A Parliament of Degressive Representativeness?

Abstract

For the election of the European Parliament, the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe introduces an absolute novelty, degressive proportionality, while the established principle of electoral equality makes no appearance at all. The normative goals in the Treaty text, when turned into operational electoral rules, entail serious obstacles implying an unnecessary provocation of the electorate. We argue that, since nobody knows its meaning, "degressiveness" ought to be deleted from the text, while the principle of electoral equality, treasured by all Member States, should be included