Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-06-11-Speech-2-152"
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"en.20020611.8.2-152"2
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"Madam President, the report before the House makes perfect sense if you believe that this Parliament ought to be the legislature of a European Polity. After all, every other state has a national assembly elected by a uniform method. But I hope Members will acknowledge that this is not the only legitimate view of the European Union. Some of us see this Parliament not as a federal assembly, but as a forum wherein the representatives of the peoples of Europe may hold the EU bureaucracy to account.
The role of a Member of the European Parliament is not to be an agent for the European project; it is to represent the interests of his constituents. I was elected to speak for south east England in Brussels, not to speak for Brussels in south east England. That is why I believe that it should be up to each Member State to decide how and when to select its MEPs. I personally favour a majoritarian first-past-the-post voting system. But even if I did not, I would still object to any method being imposed by the EU.
Nor is it the business of this House to dictate the gender composition of electoral lists. It is surely up to each party to decide how many men and women it wants to offer as candidates and up to voters to pass judgment on them.
Above all, I object to the reiteration of this Parliament's demand for a pan-European top-up list. This, it seems to me, elevates the dogma of European integration above any practical considerations of accountability or responsiveness. There can be no European democracy as long as there is no European demos. We delude ourselves if we believe that this House commands anything like the affinity and identity which national parliaments have built up over the centuries.
This Parliament could perform a useful role scrutinising the budget and holding the Commission to account. I only wish that the House were more interested in carrying out the functions which it already has, rather than constantly demanding new powers."@en1
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