Euclean Parliament
Euclean Parliament | |
|---|---|
Name in other official languages;
| |
 | |
| Leadership | |
Speaker | Reinhard Weisgerber, ACDE since 13 July 2019 |
Leader of the largest political group | |
Leader of the 2nd largest political group | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 779 MEPs |
| File:EC Parl (after parties) 2019.svg | |
Political groups | Government (475)
Opposition (304) |
Length of term | 5 years |
| Elections | |
| Party-list and STV | |
Last election | May–June 2019 |
Next election | May–June 2024 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Palace of Euclea, Kesselbourg City, Kesselbourg | |
_2019.svg){kind=link}
The Euclean Parliament (EP), also commonly known as EucloParl, is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the Euclean Community (EC). Together with the Council and the Euclean Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EC. The Parliament is composed of 779 members (MEPs), who are elected in varying ways by the electorate in each member state. It has been directly elected every five years by universal suffrage since 1964.
Although the Euclean Parliament has legislative power that the Council and Commission do not possess, it does not formally possess legislative initiative, as most national parliaments of Euclean Community member states do. The Parliament is the "first institution" of the EC (mentioned first in the treaties, having ceremonial precedence over all authority at Euclean level), and shares equal legislative and budgetary powers with the Council (except in a few areas where the special legislative procedures apply). It likewise has equal control over the EC budget. Finally, the Euclean Commission, the executive body of the EC, is accountable to Parliament. In particular, Parliament elects the Director of the Commission, and approves (or rejects) the appointment of the Commission as a whole. It can subsequently force the Commission as a body to resign by adopting a motion of censure
The Speaker of the Euclean Parliament is Vivien Vallette, a Gaullican national who has held the post since 2017. Several Vice-Speakers serve under her leadership and come from the various party groups. She presides over a multi-party chamber, the two largest groups being the Alliance of Conservatives and Democrats for Euclea and Socialist Alternative for Euclea. The most recent MEP elections were in 2019. The Parliament meets at the Palace of Euclea in Kesselbourg City, the capital of the EC.
History
The Parliament, like the other institutions, was not designed in its current form when it first met on on 15 June 1948. One of the oldest common institutions, it began as the Continental Assembly of the early Euclean Community, which at the time was mainly a shared economic area. It was a consultative body of 70 appointed parliamentarians drawn from the national parliaments of member states. Each of the five member states sent a total of fourteen parliamentarians. The Assembly had no legislative powers due to its consultative nature.
As the Great Game continued into the 1960s and a series of small recessions had struck since the EC's initial establishment, various members began to push for what Estmerish prime minister William Norcross called "continentalisation". With the signing of the Treaty of Solaris on 1 January 1964, the Euclean Parliament was established in its modern form. Initially the legislature would rotate between Kesselbourg City and Frenaux, in northern Gaullica. This would carry on until 1975 when rotation was scrapped under the Cartho Accords, which amended the Solaris Treaty and the parliament would only convene in Kesselbourg City.
As the Euclean Community expanded, so were the number of seats in the overall parliament until the Warcaster Accords were signed in 1990, setting the number of total seats at 779. Overtime the Euclean Parliament has been granted more powers through various accords to the Solaris Treaty and prominent proponents of Euclofederalism believe it should become the most powerful legislative body in Euclea. However, there is a populist often right-wing resistance movement to the body, exemplified by MEPs from nationalist parties.
Powers
The Parliament and Council have been compared to the two chambers of a bicameral legislature. However, there are some differences from national legislatures; for example, neither the Parliament nor the Council have the power of legislative initiative (except for the fact that the Council has the power in some intergovernmental matters). In Community matters, this is a power uniquely reserved for the Euclean Commission (the executive). Therefore, while Parliament can amend and reject legislation, to make a proposal for legislation, it needs the Commission to draft a bill before anything can become law. The value of such a power has been questioned by noting that in the national legislatures of the member states 85% of initiatives introduced without executive support fail to become law. Yet it has been argued by former Parliament president Richard Dawson that as the Parliament does have the right to ask the Commission to draft such legislation, and as the Commission is following Parliament's proposals more and more Parliament does have a de facto right of legislative initiative.
