should be implemented, with one or
more MEPs per district, or would you prefer a system with proportional
representation (for the whole of the Community or per state, per region, per
district?).

3. Do you think the European Commission (or just its president) should be
directly elected too, or should it be appointed by the European Parliament, or
by the joint Member State governments as it is now?

4. The Maastricht Treaty allows subjects of Member States to stand for
election in another Member State they are residing in. Do you think you would
or could vote for a foreigner if his/her ideas appeal to you?

5. Do you think MEPs should be allowed to be a member of a national parliament
or a regional parliament too? Or a member of a national or regional government
body?

6. The European Parliament now has meetings in both Strasbourg and Brussels.
MEPs themselves are for a complete move to Brussels in great majority, but
political compromises between the governments of the Member States stick to
the status quo. Do you approve of this or do you think the European Parliament
should meet in one city only, and if yes, which?

Please post your answers to eunet.politics, to which all followups are
automatically directed. If you do not have access to that group, please mail
your answer directly to me and I will post it for you.

I hope many of you will take the time to post their views on this matter.