1979-2009 - Pöttering looks back at 30 years of European elections
Hans-Gert Pöttering, MEP since 1979, EP President since 2007. Pictured in his office in Strasbourg.
Next year's European elections mark 30 years since the first direct election. Current EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering is one of only a handful of MEPs who are still in Parliament having being elected in 79. He talked about the changes Europe has witnessed - from the fall of the Iron Curtain and the reunification of Germany - and how the European Parliament has evolved.
What is your fondest election memory from the Parliament in the past 30 years?
All European Parliament elections were very important because they were held at different historical moments. Nevertheless, the most remarkable elections I have ever experienced were those of June 2004. For the first time 10 new countries participated in a European election after their accession to the European Union in May of that year. We succeeded in conducting the negotiations to achieve this target, which was an objective of the European Parliament.
If somebody had told me back in 1979 that I would be part of a political community that would include three nations that were occupied by the Soviet Union - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - as well as the Warsaw Pact countries of Poland, Czechoslovakia (now two states), Hungary and Slovenia and that Germany would be united as part of the European community and members of the European Union, my answer would have been "this is a hope, this is a vision".
Next year’s elections to the European Parliament in June 2009 are also of the greatest importance. Today the Parliament is powerful and people must know that it has a very decisive role in the future of all Europeans. It is our responsibility to show all the achievements and how the Parliament uses its legislative powers to simplify people's lives. We must raise public awareness in order to achieve a high turnout.
How does the election process differ between 1979 and 2009?
Parliament has been directly elected since June 1979. On this historical date the direct link between citizens and Members of the European Parliament was established. The concept of a 'Citizens' Europe' started to take shape at that point. Before that date members were appointed to the Parliament by the member states from their own national parliaments.
In 1979 the 410 members were elected by universal suffrage. At the time there were no rules on the system of election to be used
Nowadays the electoral procedures are governed both by rules common to all countries and by specific provisions which vary from one state to another.
What is the biggest change you have seen since 1979?
In 1979, the European Parliament represented the citizens of the then nine Member States of the European Community. Today it represents approximately 500 million inhabitants from 27 European Union countries
Today our European continent is reunited and shares common values of peace, freedom rule of law and democracy. Totalitarian systems have failed and this is a great victory for our community of values.
Today we have a politically integrated European Union that has brought peace, stability and prosperity to Europe, which has made war inconceivable among its participants, which has the largest single market in the world, and which engages in common policies across a huge range of areas of government.
In 1979 the European Parliament was basically a mere consultative body. Today the European Parliament is self-confident and powerful.