Thanks to MEP Kolaja, remote voting in committees will be transparent

Strasbourg, 07/07/2021 – Pirate Vice-President of the European Parliament Marcel Kolaja gained support for automatic roll-call votes held remotely in Committees. The Conference of Committee Chairs agreed on a change in the remote voting guidelines earlier today. From now on, all remote votes by Members will be automatically published as roll call. That will prevent errors in counting from remaining undetected, or even manipulations from occuring.

“I am very pleased, indeed. A transparent Parliament is one of the main priorities for the European Pirates. I’m glad that all the long negotiations paid off in the end. We need to realize that crucial points of legislation may be decided by a margin of one vote only,” says MEP Kolaja.

Kolaja also successfully fought for the remote roll-call vote in Parliament’s plenary sessions, which has worked great since last year. Further, Kolaja did not stop there. He actively advocated for the same rules to be applied for Committees. Kolaja started the avalanche a few weeks ago when he received support from several Committee Chairs and almost half of the Bureau for a letter addressed to the Chair of the Conference of the Committee Chairs Antonio Tajani, supporting roll-call votes in Committees.

“Today’s decision by the Conference of Committee Chairs truly is a proof that better times are coming and that the European Union has a chance to become a bit more transparent. I believe that chance will not be wasted,” adds Kolaja.

All remote votes (expect for secret ballots) should be the norm now both in Plenary and Committee, including votes on simple amendments. Prior to this change, roll-call votes in committees were only possible for final votes or if enough Members asked for it.