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 Euclean Parliament first met in on 15 June 1948. It is among the oldest of the EC's institutions and began as the Continental Assembly. At this time, the EC was mainly a shared economic area. It was a consultative body of 70 appointed parliamentarians drawn from the national parliaments of the EC's 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 Ashcombe 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 Warminster Accords, which amended the Aschombe 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 Ashcombe 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 is the only body with the power to propose and pass legislation. However, the Euclean Council often drafts policy. While it does not have the power to introduce it as legislation, it can pass resolutions endorsing policies. The Parliament is required to consider the Council’s resolutions for debate. Many of the policies debated before the Euclean Council originate from the Euclean Commission. This process gives member states the ability to have a say in the legislative process.
The Commission is accountable to Parliament. For the Commission to take office, it must secure the Parliament's approval. IT also has to to report back to the Parliament and subject to parliamentary motions of censure from it.
Leadership
The Speaker of the Euclean Parliament carries out the role of speaker in parliament and represents it externally. Reinhard Weisgerber (ACDE - Werania) serves as the current speaker and has held the post since 2019.
There are 13 Deputy-Speakers of the Euclean Parliament. They sit in for the Speaker in presiding over the chamber of the Euclean Parliament when the Speaker is not present. Any of the Speaker's duties may be delegated to the Deputy-Speakers. Their posts are divided between the different parliamentary groups.
The EP Speaker and the 13 Deputy-Speakers are elected by MEPs every two and a half years.
Members
Legislators 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 according to universal suffrage. They sit in the Euclean Parliament according to their political grouping. Previously, MEPs were appointed by national legislatures.
The Euclean Parliament's 779 seats are allocated to each state according to its population. The Speaker and the 13 Deputy-Speakers do not possess the ability to vote. As such, there is only a maximum of be 765 voting members at a given time.
Constituencies are formed in each member state. In some nations, the national territory is divided into several different constituencies from which MEPS are elected and represent. In other member states, the entire country is a single constituency. All elections to the Euclean Parliament are held using forms of proportional representation.
Seats distribution
| State | Seats | State | Seats | State | Seats | State | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gaullica |
175 |  Amathia |
73 |  Hennehouwe |
38 |  Caldia |
19 |
 Werania |
118 |  Paretia |
67 |  Alsland |
24 |  Borland |
15 |
| File:Estmere.png Estmere | 114 |  Solstiana |
55 |  Azmara |
21 |  Kesselbourg |
4 |
| Total | 723 | ||||||
Party groups
MEPs are divided into several different parliamentary groups. This includes members that do not belong to an organized parliamentary group known as non-inscrits. The Socialist Alternative for Euclea (SAE) and the Alliance of Conservatives and Democrats for Euclea (ACDE) are the two largest groups in the Euclean Parliament. They have dominated parliamentary politics decades holding between 50 and 70 percent of the seats between them since its establishment. No one 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. 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) Alternative socialiste pour l'Euclée (ASE) |
Hervé Bachelot | 188 / 779
|
Centre-left to left-wing, moderately pro-EC | ||
|
Alliance of Conservatives and Democrats for Euclea (ACDE) Alliance des conservateurs et démocrates pour l'Euclée (ACDE) |
Elija Izquierdo | 145 / 779
|
Centre-right to right-wing, pro-EC | ||
|
Euclean Liberal Party (ELP) Parti libéral eucléen (PLE) |
Angela Jonsdohter Frederick Eaton |
142 / 779
|
Centre, heavily pro-EC | ||
| File:MNDE logo.png | Movement for a New Democratic Euclea (MNDE) Mouvement pour une nouvelle Euclée démocratique (MNED) |
Mathijn Heerlijkheid | 130 / 779
|
Right-wing to far-right, anti-EC | ||
|
Green and Ecologist Movement (GEM) Mouvement vert et écologiste (MVE) |
Marianne Koeppen Marcus Axelsson |
74 / 779
|
Green politics, moderately pro-EC | ||
|
Alliance of Reformists and Conservatives (ARC) Alliance des réformistes et conservateurs (ARC) |
Iuliu Agreitanu | 32 / 799
|
Right-wing, 'Euclorealist' | ||
| File:MRL logo.png | Mixed Radical Left (MRL) Gauche radicale mixte (GRM) |
Sara Plantier | 23 / 799
|
Left to far-left, moderately anti-EC | ||
|
Alliance for a Federal and Regionalist Euclea (AFRE) Alliance pour une Euclée fédérale et régionaliste (AEFR) |
Æðelwine Wykes | 19 / 799
|
Regionalism, pro-EC | ||
| Non-Inscrits | Non-applicable | 26 / 799
|
Non-aligned | |||
