The Political Representation of Europe’s Citizens: Developments

Court of Justice of the European Communities Decisions of 12 September 2006, Case C-145/04, Spain v. United Kingdom, and Case C-300/04, Eman and Sevinger v. College van Burgemeester en Wethouders van Den Haag

What is a ‘European’ Parliament and who should vote for it? Should it be the ‘citizens’ of the European Union alone? If so, should it be all EU citizens, or only those who are resident in the member states? Or should the electorate include potentially all residents in the member states which comprise the EU and who are thus affected by decisions taken in the Parliament? Does anyone have a ‘right’ to vote for the European Parliament? And who should decide who votes for the European Parliament – the member states, or the EU itself? In other words, is there a single European concept of the European Parliamentary demos, or twenty-seven separate, but overlapping, national concepts?