Voters in Hampshire will join millions of European citizens in electing their representatives to the European parliament this June. But what is it all about?
What is the election for?
It is to choose the UK’s 72 members of the 736 seat European Parliament, which is elected every five years, to represent the European Union’s 500m citizens.
Who are we voting for in Hampshire?
The 10 MEPs who will all represent the south east, the largest of 12 European regions in the UK.
How does the voting work?
Voting is by proportional representation which gives smaller parties a better chance of having their candidates elected.
Votes are cast for individual non-party candidates or for political parties, who list candidates in preference of who they want returned as MEPs. The last Euro vote in 2004 attracted a turnout of just 37 per cent in the south east, a upward blip on a downward trend but UK polls show nearly a third definitely won't bother to vote in this year’s election.
What do our MEPs do?
As an arm of the EU they have the power to approve, amend or reject most European laws which affect our daily lives, and have the last word more than half the EU’s £120bn budget, although not over controversial agricultural spending.
An MEPs job is also hold to account the European Commission, the body that pro pose EU laws, and can force it to resign. This happened in 1999 in a row over fraud, mismanagement and cronyism.
Where do they work?
MEPs split their working time between parliament buildings at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, where most of the preparatory work and meetings are held, and Strasbourg, France, where 12 sessions of the whole parliament are held.
South East green MEP Caroline Lucas, pictured below, commissioned a study which found it created an unnecessary additional 19,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year and cost more than 200m euros.
She blasted it as “unjustifiable and disreputable.” However the French resist change.
Is it true the EU is just a gravy train for MEPs?
Recent expenses rows have brought the issue into the public eye and many British MEPs have criticised the expenses as over-generous expenses.
MEPs get a £63,000 salary – the same British MPs – plus around £36,000 for constituency office costs (they get rent free offices in parliament buildings), plus £145,000 for staff. They also get a daily allowance of about £265 each time they turn up to cover the cost of hotels and restaurants, dubbed the “sign on and sod off” allowance.
From July MEP salaries will be levelled - a pay rise to £80,000 for UK members. Reform of travel expenses will also mean they should only get what they have actually paid for, on production of a receipt, instead of MEPs getting generous flat-rate, allowing them to pocket the difference in the actual cost tax free.
Is true the accountants have refused to sign off the EU accounts for 14 years?
The court of auditors, the EU’s spending watchdog, has failed to give a “positive statement of assurance”.
The accounts have normally been found to be reliable but the court fails to guarantee that the money has been spent correctly, largely because most of payments are the responsibility of individual governments.
How can I know more?
Visit www.europarl.europa.eu/elections2009
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