The Parliament also has a great deal of indirect influence, through non-binding resolutions and committee hearings, as a "pan-Euclean soapbox" with the ear of thousands of Kesselbourg-based journalists. There is also an indirect effect on foreign policy; the Parliament must approve all development grants, including those overseas. Parliamentary support was also required for the transvehemens passenger data-sharing deal with the Federation. Finally, Parliament holds a non-binding vote on new EC treaties but cannot veto it. However, should Parliament threaten to vote down a treaty, national parliaments could veto the treaty on the Euclean Parliament's behalf.
Members
The parliamentarians are known in Estmerish as Members of the Euclean Parliament (MEPs) and in Gaullican as Memebers du Parlement eucléan (MPEs). They are elected every five years by universal adult suffrage and sit according to political allegiance. Before 1964 they were appointed by their national parliaments.
Under the Warcaster Accords, seats are allocated to each state according to population and the maximum number of members is set at 779 (however, as the Speaker does not possess the ability to vote there will only be 778 voting members at any one time). The new system implemented under the Warcaster Accords, including revising the seating well before elections, was intended to avoid political horse trading when the allocations have to be revised to reflect demographic changes and new member states.
Pursuant to this apportionment, the constituencies are formed. In some member states the national territory is divided into a number of constituencies. However in other member states, the whole country forms a single constituency. All member states hold elections to the European Parliament using various forms of proportional representation.
Seats distribution
| State | Seats | State | Seats | State | Seats | State | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gaullica |
181 | Template:Country data Florena Florena | 114 |  Hennehouwe |
39 |  Buckland |
15 |
 Werania |
122 |  Amathia |
75 |  Azmara |
22 |  Carcosa |
12 |
| File:Estmere.png Estmere | 118 |  Ordennya |
57 |  Glytter |
20 |  Kesselbourg |
4 |
| Total | 779 | ||||||
Party groups
MEPs in Parliament are organised into several different parliamentary groups, including non-attached members known as non-inscrits. The two largest groups are the Socialist Alternative for Euclea (SAE) and the Alliance of Conservatives and Democrats for Euclea (ACDE). These two groups have dominated the Parliament for much of its life, continuously holding between 50 and 70 percent of the seats between them. No single group has ever held a majority in Parliament. As a result, a grand coalition between the ACDE, the SAE, and the Euclean Liberal Party (ELP) has existed in various forms since 1964. Party groups have, on occasion, changed following election results. The most recent elections saw this in action, with a number of political groups merging and separating, such as PGNM splitting into GEM and AFRE.
| Party Group | Leader(s) | Seats in the Euclean Parliament | Majority status | Political position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:SAE logo.png | Socialist Alternative for Euclea (SAE) | Hervé Bachelot | 188 / 779
|
Centre-left to left-wing, moderately pro-EC | ||
|
Alliance of Conservatives and Democrats for Euclea (ACDE) | Ramon Minguella | 145 / 779
|
Centre-right to right-wing, pro-EC | ||
|
Euclean Liberal Party (ELP) | Angela Jonsdohter Frederick Eaton |
142 / 779
|
Centre, heavily pro-EC | ||
| File:MNDE logo.png | Movement for a New Democratic Euclea (MNDE) |
Mathijn Heerlijkheid | 130 / 779
|
Right-wing to far-right, anti-EC | ||
|
Green and Ecologist Movement (GEM) |
Marianne Koeppen Marcus Axelsson |
74 / 779
|
Green politics, moderately pro-EC | ||
|
Alliance of Reformists and Conservatives (ARC) | Iuliu Agreitanu | 32 / 799
|
Right-wing, 'Euclorealist' | ||
| File:MRL logo.png | Mixed Radical Left (MRL) | Sara Plantier | 23 / 799
|
Left to far-left, moderately anti-EC | ||
|
Alliance for a Federal and Regionalist Euclea (AFRE) | Æðelwine Wykes | 19 / 799
|
Regionalism, pro-EC | ||
| Non-Inscrits | Non-applicable | 26 / 799
|
Non-aligned | |||
