Between 2009 and 2019, #Poland is the only non-Western European country to have held an #EUTopJob. The incoming team is composed exclusively of Western/Southern Europeans. #vonderleyen (years indicated are years of nomination) #EastWestDivide
#EUagencies are present in almost all Member States, with the exception of 3 Central and Eastern European ones (+UK because of #Brexit). Yet, Western and Southern European countries — esp. #France, #Spain, #Germany and #Netherlands — clearly get the lion's share. #EastWestDivide
More insidiously, the Executive Directors of #EUagencies are even more representative of Western/Southern European Member States — with #France, #Italy, #Germany and #Netherlands taking the lead. Central and Eastern Europeans are even less in command. #EastWestDivide
Representation levels vary for population sizes v. equal representation for States. However, #EasternEurope seems the constant loser, with 14% of the #EU's population and 21% of its States, but only 8% of Executive positions in #EUagencies and 0% of #EUTopJob. #EastWestDivide
Overall, for an efficient #EU governance, geographical representation is less important than competence and efficiency.
👉However, chronic under-representation of Central and Eastern Europeans, esp. for #EUTopJob, maintains a "2nd-class citizens" feeling of being led by others.
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Over the past several years, @EDC_eudemocracy has made many, many requests to the European Parliament to access decisions by its Bureau on the funding of #europeanparties. These included decisions for funding (for the coming year) and final accounts (which wrap up the process).
Invariably, these documents were provided with heavy redactions over the parts covering the EP's reasoning for its decisions: we could see the outcome (amounts), but not how decisions were made. Until yesterday, the latest full document related to funding for 2015 -- 8 years ago.
To be clear, the point of this thread is *not* to argue that TNLs will make our common election less European, simply that they will not remedy the election's core deficiency (that national parties are in control) and that, therefore, they are not the right way forward. 3/25
Of course, "the @EU_Commission shall be completely independent" and "the members of the Commission shall neither seek nor take instructions from any Government". (Art. 17.3 TEU #LisbonTreaty). So there should be no need for #1country1commissioner rule. #IamEuropean 🇪🇺
Furthermore, "As from 1/11/2014, the @EU_Commission shall consist of a number of members [equal to] two thirds of the number of Member States" (Art. 17.5 TEU #LisbonTreaty)..... "unless the @EUCouncil [...] decides to alter this number". Which it did right away. #IamEuropean 🇪🇺
When we talk about simplifying administrative processes (#smartstate), we don't mean "big" things, just a collection of small things that contribute to making people's lives needlessly more complicated, especially abroad. Here's a silly example with a birth registration. 👇 1/7
A child is born in #Austria and registered with local authorities. Local authorities issue, for free, an original Austrian birth certificate in German and are thoughtful enough to include, for free, an original international birth certificate in multiple languages. 2/7
However, #French authorities will not accept the international birth certificate because it says "extract"; instead, they want a full version, even just in German. This requires us to book an appointment with local authorities and, this time, pay for a new original. 3/7