Brussels, 10 March 2021 – Voting in the committees of the European Parliament stays anonymous. Despite the long-term pressure from its Vice-President Marcel Kolaja, Conference of Committe Chairs failed to make this European institution more transparent. Neither the public nor the MEPs can verify how the votes were counted. Kolaja thinks that it is a problem especially during the pandemic, since there is no scrutiny over a show-of-hands voting procedure.
“Unfortunately, we did not succeed in the battle for more transparency in the committees of the European Parliament in the Conference of Committe Chairs. As a consequence, citizens are not allowed to see how their elected representatives voted,” says Kolaja.
“Furthermore, even the Members themselves are not able to verify whether their votes were counted as cast. Despite a provision in the Rules of Procedure which requires that Members must be enabled to verify whether their votes were counted as cast,” says Kolaja.
Already in the spring of 2020, Kolaja defended more voting transparency in the plenary, so that citizens and Members can verify the votes online. Unfortunately, voting transparency in the committees does not take place.
“Even though the Conference of Committee Chairs failed to pursue more voting transparency in the committees, we are not running away from the battlefield. I will re-open the debate on this matter in the Bureau of the European Parliament,” concludes Kolaja.
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