The Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, has brought to Brussels a proposal to move from the single state constituency in the European elections to, in the case of Spain, constituencies linked to “constitutional nationalities”. These new constituencies would comprise “the number of seats corresponding to the average population per seat, taking into account the total population of the European Union divided by the total number of MEPs.” The proposal, logically, does not look at the June elections, but at the next call, already in 2029.
This approach is included in the Protocol on regions with legislative powers and constitutional nationalities, a proposal that the Lehendakari has delivered to the vice president of the Commission for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Suiça. This text includes 16 articles that outline an approach so that nationalities and regions with legislative powers can participate in decision-making in the European Union.
The proposal to modify the state constituencies is included in article 10 of the text, and indicates that "it will be a common principle of the uniform procedure indicated in article 223.1 TFEU, that a constitutional nationality registered in the Commission's register will constitute its own constituency within of the Member State in the elections to the European Parliament.
In this sense, the Basque Government's proposal states that “the constituency for elections to the European Parliament of a constitutional nationality will include the number of seats corresponding to the average population per seat (total population of the Union divided by the total number of seats). ), rounding it up (the whole number, without decimals, plus one).”
Likewise, it clarifies that "in order to better express the internal plurality of constitutional nationality, the electoral system within this constituency will be proportional, unless the Member State decides otherwise."
At a time when the minimum thresholds to access the European Parliament are being debated, this initiative could solve the problems of political parties that do not present themselves in all state constituencies, formations that must come together in coalition to achieve representation.
Beyond this article, the text includes a battery of proposals to facilitate this participation of nationalities and regions. As a starting point, Urkullu proposes the creation of an official register of the European Union that would include “those nationalities that have been recognized as such by the constitutional order of each Member State.” The protocol proposed by Urkullu would apply to these nationalities and regions.
The proposal also includes the creation of a permanent committee with all regions and nationalities with legislative powers within the Committee of the Regions and the recognition of all languages that are official in any regional territory, as well as their right to participate in all the debates on the future of the Union and in the processes of reform of the Treaties.
In relation to languages, in fact, it states that "the registration in the register of constitutional regions and nationalities prepared by the Commission will imply the recognition as the official language of the Union of the official languages in the territory of said constitutional regions and nationalities that do not “they had that status.”
Regarding participation in the European Parliament, the text proposes that the parliamentary chambers of the Regions and Constitutional Nationalities “will be invited to participate in the forums for dialogue, coordination and exchange of good practices that are established between parliaments at the European level, national and regional, with the aim of improving the quality of the legislative process in the Union, thus contributing to the strengthening of parliamentarism in European democracy.” It also suggests that these parliaments can provide “opinions and recommendations” on the legislative projects that affect them.
According to the Lehendakari's proposal, the constitutional regions or nationalities could also participate in the committees, preparatory working groups and formations at the level of ministers of the Council of the Union that deal with matters within their competence, with the formula agreed upon by each Member State. .
The protocol also includes proposals aimed at facilitating the participation of these nationalities and regions in relation to the Council of the Union, the Court of Justice of the EU or around macro-regional initiatives.
The demand for Euskadi's participation in European affairs is a historical demand of the PNV and a constant during Urkullu's three terms as Lehendakari of the Basque Government. The Basque leader has indicated that his last visit to Brussels, in which he also claimed the official status of Basque and the creation of an Atlantic Macroregion, has been “very fruitful.”
