Democracy 1 - Institute of Welsh Affairs

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Welsh Democracy
1. The European Union
The people of Wales now live in a tiered democracy stretching down from the European Union,
through the UK Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and local authorities, to small
community councils at the most local end. Direct elections take place to institutions at all these
levels, though by different methods.
This vertical arrangement does not necessarily convey the relative importance of these institutions
to the public. The UK Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body for the UK, but in practice
sovereignty in some spheres has been ceded upwards and downwards to the European Parliament
and to devolved institutions in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. In recent polls in
Wales, a majority stated that they thought the National Assembly was the primary institution for
managing Welsh interests.
The United Kingdom joined what was then the European Economic Community in 1973 under a
Conservative Government, led by Edward Heath. The subsequent Labour Government, under Harold
Wilson – elected in February 1974, was pledged to renegotiate the terms of entry and to hold a
referendum. The question asked was: “Do you think the UK should stay in the European Community
(Common Market)?”
This referendum took place on 5th June 1975 and produced an overwhelming Yes vote throughout
the UK, including Wales.
The European Referendum 1975
County
Turnout
Gwynedd
64.3
Clwyd
65.8
Powys
67.9
Dyfed
67.5
West Glamorgan
67.4
Mid Glamorgan
66.6
South Glamorgan
66.7
Gwent
68.2
Wales
66.7
Scotland
N Ireland
47.4
England
UK
64.5
Yes Vote
76,421
123,980
38,724
109,184
112,989
147,348
127,932
132,557
%
70.6
69.1
74.3
67.6
61.6
56.9
69.5
62.1
869,135
1,332,186
259,251
14,918,009
64.8
58.4
52.1
68.7
17,378,581
67.2
Mid Glamorgan was the only county in Wales, and one of only ten in Great Britain, to register less
than a 60 per cent Yes vote. The other nine were in Scotland. The lowest Yes vote in Britain was in
Scotland Western Isles – 29.5per cent.
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As part of the UK, Wales is now part of the European Union of 27 member states, comprising a
population of 498 million. It is run through its major institutions
European Parliament – directly elected every five years
Council of the European Union – which represents the 27 national governments
European Commission – the EU’s civil service
E
uropean Court of Justice – which interprets and ensures compliance with European
law and treaties
• European Central Bank – which is responsible for European monetary policy
• European Court of Auditors – audits the EU’s finances
•
•
•
•
Role of the European Parliament
• Debates legislative proposals, directives and regulations.
• Scrutinises the work of the Commission and Council in debates and through written
and oral questions.
• Shares (with the Council) authority over the EU budget. At the end of the procedure it either
adopts or rejects the budget in its entirety.
• Its committees also scrutinize policies, prepare reports and legislative amendments.
Origins and size of the European Parliament
The European Parliament first met as the ‘European Parliamentary Assembly’ on 19 March 1958,
changing its title to the European Parliament on 30 March 1962. At that time its 142 members were
appointed by the national parliaments of each of the member states. When the UK, Ireland and
Denmark joined the European Communities in 1973, the number of members was increased to 178.
At the Paris Summit in December 1974 it was decided to move to direct election, but agreement was
not reached until July 1976. The first elections took place on 7 and 10 June 1979.
When Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, the maximum number of members of the
parliament was increased from 732 to 785, but for the 2009 elections this was reduced to 736.
However, the Lisbon Treaty allows for a maximum of 751 Members. The UK elects 72 members in 12
regions. Wales elects four members.
Directly elected members by state from 2009
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Total
17
22
17
6
22
13
6
13
72
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
736 (absolute majority: 369)
99
22
22
12
72
8
12
6
5
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
25
50
22
33
13
7
50
18
72
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European political groupings
There are seven political groups in the European Parliament, plus one ‘non-group group’. 25 members
are needed to form a group and at least one quarter of the member states (i.e. currently seven) must
be represented. Some members are non-attached.
