By Floris Coojmans
The European Union is already in the unique position that its parliament moves around, meeting sometimes in Brussels, sometimes in Strasbourg. Instead of pinning it down in one city, as critics often propose, we should instead embrace the mobile nature of this assembly and let it drift around the entire continent.
This idea might sound preposterous - and it is - but drastic times call for drastic measures. The last European elections saw a union-wide turnout of barely 51%. Only half of the electorate bothering to show up at the polls isn’t great, but the situation is even more dire when looking on a member state level: 15 of the 27 member states had turnouts under 50%. In any democracy, such low turnout should set off alarm bells, but in the EU, some celebrated the fact that it was the second time the turnout reached over 50% since 1994.
When looking at a map of the turnout in the different member states, you can quickly notice that it almost functions as a heatmap of proximity to Brussels. The furthest removed member states, such as the Baltics, Bulgaria and Portugal have turnout rates of under 40%, and the lowest turn-out was measured in Croatia (21%), also a country on the edge of the EU. Why is this the case?
The member states with the lowest turnout are not just far away from Brussels but they are also the newest member states, a correlation which has to do with the gradual geographic expansion of the EU. While Brussels is easy to reach from the founding members, this is not the case for the most recent ones. With this distance comes a lack of tangibility, school trips to the European institutions in Brussels are commonplace in the Benelux, Germany and France, but Riga, Lisbon and Sofia are 2000 km away. A 20-hour one-way bus ride is simply not feasible for a school outing. A travelling European parliament could play a role in giving those on the European periphery the feeling that the EU institutions are also there for them. People meeting up to attend a plenary session or a meeting of the Committee on Fisheries because “the Parliament is in town” would do wonders for the reputation of the institution and democratic engagement of European citizens.
Furthermore, parliamentarians would also be faced with a new environment every time the Parliament moves, one where citizens instead of lobbyists will know the quickest route to their representatives. Most MEPs will only ever travel between their home base, Brussels and Strasbourg, forgetting that while are chosen from national lists, they are supposed to represent the European people as a whole, ideally.
This all sounds nice, but what would a Moving Parliament look like in practice?
As not every city will have a meeting room laying around which can accommodate all 720 MEPs, a circus tent looks like the best option, in full embrace of the “traveling circus” mock. As modern circus tents have capacities north of 3000, they can easily hold the MEPs, their staff and, most importantly, spectators.
With 11 plenary sessions per year, in a new city and country every month, it would take around 2.5 years to visit ever member state once. Moving this much sounds like it would be too large a burden, even in this fantastical scenario, so let’s give the MEPs some time to catch their breath and let the temporary home of the EP coincide with the rotating presidency of the council, which would mean a new temporary home for the parliament every six months. Connecting the EU rotating presidency with a circus tent is not a novelty, by the way. For the 2004 Dutch presidency of the council, renowned architect Rem Koolhaas designed an exhibition on the past and future of the EU, which was held in a big circus tent.
And how would the Moving Parliament get around? For this, there is precedent: 2021 was the European Year of Rail, and for this occasion, the Connecting Europe Express traversed to almost all member states (and a few candidates). The average speed of the train was slow, the entire journey took over two months but at every stop it made it was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd composed of city officials, blue-blooded Europeans, a couple dozen train spotters and a handful of bewildered commuters who didn’t really know what was going on. Modern sleeper trains have a capacity of around 700 passengers so, with one extra carriage added, it would hold all MEPs, who can see the European countryside roll by while they are brought to their new place of work for the next half a year.
Already the Romans knew the people loved a good spectacle. But instead of using bread and circuses to distract them from politics, it should be made a core part! Over the past year, it was major events such as the Olympics, the Men’s European Football Championship tournament and the Eurovision Song Contest which engaged Europeans - a similar vibe could be brought by the Moving Parliament.
Some optimists think that the future is fully digital, that physically gathering somewhere will be phased out as virtual reality will become more common. That may well the case for video games, but we can already see that, when it comes to politics, the online agora has failed. The only political content that gains traction online is polarising, black-and-white and, more often than not, radical-right in nature. Comment sections on social media are more like an open sewer where everyone just dumps their shit. Constructive debates can only be held face to face, which is what a Moving Parliament would allow. It could play a role in deradicalising political debate and move it in a more civilised direction. The Moving Parliament would also be a reminder that democracy is not something that you do only once every couple years by votin, but that it is about the continued relationship between the institutions and the citizens, not just on a local or national level, but on a European one as well.
The European Parliament, Coming Soon To A City Near You!
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