SECTION I. DEFINITIONS
- For the purposes of this Act, ‘Europarties’ are defined as region-wide alliances of national political parties
SECTION II. POLITICAL GROUPS
-
European Councillors are hereby allowed to form, disband, join, and leave official Political Groups based on a common ideological affinity.
-
These Political Groups are funded by the European Council and will operate under the jurisdiction of the Speaker’s Office.
-
These Political Groups are established to serve as a means by which like-minded Councillors can formulate ideas, and rally support for, or opposition to, proposals.
4. In addition to activity related to the European Council, Political Groups may endorse, and campaign for, current candidates in elections to the European Commission, or in national elections to the European Council.
4. 5. This Act does not impinge upon the right of member-states to appoint or dismiss their Councillor as they see fit; nor their right to direct or act upon their Councillor’s votes, speech, or Political Group membership in the European Council.
SECTION III. MEMBERSHIP OF POLITICAL GROUPS
-
Membership of Political Groups is restricted to individual European Councillors.
-
Associate Membership is restricted to European Commissioners, current candidates in elections to the European Commission or in national elections to the European Council interim and deputy councillors serving on a temporary basis due to the incapacitation or absence of a nation's main councillor.
a) ** Individuals and entities not belonging to these categories who are currently associate members of Political Groups are to be immediately expelled.
-
Associate Members may not vote on the Political Group’s internal decisions.
4. No Councillor may be a member of more than one Political Group at a time.
5. No Commissioner or candidate may be an Associate Member of more than one Political Group at a time.
In recent months, I have seen a disturbing tendency towards Eurogroups become, again, the Europarties of the past. We have seen the repeated illegal admission of presidents and parties - including by the very Eurogroup I am a member of - as though these Eurogroups are not actually simply groupings of councillors with similar ideologies and aims but, as I said, parties in their own right. We have seen candidates for the Commission, on the sole basis of their membership in a group, win landslides in multiple member states, despite not having spoken a single time.
In this very Council, we have seen almost constant vitriol and hatred, as though the Eurogroups are in constant battle, from namecalling to vulgar language. We have seen a Eurogroup term itself the official opposition, or something of that sort, a term I hope I never hear mentioned in this context ever again. The Eurogroups are not meant to be in opposition to each other; they are solely meant to organize Councillors to develop legislation as a group, rather than merely as individuals.
What I would like to do is put an end to this constant opposition, this constant anger, what has almost approached a war. End the usage of the Commission campaigns as endless battlegrounds for these faux-parties; leave them what they were but a year ago, cool and tempered and focused on who would be the most competent. End the admission of national groups which have no affiliation or relation to the Council; this is polarizing and nonsensical, and was already illegal anyways. Let Councillors join multiple Eurogroups, if they want, form multiple Eurogroups, maybe single-issue ones, maybe not - an idea I believe the Vardic councillor proposed at some point, although I may be mistaken. We could have Eurogroups uniting geographical interests, economic interests, next to those on ideological lines; and this, I feel, would dampen the constant and sickening partisanship, merely by putting into question the idea that Eurogroups must be in constant opposition.
Iras Tilkanas
Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen
The Kingdom of Spain
