By Martin Banks - 27th November 2007
MEPs have spelled out their proposals for improving voter turnout in the next European elections.
And they have also dentified the key issues which they believe will dominated the elections in June 2009.
Four senior deputies were among those taking part in an event in Brussels on Tuesday which, effectively, signals the start of the 20-month run-up to the EU-wide poll.
A key theme of the forum, organised by the European Citizen Action Service, was how the EU can encourage more people to vote next time round.
Voter participation in the last election in 2004 fell below 50 per cent, a figure many seen as symbolically important.
German Socialist MEP Jo Leinen said the creation of more pan-European political parties and foundations would help generate more interest in elections to parliament.
He cautioned, "But persuading the public to vote in European elections is not just the responsibility of political parties but needs the support of civil society organisations as well."
The campaign needed to be 'personalised' with the involvement of well-known celebrities with whom the public can identify, he said.
Monica Frassoni, joint leader of the Green group in parliament, admitted that parties, including her own, still had a lot work to do in getting their message across to a sometimes sceptical public.
One of the big challenges in the 2009 election, she said, will be to mobilise public interest in the new member states, such as Romania and Bulgaria.
UK Liberal member Andrew Duff said parliament would do well to highlight the fact that its powers, both legislatively and on co-decision issues, had increased "substantially' in recent years.
Meanwhile, Danish eurosceptic MEP Jens-Peter Bonde told the conference that voter turnout had actually fallen dramatically over the years, from an high of 64 per cent in the first elections in 1979, to its current all-time low.
"People gave it a go and voted originally but,having seen that real decisio-making is done by EU technocrats, they no longer bother to vote. The reason is that they do not think their vote will make any difference."
Some of the issues they MEPs said they think will feature prominently in the campaign include climate change, the EU's role in the world and workplace policies.
Tony Venables, ECAS director, said, "With some 20 months to go before the elections in 2009 this is the first event of its kind and one of the messages which emerged is that this type of thing should be replicated across Europe.
"It provided an ideal opportunity for people, including MEPs, to set out their concerns, explain how the parties are gearing up for the elections and how voter turnout might be improved."
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