Political Commission Act
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Councillor Becker stood to speak.
"My colleagues, in recent times, there has been a worrying trend toward authoritarianism. As such, I propose the following.
PREAMBLE:
With the recent revolutions and coups throughout the European Union, there has been a distressing trend toward authoritarianism. However, the European Council is thoroughly unequipped to adequately deal with such a thing, as it does not have the capacity to compile information on nations as to have a full understanding of nations in which there has been a radical political change and to ensure that those nations which are democratic can prevent slides toward authoritarianism.
As such, in the interests of protecting free political expression everywhere, this act proposes the following:
Section 1: The Commission on Political Freedom
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A Commission on Political Freedom shall be established.
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It shall be headquartered in the Free City of Europolis.
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said Commission shall be comprised of five members, elected by the European Council on a yearly basis.
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This Commission shall have the responsibility of rating political freedom in the constituent states of the Union.
Section 2: The Workings of the Commission.
- Member states of the European Union must submit, on a yearly basis and when deemed necessary by the Commission or the European Council, a report on their respective political situations, in the following format:
Parties represented in legislative branch:
Number of seats held by each party:
Number of opposition parties:
Number of seats held by opposition parties:Electoral system:
Number of polling places per square km:
Turnout last election (percentage):
Percentage of votes for all parties:List all major media outlets, as well as their political biases:
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If a member state or the European Council as a whole has evidence of widespread electoral fraud, voter suppression, or undue influence on political or news organizations by others or by the government, it is obliged to report it to the Commission.
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The European Council or the member states may provide additional information or suggestions to the Commission.
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Using all information available to it, the Commission is to, on a yearly basis and when needed - a condition to be decided either by the European Council or the Commission itself - issue ratings based upon the following guidelines:
Full democracy: There exist opposition parties well-represented in the legislature. Turnout exceeds 70%. Representation in the legislature corresponds to vote percentages, within 2 percent. Media outlets ae diverse in ideology. There exist no allegations of election fraud, voter suppression, or undue influence on politics by a power.
Flawed democracy: Opposition parties are well-represented in the legislature. Turnout exceeds 60%. Representation in the legislature is within 5 percent of vote percentages. Media outlets are diverse in ideology but skew one way. There exist less than two major allegations of election fraud, voter suppression, or undue influence on politics by a power; however, none of these allegations come from the council as a whole.
Anocracy: Opposition parties have little representation in the legislature. Turnout exceeds 40%. Representation in the legislature is within 20% of vote percentages. Although there exists a small diversity in ideology, media outlets are heavily skewed toward one. There are more than two but less than five allegations of election fraud, voter suppression, or undue influence on politics by a power; however, none of these allegations come from the Council as a whole.
Autocracy: Opposition parties are not represented in the legislature. Turnout, if elections are still conducted, is consistently within 0.05 percent of 100. Representation is entirely of one party, or of several parties that are affiliated or influenced by one. There exists no diversity of ideology in the media. There are more than five allegations of election fraud, voter suppression, or undue influence on politics by a power, or an allegation from the Council as a whole.
5a. Not all of these attributes need to be in place for a regime to be classified as such, however. Because political conditions can change from year to year, it will be the Commission who will decide the extent to which each of the listed criteria will be considered, in addition to additional information provided through the ways previously described.
5b. The Commission must provide a detailed plan on how it is to weight the information it receives in making its future ratings to the European Council for approval on a yearly basis before it begins work on ratings.
Section 3: Accountability of the Commission
- Before ratings become official, they must be presented to the European Council. If any has an objection, they will too present it to the European Council for debate.
- If the European Council approves an objection, the Commission must again rate whatever has been objected to, using a new formula that must be submitted to the European Council for approval.
- At any time, the European Council may recall members from the Commission. It may also dissolve the Commission as a whole, thus calling new elections.
- Such an action will be accomplished through majority vote.
If the Commission is dissolved while it is working on developing ratings, its responsibilities will not temporarily be passed to any other Union organ; rather, its work will remain in the state that it was in at the time of dissolution until elections take place and a new Commission can convene.
Helga Becker
Interim Councillor for the Confederation of Eastern Haane -
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Debate on this begins NOW and will last until 08:00 GMT on April 29th, 2020.
Edward Firoux
Council Speaker and Councillor for Inquista -
I like the intent with which this legislation was proposed. I think it is right that the European Commission find ways to rate our democracies, much like how the European Central Bank rates our economies, and do so with an impartial, clear rubric. I think that would encourage others to look at model states who can prove they have regular, free and fair elections with limited media bias and all of that. That is important.
I would like to say that a legislated extra commission for this might be a lot. Perhaps the honourable Councillor would not mind if I suggest that perhaps that can be delegated as a committee of the European Council or assigned as a job for the Commission team to work on, since there are a few levers of power that we can pull to get something like this started right now. I don't think there's a lot of appetite for creating another body that can do something both the Council or the Commission can do.
But I still applaud the boldness here to say that we should watching out for our fellow brothers and sisters. I can see that your mind and heart chakras are deeply in tune with each other. Keep proposing legislation, because girlfriend you are so on right now,
Marion Rousselot
Councillor for the Kingdom of Gallorum
Deputy Speaker of the European Council -
Shall we begin counting the votes?
Su Tevfik
European Councillor from the Court of Osman -
My apologies. Voting will begin NOW and will last until 23:00 GMT on May 3rd, 2020.
On behalf of the Most Blessed State of Inquista, I vote AGAINST this Act.
Edward Firoux
Council Speaker and Councillor for Inquista -
On behalf of the Ottoman State, I vote FOR this Act.
Su Tevfik
European Councillor from the Court of Osman -
My apologies for not taking part on this debate.
But, on behalf of the Kingdom of Spain, I vote AGAINST this act.
Donald. D. Tusk
Councillor for Spain -
I am very sorry, but I want to explain that the addition of new sections of the European Commission would be an amendment to the European Constitution. I'm interested in working with Coun. Becker to make such amendment if she wishes to. But as of now, I vote AGAINST this act.
Friedrich van Allen (ELDR)
Councilor, Kingdom of Reitzmag -
It seems as though there has been some confusion. This act does not intend to add to the European Commission; it aims to create a new, ECB-like organization separate of any currently existing institutions. That which is referred to as the 'Commission' in this act is said new organization.
On the behalf of the Confederation of Eastern Haane, I vote FOR this act.
Helga Becker
Interim Councillor for the Confederation of Eastern Haane -
PRESIDENCIA DE GANIA
VOTA EN CONTRA DE DICHA LEYFIRMA DEL CANCILLER: GONZALO AROCENA
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Voting on this has concluded. Unfortunately the vote from Gania could not be registered in the allotted time.
With 2 votes for and 3 votes against, this piece of legislation has FAILED.
Edward Firoux
Council Speaker and Councillor for Inquista
The Kingdom of Spain