The seven groups are
1. European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) – the EPP centre-right group is the largest group,
with 265 members. It holds 10 of the 22 chairmanships of committees and sub committees. It
has no members from the UK, since the Conservative Party’s decision to leave this group and ally
itself with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group.
2. Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament – 184 members
from 27 countries, including the 13 members of the UK’s Labour Party
3. Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe – 84 members from 19 countries, including the 11
members of the UK’s Liberal Democrats.
4. Greens/European Free Alliance – 55 members including, from the UK, the single Plaid Cymru
member, two Scottish National Party members, and two from the UK Green Party.
5. European Conservatives and Reformists Group – 55 members from eight countries, including
UK’s 25 Conservative Party members. The other countries represented in this group are Poland,
the Czech Republic, Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands.
6. Confederal Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left – 35 members from 17 parties
across 12 countries, but none from the UK.
7. Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group – 32 members including the 13 members of the UK
Independence Party
European Elections in Wales and UK
With one exception UK MEPs are elected by means of proportional representation – regional closed
party lists. The exception is Northern Ireland that uses the Single Transferable Vote system.
The d’Hondt voting system
In England, Scotland and Wales the system used is the d’Hondt system. This system is also used for
electing the regional list members of the National Assembly for Wales. It is also used in European
elections by the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, Hungary and the Netherlands.
The d’Hondt system, sometimes described as the ‘highest average method’, is used for allocating
seats in a party list system. The political parties put forward a list of candidates in rank order. Voters
vote for only one of these parties. It then works like this:
Let us say that Party A wins 40 votes, Party B wins 30 votes and Party C wins 24 votes.
Party A has the most votes so wins the first seat. Its total of 40 is now divided by the number of
seats it has plus one, i.e. 2. This leaves it with a remainder of 20 votes.
So Party A now has one seat and 20 votes, Party B has 30 votes and Party C has 24 votes. So Party
B wins the next seat because it has the highest number of votes. Its votes are now divided by the
number of seats it has plus one, i.e. 2. This leaves it with a remainder of 15 votes.
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So Party A now has 20 votes, Party B 15 votes and Party C 24 votes. Party C now has the most votes
so it wins the next seat. Its votes are now divided by the number of seats it has plus one, i.e. 2,
leaving it with 12 votes.
The allocation of seats continues in this way until all the seats have been allocated to a political party.
European election results in Wales
The UK elected 72 members in 2009, of whom 52 were re-elected and 20 were newly elected. Exactly
two-thirds (48) were men and one third (24) were women. Wales’s four MEPs – 2 men and 2 women –
comprised 1 Labour, 1 Plaid Cymru, 1 Conservative and 1 UKIP. Three of the four are new MEPs. The
one re-elected member is Jill Evans of Plaid Cymru
UK representation by party - 2009
Party
Conservative Labour UKIP
Liberal Democrat
Green Party British National Party
Scottish National Party Plaid Cymru Sinn Fein
DUP
Ulster Unionist Total
Seats
25
13
13
11
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
72
The four members elected in 2009 to represent Wales are:
Mrs. Kay Swinburne
[email protected]
Conservative
Derek Vaughan
[email protected]
Labour
Jill Evans
[email protected]
Plaid Cymru
John Andreas Bufton
[email protected]
UKIP
clickonwales.org / Wales factfile
Votes and share by party, European elections in Wales, 2004 and 2009
Party
Votes
% Share 2009
2009
Conservative
145,193
21.2
Labour
138,852
20.3
Plaid Cymru 126,702
18.5
UKIP
87,585
12.8
Liberal Democrats
73,082
10.7
Green Party
38,160
5.6
British National Party 37,114
5.4
Christian Party
