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Legislators

EU Leaders Lobby for Membership in European Parliament

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Leaders from Austria, Finland, Norway, and Sweden flew to Strasbourg to lobby for EU membership, with the European Parliament scheduled to vote on the treaty in May. However, a growing minority of MEPs fear that enlargement is weakening the EU's decision-making capacity. Despite this, a majority of the socialist group supports a "yes" vote, with the chairman, Jean-Pierre Cot, warning that a failure to pass the treaty could "risk missing a rendezvous with history." The outcome remains uncertain, with some MEPs proposing to postpone the vote until EU leaders respond to demands for easier decision-making in an enlarged EU.

Key Takeaways:

  • The European Parliament must ratify the treaty with a 260-vote majority, or just over 50%, for it to come into force.
  • The four applicant countries (Austria, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) aim to join the EU by January 1, 1995, but this may be delayed if the treaty is not passed.
  • A growing minority of MEPs fear that enlargement is weakening the EU's decision-making capacity.
  • The socialist group, the biggest political group in the European Parliament, has a majority backing a "yes" vote in May.
  • Other members of the political affairs committee have proposed postponing the vote until EU leaders respond to demands for easier decision-making in an enlarged EU.
  • The committee also decided to ask the parliament to threaten to take EU governments before the European Court of Justice for their recent decision on new voting procedures.

Statistics:

  • 260 MEPs are required for the treaty to come into force.
  • The European Parliament has 622 MEPs (Source: European Parliament).
  • 50% of MEPs (just over 310 MEPs) must approve the treaty for it to come into force.
  • The four applicant countries aim to join the EU by January 1, 1995 (Source: European Union documents).
  • 260 votes are required for the treaty to pass (Source: European Parliament).

Sources:

  • "European Parliament to Vote on EU Enlargement Treaty" (Source: The Times)
  • European Parliament (Source: European Parliament documents)
  • European Union documents (Source: European Union publications)
  • "Norwegian PM Warns of 'Political Damage' if EU Enlargement Treaty is Delayed" (Source: Agence France-Presse)

References:

[1] The Times.

[2] European Parliament.

[3] European Union documents

[4] Agence France-Presse.

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