European elections: Threshold clause in European elections: How the traffic light interferes with our basic democratic rights

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European Parliament in Strasbourg: Percentage hurdle as an intervention in democracy

Photo: FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

This week, the traffic light coalition, with the approval of the CDU and CSU, presented a new law for the European elections, which provides for the introduction of a two-percent hurdle perhaps from 2024, but at the latest from 2029. However, the difference between the European elections and the state and federal elections could not be greater in this matter. It is not for nothing that the Federal Constitutional Court has already overturned such attempts twice. Because the argument of fragmentation simply does not work in the European Parliament.

A percentage hurdle is always first and foremost an intervention in our democracy. Votes are declared invalid and excluded from the political decision-making process. At the state and federal level, we justify this intervention by arguing that too many small parties would make it too difficult to form the will.

There are exciting approaches to not completely exclude the affected voters by making it possible to submit a second preference. In addition, one could argue about the height of the hurdle. But the European elections are about something completely different.

Every party elected in the European elections, if it takes its election promises and democratic responsibility seriously, must join a European political group after the election. This is the only way to negotiate laws and achieve results for female voters. Incidentally, this applies to all 200 national parties in the European Parliament, most of which send fewer than five MEPs.

The stability of the decision-making process is thus achieved by the compulsion to join the group. If there were a fragmentation, it would have to be measured by how much the voting behaviour of the individual German parties differs from that of their European group. If one were to follow this logic, one would probably have to withdraw MEPs from the constantly revolting FDP, but not from the ÖDP or Volt.

You can think what you want of a hurdle for state parliaments and parliaments. In any case, for the European Parliament, it is an unjustified encroachment on our fundamental democratic rights and an anti-democratic push by the larger parties. I call on every member of the Bundestag, as a representative of the German people, not to support this anti-democratic law. It must not be they who decide on the representatives of the people, but the people!