The ECR in the European Parliament
How are MEPs elected?
A majority of Member States use a voting method called the d'Hondt system to elect their MEPs.
In the ECR Group, the UK, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, Hungary and the Netherlands all use this method for allocation.
In Short, the d'Hondt system is a 'highest average method' for allocating seats in a party list system and works on the principle that the political party's vote total is divided by a specific number that is generated as the system progresses- (the number of seats plus one.)
The allocation of seats continues in this way until all the seats have been allocated to a political party.
The system is also used in practice for the allocation between political groups of a large number of posts (Vice Presidents, committee chairmen and vice-chairmen, delegation chairmen and vice-chairmen) in the European Parliament.
It may sound complicated but in practice it is relatively straightforward. We invite you to try the method yourself at:
http://icon.cat/util/elections/
As a result of the method the ECR Group currently has:
One Committee President: Malcolm Harbour (UK) - Internal Market
One Vice-President of the European Parliament: Giles Chichester (UK)
7 Vice Presidents:
Robert Sturdy (UK) - International Trade
Peter Van Dalen (NL) Transport
Struan Stevenson (UK) - Fisheries
Evzen Tosenovsky (CZ) - Industry
Nirj Deva (UK) - Development
Syed Kamall (UK) - Constitutional Affairs
Janusz Wojciechowski (PL) - Agriculture
Our positions in the European Parliament help us to punch above our weight and put into real practice our Prague declaration principles.
It is no secret that the ECR Group wishes to reform and change how the European Union works. We hope to attract more and more MEPs to our cause and become an even more significant player in the European Parliament in particular and the EU institutions as a whole. When we achieve this we can, under d'Hondt, secure more key positions and forward our reformist agenda.
