The European Union, an organisation of states and of peoples with such a unique set-up, has its democratic legitimacy continuously scrutinised. Historically, the EU draws its democratic legitimacy from the democratic character of the member states, from the democratic values it upholds, from the democratic objectives of its political construction and from the ratification of the treaties by democratically elected national parliaments.

Over the years, as its competences grew and as its members increased, the EU sought to update its structures so as decision-making would not be excessively distanced from the citizen. The most obvious example of this process is how the European Parliament, from an assembly of representatives of national parliaments with consultative powers has grown into a directly elected chamber with several co-decision powers.

It is the only directly elected transnational institution of its kind in the world. What's more, in about a year's time, we Maltese will have an opportunity to directly elect our representatives within this institution.

The convention builds up

This effort on the part of the EU to continuously renew itself democratically is possibly one of the secrets of its great success. And the process continues. The ongoing Convention on the Future of Europe had as one of its remits to make proposals for a more democratic, more transparent and more efficient EU, especially in view of enlargement.

When setting up the Convention in December 2001, the European heads of state and government asked it, among other things, to explore the possibility of creating a new institution in the EU wherein the national parliaments of the member states are represented, and indeed a proposal in this sense is being put forward.

It also resulted from the public consultations conducted that citizens of the European Union and of the future and prospective members harboured great expectations as regards democracy within the EU.

The praesidium of the Convention has now issued a draft Constitutional Treaty which includes a section entitled "The Democratic Life of the Union". This section establishes new principles to enable citizens to participate more in EU decision-making. It also proposes to increase transparency.

A new principle is proposed, namely that all citizens within the EU are equal in relation to the European institutions, and the latter must devote equal attention to all citizens.

It also underlines the principle that every citizen has the right to participate in the democratic life of the Union. This provides a framework for dialogue between the institutions and civil society - a dialogue which is largely already in place. For the citizens to be able to avail themselves of this right, the Convention is also proposing that the institutions of the EU be bound to give citizens and representative associations the opportunity to make known and publicly exchange their opinions on all areas of action of the EU. This comprises fora for public discussions, opportunities for discussions over the Internet and other similar mechanisms.

Apart from the establishment of entirely new principles, the Convention is also proposing the consolidation and improvement of existing ones. Thus, the institutions of the EU must conduct their work as openly as possible, with the European Parliament and the Council discussing legislative proposals in public. Citizens of the EU have a right of access to documents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission and other agencies or bodies, provided that personal data of individuals is protected.

Particularly noteworthy is also the requirement for the Union to maintain a regular dialogue with churches and religious associations or communities and to recognise their identity and their specific contribution.

A build-up for Malta

As the European Movement (Malta) has often reiterated, EU membership is not only about economic gain: democracy is precisely one of the associated benefits. The EU's commitment to a European and global democratic environment enhances the democratic credentials of our country and helps to improve the democratic mindset of our political system.

The European Movement (Malta) is committed to make good use of the democratic channels offered by the set-up of the European Union to make its voice heard and give its contribution in the democratic process of the EU. It also encourages the Maltese people to do the same. It is our right; it is our duty; it is in our interest.

Elections to the European Parliament

Soon after Malta joins the European Union on May 1, the Maltese people will be called upon to elect five representatives for the European Parliament's new legislative period running from 2004 to 2009.

Speculation in Malta is already rife as to who would be running for these elections. That is fine. It shows that people are very much interested in the affairs of the Union and its Parliament. The elections to the European Parliament will be held between June 10 and 13.

Citizens of other member states resident in Malta have a right to vote and stand as candidates in the election. The European Commission estimates that their number in Malta is around 1,100.

The majority of the candidate countries have not as yet adopted the necessary legislation on the elections to the European Parliament, though they are on the way to doing so.

This is not a matter to be taken lightly, for there is a lot of work to be done not only in preparing the legislation itself and submitting it to the national parliaments for their approval, but also because electoral registers have to be updated to include all those eligible to vote.

In Malta the last day on which EU nationals, including those from the acceding countries, can apply to be registered as voters is March 31. But member state governments are obliged to inform EU citizens residing in their country of their right to vote and stand for elections.

This information must be tailored to meet the specific conditions of the EU voters in one's country and cannot be simply the same information which a government normally presents to its own citizens.

Measures have also to be adopted whereby the member states exchange information to prevent double voting.

The debate in Malta has already touched on whether Malta and Gozo should be considered as a single electoral district for the purposes of the election or whether they should be divided into five districts.

Both sets of proposals have their advantages and disadvantages. What is more important however is that the proportional representation system will be used and this should ensure that the seats elected by each party reflects more or less its electoral support.

The European Parliament has important legislative responsibilities to carry out and the elected local representatives will have enormous demands on their time and abilities.

The local representatives will have to work within the European parties represented in the European Parliament. The Nationalists will form part of the European People's Party and European Democrats (PPE-DE), the Labourites (depending of course what their policy on Europe will be) will form part of the Party of European Socialists (PSE) and if a candidate is elected to represent Alternattiva Demokratika he/she will join the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance.

Independents can also be elected as well as individuals from other political formations if they manage to obtain sufficient electoral support.

In the current Parliament, out of a total of 626 members, 232 of them belong to the European People's Party-European Democrats Group, making this the largest political formation. The European Socialists with 175 seats come second while the Greens with 45 seats come fifth.

It would be interesting to see whether this pattern of the division of seats in the Parliament is maintained after the June 2004 elections or whether there will be dramatic changes.

Europe Day

On May 12, the European Movement (Malta) will be celebrating Europe Day. Since its establishment in Malta in 1965, the European Movement (Malta) has uninterruptedly commemorated this day. Members of the European Movement (Malta) and their friends as well as President Guido de Marco, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, members of the diplomatic corps and other dignitaries have been invited.

As usual, the Europe Day reception is being held at the Osborne Hotel in Valletta. The Movement's chairman will address the gathering. This will be followed by a closing address by the President and a toast to European unity. This year's special theme is "Enlarging the European Union: A Historic Step."

Europe Day falls on May 9 and it commemorates the day when the Schuman Declaration was issued on that very same day in 1950 and which set off the process of European Union by proposing the setting up of the European Coal and Steel Community.