Amendment to the Constitution of The European Union

Elthize

ARTICLE III. THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Section III. Election Procedures

Add the following articles between articles V and VI:

If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a simple majority approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office, with the previous candidate barred from entering.
The special election may not have less than two candidates.
The special election shall start immediately after the previous election, following the standard commission election procedures, except for the nomination period, which shall run for an indefinite time before two candidates are nominated, in which case it shall run for seven days.

Councillors, I stand here to discuss and, hopefully, pass the first of many political reforms I have planned to strengthen the democracy of the European Union.

With this constitutional amendment, I am planning to increase the accountability of our Commission and ensure that all candidates are subject to voting, even if they're running unopposed.

This has been a problem that has been mentioned numerous times around Europe and it has led to numerous individuals and groups questioning our democracy. To ensure stability in the region, I argue that it is important that we have a mechanism to put unopposed candidates on equal footing as candidates that have contenders.

Therefore, I put this constitutional amendment up for discussion, amendments and voting in the European Council, and I hope that we can have a productive council session. Thank you.

Wirt Harland
Internal Affairs Commissioner of the European Union

Istkalen

Debate will begin NOW and continue until 23:59 GMT on 28 January 2023.

Iras Tilkanas
Council Speaker and Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

Elthize

Commissioner Harland, first of all, I would like to congratulate you on your victory. Now, I applaud your attempts to give additional powers to the member states and ensure our voices are heard. However, I would like to propose the following amendments, which will prevent gridlock from happening in the system:

AMENDMENT I

If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a ~~simple majority~~ plurality approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office, with the previous candidate barred from entering.

AMENDMENT II

If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a simple majority approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office ~~with the previous candidate barred from entering~~.

Liam Zachary
Councillor for The State of Elthize

BrumBrum

With respect to the right honourable Zachary your amendment proposal will destroy any trust in the process of democracy in the European Union. I know it may be a Duchieism but we in the Duchies believe in the democratic principle that one must get a majority of the vote either through PR or instant run off voting or the election to be democratic. To win by 3 votes out of 10 nations or 2 out of 5 nations for example is not democratic but a sham of an election. That means 7 out of 10 or 3 out of 5 opposed the candidate potentially. Not only that it opens the system to corruption or the perception of corruption as you could offer a few nations bribes for the vote of the nations legislature and end up winning despite most nations opposing you if the other nations are divided. It could also lead to voting for the least worst option rather than the candidate you most agree with. All of these would undermine trust in democracy . Candidates must win by a majority and this could change the way we do elections to a worse way with a First Past the Post undemocratic vote counting method. I apologise if this seems like promoting a Duchieism but we must stand up for democratic vote counting principles.

James Mizrachi-Roscoe Councillor for United Duchies

Istkalen

In order to ensure that the numbering is in line with the rest of the constitution, I propose the following amendment:

AMENDMENT III

ARTICLE III. THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Section III. Election Procedures

Add the following ~~articles~~ clause between ~~articles~~ clauses V and VI:

~*~ VI. If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a simple majority approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office, with the previous candidate barred from entering.

*~ VII. The special election may not have less than two candidates.

~*~ VII. The special election shall start immediately after the previous election, following the standard commission election procedures, except for the nomination period, which shall run for an indefinite time before two candidates are nominated, in which case it shall run for seven days.

Renumber clauses VI and VII VII and VIII respectively

I also concur with Cllr. Mizrachi-Roscoe. I see no reason to depart from the alternative vote system, and so propose the following amendment:

AMENDMENT IV

If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a simple majority approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office, held under the Alternative Vote system, ~~with the previous candidate barred from entering.~~

Incidentally, I am not sure how a candidate could receive a plurality, but not a majority, of votes in an approval voting system.

Iras Tilkanas
Council Speaker and Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

Elthize

Councillor Tilkanas and Councillor Mizrachi-Roscoe, the only plurality achievable in approval voting with two options, which are yes and no, is when a candidate receives approval from half of the voting states.

Personally, I believe that there should be as many opportunities as possible for an unopposed candidate to be appointed to the Commission so that the seat does not become vacant, leaving the EU without a leader and making us appear weak.

Therefore, I think that, if an unopposed candidate gets the approval of half the
member states that participated in the elections, we should allow it.

