If you want to understand a country, you should pick a similar country that you are already familiar with, research the differences between the two and there you go, you are now an expert.
"A Spaniard cannot vote for a Finnish MEP, and a Finn cannot vote for a Spanish party."
It is not a vote by citizenship but residence of EU citizens. A Spanish national living in Finnland elects the Finnish candidates. A Finnish citizen in Spain will elect the Spanish candidate.
A technical special aspect is that MEP seats are not proportionate to population. Germany is 96 MEPs for 84 Million, Greece is 22 MEPS for 11 Mio residents, Malta is...
So European lists with one citizen-one vote make sense.
> So European lists with one citizen-one vote make sense.
It would also make candidates try to appeal to the voters from the entire Europe. Playing the nationalist card would not work any more. If you are, say, aggressively pro-French, Finns will not vote for you.
The right of proposal rests with the European Commission. European Parliament can file motions under Rules of Procedure 47, request the Commission to present a proposal.
Also there is the European Citizen Initiative to the same effect but so resource-consuming, it is simply easier to get MEPs to file a RoP 47 motion or lobby the EC otherwise.
That Balkan house comparison is too spot on (and hilarious)
"A Spaniard cannot vote for a Finnish MEP, and a Finn cannot vote for a Spanish party."
It is not a vote by citizenship but residence of EU citizens. A Spanish national living in Finnland elects the Finnish candidates. A Finnish citizen in Spain will elect the Spanish candidate.
A technical special aspect is that MEP seats are not proportionate to population. Germany is 96 MEPs for 84 Million, Greece is 22 MEPS for 11 Mio residents, Malta is...
So European lists with one citizen-one vote make sense.
> So European lists with one citizen-one vote make sense.
It would also make candidates try to appeal to the voters from the entire Europe. Playing the nationalist card would not work any more. If you are, say, aggressively pro-French, Finns will not vote for you.
The right of proposal rests with the European Commission. European Parliament can file motions under Rules of Procedure 47, request the Commission to present a proposal.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/lastrules/RULE-047_EN.html
Also there is the European Citizen Initiative to the same effect but so resource-consuming, it is simply easier to get MEPs to file a RoP 47 motion or lobby the EC otherwise.
Also, after collecting 1 million signatures for the initiative, the result is all too often some kind of vacuous statement from the Commission.