When: Tuesday, 7 March 2023 

Time: 12.00 – 13.00 

In evaluating the 2019 elections, the Parliament regretted the substantial differences among Member States as regards turnout and the percentage of women elected, the fact that few MEPs belong to minorities, that an estimated 800 000 citizens with disabilities were unable to vote in the elections due to lack of provision in national rules. It thus proposed different actions to address those shortcomings in the new European Electoral Act:
1. To impose an obligation on all political parties and other entities participating in European elections to observe ‘democratic procedures and transparency’ when electing their candidates for European elections, and to ensure gender equality in their candidates, either by using a zipped system (alternation of candidates of both genders on the ballot paper) or quotas. However, political entities remain free to opt for a zipped system or a quota, and the percentage of the quota needed to respect the principle of gender equality is not indicated in the text, thus softening the content of the rule.
2. The draft legislative act also proposes to introduce relevant provisions concerning the exercise of the right to vote by persons with disabilities, as Member States would be required to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access to electoral materials, voting facilities and polling stations (Article 7) and that postal voting is also accessible to them (Article 8).
3. As regards the exercise of the right to vote, the draft legislative act proposes to establish a minimum common voting age of 16 years of age, except for Member States whose constitutional order establishes a minimum voting age of 17 or 18 years old. As regards the exercise of the right to stand as a candidate, Article 5 of the draft legislative act establishes a minimum common age of 18 years of age, a provision that would modify the state of play in some Member States which required candidates to have attained 21, 23 or 25 years of age to stand in the 2019 European elections.

The speakers will be:
Farah Karimi, senator GroenLinks
Member of European Parliament (soon to be announced)
Member of Dutch Parliament (soon to be announced)
Associate of the European Parliament working on the new European Electoral Act
The webinar will be hosted by Kristina Dimitrova (Liasionbureau European Parliament) & Marie-Anne van Reijen (Meer Vrouwen in de Politiek)

11.50 Walk-in
12.00 Welcome by hosts
12.05 Associate of European Parliament explains the content and the need for this new law
12.10 Member of European Parliament reflects on the law and possible proposal from the European Parliament
12.15 Member of Dutch Parliament reflects on the law, possible proposals and the effects on Dutch democracy
12.20 Senator reflects on the law, possible proposals and the effects on Dutch democracy
12.25 Debate between politicians
12.40 Questions from the audience
12.55 Recap of the meeting by the hosts

Register here!