Context
In January this year SPICe published a blog setting out why 2024 is the year of elections and why they matter. One of the elections highlighted in the blog was the European Parliament election which will take place from 6-9 June.
Given the UK has now left the European Union (this is the first European Parliament election since Brexit), the question is why does this election matter to Scotland or the UK more widely? This blog sets out why the European Parliament election is still important for non-EU member states and also the role that EU nationals in the UK can play in the election.
The role of the European Parliament
The European Parliament is the only directly elected institution in the European Union. It has a key role in agreeing European Union legislation as one of the co-legislators alongside the Council of the European Union (representatives of Member State governments meeting in different policy configurations). In essence, majority support is required in the European Parliament for legislation to pass. SPICe has previously published a briefing outlining details of the EU’s legislative process.
The European Parliament also has equal responsibility (again with the Council of the European Union) for adopting the EU budget and is also required to provide agreement to the European Union’s international agreements such as trade deals.
As part of its role in scrutinising the work of the EU institutions, the European Parliament is responsible for electing the European Commission President and approving the new European Commission appointments which make up the College of Commissioners.
The new Commission is appointed every five years, within six months of the election to the European Parliament. This means that shortly after the European Parliament election, an early role for the new Parliament will be to elect the new Commission President. Following the summer break the European Parliament will then be asked to vet the new College of Commissioners put together by the Commission President and then elect the full College of Commissioners around the end of October.
Influence on EU policy direction
The European Commission is largely responsible for leading the EU’s policy direction. However, the new European Parliament, by electing the new Commission President and because of its legislative role will have a significant part to play in directing the European Union’s policy across all areas of EU competence. This includes key areas such as climate change, the response to the war in Ukraine and relations with non-Member States such as the United Kingdom. According to the European Parliament website:
EU laws tackle most people’s priorities: the environment, security, migration, social policies, consumer rights, economy, rule of law and many more. Today, every important national topic also has a European angle…
…In an increasingly complex, unstable and inter-connected world, the European Union deals with global challenges that no EU country can tackle successfully on its own.
Given the significant global and policy challenges facing the EU, the composition of the new European Parliament and whether it provides for a stable majority to support the new Commission President’s policy agenda will be something to look out for following the election.
Party Groups
The last European Parliament election was held in May 2019. The SPICe blog published after the election set out the result and the composition of the Parliament at that time.
The 705 Members in the European Parliament (due to rise to 720 Members after the election) sit in groups rather than under their party representation. Every political group must be made up of 23 MEPs from at least one quarter of Member States. In addition, Members may not belong to more than one political group. There are currently 7 Groups in the European Parliament:
- Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats)
- Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament
- Renew Europe Group
- Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
- European Conservatives and Reformists Group
- Identity and Democracy Group
- The Left group in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL
Why does this matter to Scotland and the UK?
The policy direction of the EU matters to Scotland and the UK more widely for several reasons.
From a Scottish perspective, the Scottish Government’s policy commitment to align with EU law ”where appropriate” means the direction of EU law will continue to be of interest and will continue to be something that the Scottish Parliament’s committees may wish to monitor with the help of the EU law tracker.
In addition, businesses exporting goods to the EU from Scotland will need to comply with EU law so the development of those laws and the likely direction they will take will continue to be of significant interest.
From a UK perspective, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) which manages the relationship between the UK and the EU commits both sides to level playing field provisions meaning the direction of EU policy in areas such as environmental and animal health standards and workers’ rights will continue to be of relevance. The scheduled review of the TCA in 2026 will also be of interest to the European Parliament and any changes to the agreement may require the consent of the European Parliament.
In addition, the UK Government has sought to coordinate its response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine with EU Member States, therefore a change in EU approach precipitated by a change to the composition of the European Parliament could present foreign policy challenges for the UK.
The role for EU citizens in Scotland
The European Parliament Liaison office in London is currently highlighting that EU citizens living in the UK may have the right to vote in the elections. They have produced a table which provides details of those Member States which allow their nationals overseas to vote and how.
The European Parliament table shows that EU nationals living in the UK from all but six of the 27 Member States can vote in the election.
Conclusion
The European Parliament election in June 2024 will see more than 400 million EU citizens set the direction of EU policy for the next five years. The direction of that policy will have impacts beyond the EU’s 27 Member States. As a result, the election result will influence countries outside the EU including Scotland and the UK more widely.
Writing at the end of April 2024, the Centre for European Reform highlighted polling suggesting a right-wing surge in the election which may have several consequences including challenges for the next Commission President nominee in achieving the absolute majority of MEPS needed for election and policy challenges such as the EU’s climate action programme. However, the CER concluded that such a shift may be incremental:
“The EP elections in June will, in all likelihood, mark significant gains for right-wing populists and far-right parties. The impact is unlikely to be immediately evident, as centrist parties are set to maintain a majority of seats. Instead, their influence is likely to make itself felt over time, as mainstream political forces feel under pressure to tilt right on issues such as climate policy. More consequentially, the EP election results will also influence national politics, potentially giving more momentum to right-wing forces in upcoming elections and leading to changes in the balance of power within the European Council.”
Iain McIver, SPICe Research
Photo by Oprea Marius on Unsplash