13,037
1.9
Socialist Labour Party 12,402
1.8
No2EU:
Yes to Democracy
8,600
1.3
Jury Team
3,793
0.6
Total valid votes cast 684,520
Turnout
30.5%
Votes
2004
177,771
297,810
159,888
96,677
96,116
32,761
27,135
N/A
N/A
% Share
2004
19.4
32.5
17.4
10.5
10.5
3.6
3.0
N/A
N/A
% Share
UK 2009
27.7
15.7
0.8
16.5
13.7
8.6
6.2
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
917,686
41.9% Votes cast for parties in European elections in Wales
Date 2009
2004
1999
1994
1989
1984
1979
Lab
138,852
297,810
199,690
530,749
436,730
375,982
294,978
Con
145,193
177,771
142,631
138,323
209,313
214,086
259,729
PC
126,702
159,888
185,235
162,478
115,062
103,031
83,399
LibDem
73,082
91,166
51,283
82,480
28,785
146,947
67,962
UKIP
87,585
96,677
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Greens
38,160
32,761
16,146
19,413
99,546
n/a
n/a
BNP
37,144
27,135
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Percentage of the total vote cast for parties in European elections in Wales
Date 2009
2004
1999
1994
1989
1984
1979
Lab
20.3
32.5
31.9
55.9
48.9
44.5
41.5
Con
21.2
19.4
22.8
14.6
23.5
25.4
36.6
Plaid
18.5
17.4
29.6
17.1
12.9
12.2
11.7
Lib Dem
10.7
10.5
8.2
8.7
3.2
17.4
9.6
UKIP
12.8
10.5
3.1
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Greens
5.6
3.6
2.6
2.0
11.2
n/a
n/a
BNP
5.2
3
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
In 2009 turnout in the European elections was lower in Wales than the average for the UK, but
higher than in Scotland. The two highest turnouts in Wales were in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
(37.9 per cent) and Brecon and Radnor (37.8 per cent), The two lowest turnouts were in Merthyr
Tydfil and Rhymney (24 per cent) and Swansea East (23.4 per cent).
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UK turnout (34.7 per cent) was lower than the average for the EU (43 per cent). The highest turnouts
were in Luxembourg (91 per cent) and Belgium (90 per cent) where voting is compulsory. Turnout
was lowest in Slovakia and Lithuania, both at 20 per cent.
Percentage Turnout
Date
2009
2004
1999
1994
1989
1984
1979
EU
43.0
45.5
49.5
56.7
58.4
59.0
62.0
UK
34.7
38.8
24.0
36.4
36.4
32.6
32.4
Wales Scotland
30.5
28.6
41.9
30.7
28.1
43.1
40.7
39.7
36.0
N
.I.
42.8
51.7
Wales in Europe
In addition to its four Members of the European Parliament, Wales is represented on the EU’s
Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee. Both committees are advisory
and have 344 members each.
The Committee of the Regions represents regional and local government. The Commission and
the Council are obliged to consult with the Committee of the Regions on all proposals that might
concern regional and local government.
Wales has four members – two full members and two alternate members. Two are drawn from
the National Assembly, and two are drawn from local government on the nomination of the Welsh
Local Government Association. They are nominated by the Assembly’s First Minister to the UK
government’s Foreign Secretary. They are then forwarded to the Council of Ministers for approval.
The current Welsh members of the Committee of the Regions (2006-2010) are:
• Christine Chapman AM, Labour (Full Member)
• Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM, Plaid Cymru (Alternate Member)
• Councillor Robert Bright, Labour, Newport City Council (Full Member)
• Councillor Chris Holley, Liberal Democrat, Swansea City Council (Alternate Member)
The Economic and Social Committee represents civil society, including business and trades unions,
and must be consulted on proposals from the Commission before they go to the Council of Ministers.
The current Welsh members of the Economic and Social Committee are:
• Dr Rose d’Sa, lawyer, Newport
• Brian Curtis, RMT trade union, Barry
• Tom Jones, farmer, Welshpool
EU Representation in Wales
The Commission of the EU, previously the European Economic Community, has maintained a formal
office in Cardiff since 1976, although it had a presence here before the 1975 referendum. The office is
a source of information about the EU and its programmes as well as well as being the Commission’s
eyes and ears in Wales. It is part of the EC’s Directorate-General for Communications, headed by
European Commissioner Margot Wallstrom.
The current Commission representative in Wales is Andy Klom – [email protected]