I am also not sure how an alternative voting system can work when, again, there are only two options: Yes and no. Clarification would be greatly appreciated.

Liam Zachary
Councillor for The State of Elthize

Istkalen

I withdraw Amendment IV, as I realize that the third clause of this amendment makes it redundant. Many apologies for the mistake.

Iras Tilkanas
Council Speaker and Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

Elthize

Councillor Mizrachi-Roscoe, are you suggesting that the special election I have written will be held under the first-past-the-post system?

If that is the case, I'm unsure how you reached that conclusion, given that the third clause explicitly mentions that the election will follow standard commission election procedures. That indicates the special election will have an alternative voting system like a regular commission election.

Wirt Harland
Internal Affairs Commissioner of the European Union

BrumBrum

I am suggesting using a fptp plurality system is dangerous in any election for trust. Single candidate approval votes included. Candidates must always get a majority and no less. No exceptions.

James Mizrachi-Roscoe , Councillor for United Duchies

Inquista

I will not be supporting this constitutional amendment in its current or amended form. Simply put, my objections range from this amendment being incomplete and unfinished, my belief that instances of unopposed candidates are products of existing political culture rather than institutionalized problems, my belief that the existence of unopposed candidates are a demonstration of democracy and not a democratic deficit, and the fact that this amendment gives shades of 'Commission confirmation's' which were an election procedure that eventually culminated in a political rift that tore the EU in half and left its intuitions inactive for almost 2 years.

First and foremost, even with the suggested amendments, this proposed constitutional amendment is incomplete. Presumably, this approval voting procedure replaces or takes place concurrently with the regular Commission voting for that specific Office? Or does it take place afterwards? This needs to be specified. Also, the length and times of the process need to be specified.

Now onto my objections based on principles. I feel as if this proposal is attempting to address a problem that is a misdiagnosis. I get the impression that this alleged issue stems from the recent Commission elections, which had to be re-run due to the success of write-in candidates and the rejection of all other the candidates. The election had to be re-run NOT because the candidates ran unopposed - although, for some reason, a certain IA candidate thinks this was the issue, and that idea has somehow transplanted itself here - it was because the quality of all the candidates, including those in competitive races, were roundly rejected. This is evidenced by the fact that there were two candidates who ran for Premier, and both of them were rejected for a write-in candidate. In the following election, the current Premier ran unopposed and won. In summary, people approved of the single candidate who ran in the unopposed election, but didn't like the candidates who ran in the competitive race. The issue was never about the candidate running unopposed, it was about the quality of those specific candidates. As an aside, the EU also has a long and storied history of unopposed Foreign Affairs candidates and it has never been an issue.

A hallmark of what makes a democracy a democracy is the ability to put oneself forward for election. Currently, the EU presents virtually no barriers for candidates to nominate themselves, save for the fact that they can be term limited. If someone wants to run for Commission, then they are completely free to do so. Mandating a quota that there needs to be at least two candidates in a potential special election is a forced, inorganic and actually inherently undemocratic process, one which seems especially unusual to force in an instance where there was only one person trying to run in the first place. Standing for election (or not) is a democratic choice, and it is a choice that is currently available.

Uncompetitive elections are also the result of a political climate, not an institutional problem. As I've explained, the EU currently has no institutional barriers preventing people from running, minus term limits. However, certain political climates, whether it be due to political fatigue, inactivity, toxicity or any other variable, can lead to instances of uncompetitive Commission elections. It's these political climates that need addressing, not the institutions. Trying to fix a broader political culture issue with an institutional fix can potentially exacerbate the issue itself, as we have seen in the past.

At one point, the European Council enacted reforms as to how we elected Commissioners. One of those reforms included 'Commission confirmations' where Commissioners had to actually be confirmed to office by the European Council after being elected. At the time, my Inquistan predecessor actually opposed this measure, because it was blatantly unnecessary, but he didn't make too much of an issue of it when it passed because it was done on rather innocuous terms of democratic accountability.

