JEF (Young European Federalists) Malta has called for the European Parliament to become a strong and independent entity.

“If the European Union truly wants to emulate a full and fair political system, it must function like one,” the group said. “Ultimately, we believe that European citizens will feel empowered to support the European Parliament as the heart of the EU’s democracy when they feel like their vote can truly make a difference and has a direct impact on what happens at an EU level,” it added.

The group also called for people to move closer to the heart of Europe’s emerging super-democracy.

It explaind that, currently, decision-making is largely in the hand of other bodies like the Commission or the Council. For example, national leaders appoint the EU Commission as an executive separate from the European Parliament. Not all too long ago, MEPs were appointed rather than elected; and while we do have Europe-wide elections nowadays, it still doesn’t initiate draft legislation. Instead, it only gives approval at the end of the process, the group said.

“Unlike in most national parliaments, coalitions rarely change formation, are on the informal end and always include a broad range of centre parties. The EU’s democratic deficit has been constantly addressed by successive European treaties, especially through the Treaty of Lisbon.

JEF Malta warned that much is still left to be done and that this perception together with a host of other issues still reduce the capacity of the European Parliament as the voice of Europe’s citizens.

“The European Union has become a lot more than just a club of governments taking decisions about the economy together. Since its inception decades ago, policy-makers have realised that this platform is also useful for plenty of other issues - social and educational policy, the environment, even healthcare. Today, virtually everything that a member-state does is also a topic for the European Union, acting like its own political structure above national politics. However, the EU was not really designed to be doing this – yet,” it added.

This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-media house initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author’s view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.