Voting in the 2014 European elections begins today as citizens in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands go to the polls to elect their country's representatives in the next European Parliament. Officials are braced for a big surge in support for candidates of the far right and far left as the EU faces its electorate for the first time since the financial crisis.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny last month described these elections as the most important for 40 years. But are they really?
Much has been made of the enhanced powers ascribed to the European Parliament by the Lisbon Treaty, which have come into force since the last election. MEPs now have co-decision powers with the Council of Ministers on about 90 per cent of the legislation that goes through the European Union system. But this legislation is concerned with EU-wide laws, not the country- specific issues such as water charges and property tax that have dominated the election campaign in Ireland.
Election paradox The television debates this week between candidates reflects a paradox at the heart of the election process – that election campaigns tend to be fought on national issues.
Yes, the EU has responsibility for key policy areas that affect EU citizens such as the Common Agricultural Policy, financial services regulation and energy directives.
But in reality, incoming MEPs will have little impact on many of the national budgetary decisions that affect voters – after all that is the preserve of the 28 sovereign governments that constitute the European Union, despite the European Commission’s new powers to inspect national budgets.
Instead, Ireland’s 11 MEPs will be grappling with the minutiae of banking union, data protection rules and the nascent EU-US trade deal when they take their seats in Strasbourg and Brussels.
These are some of the legislative files that will make their way on to the desks of MEPs over the next five-year term. All three will have significant impact on EU citizens in all countries, including Ireland. Banking union aims to shift the burden of future bank bailouts on to private creditors, including large depositors; new data protection rules, which have gained added momentum since the NSA spying revelations, could impact particularly on Ireland given its status as a hub for social media companies.
Similarly, the new EU-US trade deal could have a material impact on the Irish agriculture industry. The 2030 climate change and energy package that will be agreed during the next parliament’s term will also have implications for Ireland’s renewable energy and agriculture sector.
Ensuring that Irish MEPs have a voice when these packages are being finalised is vital. Central to this is MEPs’ participation in the European Parliament’s all-important committee system. Outgoing MEP Gay Mitchell, for example, has represented Ireland on the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee, which played a key role in amending financial services regulation during the last parliament.
Ireland will be hoping to secure representation on some of the more important committees when the they are being formed in the weeks following the election. This depends directly on MEPs’ affiliation with political groupings in the parliament, and their standing within the various European political parties.
Strong record To date, Ireland's MEPs have a particularly strong record in Brussels and Strasbourg. A recent report by polling group VoteWatch found that Ireland was the third highest in terms of the number of co-decision reports its MEPs helped draft, and the number of parliamentary questions tabled during the 2009 -2014 session. With only 11 MEPs out of a total of 751, participation matters more than in other countries.
Nonetheless, despite the European Parliament's new-found power, the European Commission and national governments through the Council of Ministers, still exert the most power. While the European Parliament can invite the European Commission to initiate legislation, the introduction of legislation remains the prerogative of the Commission.
Similarly, the dominance of the Council and member states in dealing with the euro zone crisis at the height of the financial crisis was an indication of the limited powers of the parliament. Ironically, the European Parliament achieved its new-found powers in 2009 just as the euro zone crisis burst on to the scene, confining it to a marginal position on the fringes of EU decision-making.
As Europe puts the worst of the crisis behind it, the next term of the European Parliament may be the time when the European Parliament comes into its own as it helps to define and shape legislation until 2019.