The reform lasted a single election cycle. In the following elections, Commissioners-elect from Icholasen, Inquista and Inimicus barely managed to squeeze out victories, and their bitter election opponents quickly rallied to have all their confirmations blocked, despite them winning the election. The ensuing toxicity resulted in Icholasen, Inquista and Inimicus withdrawing from the EU's political institutions for quite some time. While I feel, and certainly hope, that this proposed amendment won't necessarily have the same impact in magnitude, it's another instance where an unnecessary institutional procedure has been put into place to fix a non-existent issue, which then end sup creating an issue. While the current political climate is perhaps not as polarised and vicious now as it was then, it certainly could be in the future, and we certainty do see instances now where certain countries do oppose or would block a candidate not on their merits, but based on their political affiliation or which country they are from. I can name at least 2 but probably 3 countries who would misuse this procedure to block an unopposed candidate simply because they come from a specific member state, which is not the spirit in which this amendment is being made. If certain member states have problems with another member state running an unopposed candidate, then they are free to run their own candidate against them and beat them, since that options exists. There is no reason to block anything that is already fair.

Bp. Karinn Lallana
Councillor for Inquista

Istkalen

I will revise Amendment III to the following:

AMENDMENT III

ARTICLE III. THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Section III. Election Procedures

Add the following ~~articles~~ clauses between ~~articles~~ clauses V and VI:

~*~ VI. If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a simple majority approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office, with the previous candidate barred from entering.

*~ VII. The special election may not have less than two candidates.

~*~ VII. The special election shall start immediately after the previous election, following the standard commission election procedures, except for the nomination period, which shall run for an indefinite time before two candidates are nominated, in which case it shall run for seven days.

Renumber clauses VI and VII VII and VIII respectively

Iras Tilkanas
Council Speaker and Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

Sertia

Councillor Hartland,

While I agree with the sentiment of this amendment I'm afraid the solution provided appears somewhat arbitrary.

I do agree with you where you say a candidate running unopposed should be subject to further scrutiny via the democratic process. However, that is a consequence of people's willingness to engage in leadership roles.

It might be more prudent to measure the percentage in turnout of votes than only the number of candidates. For instance, if there is a low count of votes the result might represent a dissatisfaction with the candidate who is running unopposed. However, with a high turnout of total votes, the result suggests a more accurate representation of general political opinions.

Therefore I propose the following amendment:
Where the total amount of reported votes is under 80% of all participating members, a special election shall be called. A 'participating member' is here defined as one who has shown themselves to be present in discussion or engagement on this forum to a requisite extent as provided in definition by EU rules of conduct.

Istkalen

Cllr. Dina, I must admit that I am a little confused by your amendment. What exactly is "this forum?" (OOC: the forum doesn't exist IRP, nor do its rules of conduct) This Council? In any case, requiring 80% of EU members to vote to ensure that an election is valid is too high a barrier, in my opinion. In many cases, abstention itself is an expression of poltiical opinion, and I don't think it ought to be discouraged in this way.

Iras Tilkanas
Council Speaker and Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

Sertia

My apologies, Cllr. Tilkanas, by 'forum' I suppose I meant the European public (OOC: oops my bad).

And you've hit my point right on its head. This amendment would not allow the system to punish the public by giving them a candidate they had no choice but not to vote for. While 80% might be high, recall that if the threshold is not met there would be another election according to this act.

For example, if an unopposed candidate receives under 80% of the votes, then we ought to assume that they are not favoured enough by the general public, and so have a runoff election with the previous candidate barred from entering.

Such is the system we currently operate in Gadalland and Aspern when we have Braetha elections, but the threshold is 70%.

Elthize

Councillors, thank you for sharing your concerns with me. It seems like there is some scepticism regarding this amendment, and because of that, I want to explain my intentions with it. The primary purpose behind this amendment is to give unopposed candidates further legitimacy by putting them on a democratic process. The European Union is a large region, with dozens of member states, and the European Commission is important because it is the executive body of this region. Since the European Union stands for promoting democracy, as mentioned in the preamble section of its constitution, its systemic practices should reflect that. And, in my humble opinion, a person being able to take one of the highest positions in the European Union without any challenge simply because they were the only person that had submitted their candidacy is not a democratic process.

It also cannot be taken for granted that, just because a candidate can run unopposed, that means all the member states were satisfied with said candidate. The person that won unopposed in the latest Premier election is my colleague, the honourable Jean-Claude Juncker. Juncker is an extraordinary politician. He has served in numerous positions, first as a minister in the Spanish government to serving first as Internal Affairs Commissioner and then as Premier Commissioner. While he has also faced some opposition and backlash, he remains one of the most popular politicians in the European Union. And I believe that is a testament to his talent, his skills and his intelligence.

What if it was someone that was the complete opposite of Juncker that managed to run unopposed? What if we had an incompetent politician that managed to get their way into the commission solely because no one else managed to announce their candidacy? My sole opponent in the Internal Affairs election was Tarek Al-Wazir, a hawkish nutjob that was (and probably still is) obsessed with declaring a bogus war against the United Duchies, who repeatedly called me a bootlicker on stage for not playing his games and got arrested at the end of the commission debate for desecrating the flags of the UD and Reitzmag.

It should concern you that he was the sole candidate in the first election he was a candidate in. Al-Wazir was so unpopular that, in the voting period, member states voted for write-in candidates instead, just to block him from getting elected as the IAC. That alone is a significant reason why we should have this constitutional amendment, especially now that the European Court of Justice has declared write-in votes invalid. We need a mechanism in place that allows member states to vote against unopposed candidates.

Time and time again we hear repeated complaints from member states about how they feel underrepresented and unheard within the European Union and its political institutions. We cannot fix this issue if we decline any opportunity to solve it and keep preferring the status quo.

Member states should have the full right to oppose any candidate for commission, for any reason. There is no valid or invalid reason to vote for or against a candidate, the truth is that there are simply different reasons that we may or may not agree with. We cannot police these states on how they vote, nor is it reasonable to disenfranchise them or all member states because they might have their reasons that we find absurd. It is not morally right to assume bad intentions.

In addition, I want to hear Councillor Lallana explicitly mention which member states she is talking about that might misuse this procedure, and I want the councillors from those member states to defend themselves right here on the council. I also would like to hear how she would like for me to handle a poor political climate, aside from submitting meaningful political reforms like this.

Wirt Harland
Internal Affairs Commissioner of the European Union

Istkalen

Debate will be extended to 23:59 GMT on 1 February 2023.

Iras Tilkanas
Council Speaker and Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

Elthize

I would like to propose the following amendment for clarity purposes:

AMENDMENT V

If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure during the voting period of the commission election where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a simple majority approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office, with the previous candidate barred from entering.

Liam Zachary
Councillor for The State of Elthize

Istkalen

Due to the amendment, debate will be extended to 23:59 GMT on 5 February 2023.

Iras Tilkanas
Council Speaker and Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

Istkalen

Debate has ended. Several amendments have been proposed, as follows:

AMENDMENT I

If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a ~~simple majority~~ plurality approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office, with the previous candidate barred from entering.

AMENDMENT II

If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a simple majority approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office ~~with the previous candidate barred from entering~~.

AMENDMENT III

Section III. Election Procedures

Add the following ~~articles~~ clauses between ~~articles~~ clauses V and VI:

~*~ VI. If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a simple majority approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office, with the previous candidate barred from entering.

*~ VII. The special election may not have less than two candidates.

~*~ VII. The special election shall start immediately after the previous election, following the standard commission election procedures, except for the nomination period, which shall run for an indefinite time before two candidates are nominated, in which case it shall run for seven days.

Renumber clauses VI and VII VII and VIII respectively

AMENDMENT IV

Section III. Election Procedures

If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a simple majority approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office, with the previous candidate barred from entering.
The special election may not have less than two candidates.
The special election shall start immediately after the previous election, following the standard commission election procedures, except for the nomination period, which shall run for an indefinite time before two candidates are nominated, in which case it shall run for seven days.
Where the total amount of reported votes is under 80% of all participating members, a special election shall be called. A 'participating member' is here defined as one who has shown themselves to be present in discussion or engagement on this forum to a requisite extent as provided in definition by EU rules of conduct.

AMENDMENT V

If a candidate runs for any Commission office unopposed, there shall be a voting procedure during the voting period of the commission election where all member states can vote on whether they approve or disapprove of the candidate. If the candidate fails to get a simple majority approval, there shall be a special election to fill the office, with the previous candidate barred from entering.

Voting on amendments will begin NOW and continue until 23:59 GMT on 15 February 2023.

Iras Tilkanas
Council Speaker and Councillor for the Republic of Istkalen

Elthize

Representing The State of Elthize, I vote FOR the second, third and fifth amendments, AGAINST the fourth amendment and ABSTAIN on the first amendment.

Liam Zachary
Councillor for The State of Elthize