According to the article I —  46, PART VI, of the E.U. Constitutional Treaty: “Political parties at European level contribute to forming European political awareness and expressing the will of the citizens.”
 
UEF and JEF  EUROPE: Taking into account that:  

- The  current  condition  in  the  political  structure  of  the  European  parties  cannot realistically promote European awareness  

- European political parties are actually coalitions of national parties without clearly defined political agendas common to all the national member parties

- The citizens of the member-states vote for a “national” representative rather than a “European” spokesperson following the national political agenda

- The  current  organizational  structure  of  the  European  Parties  cannot  effectively support Europe-wide demands.

Being aware that:

- In representative democracies political parties are the key intermediaries between citizens and the state  

- Parties form the political preferences of the citizens, transform them into electoral mandates of party governments and ultimately into public policy

- European   political   parties   could   significantly   contribute   to  the  democratic accountability  of  the  political  process  of  the  European  Union  and  enhance  the legitimization of the European governance

- The turnout to the European elections remains extremely low.
 
UEF and JEF Europe firmly believe that:

- European Parties should run for the European elections

- The  European  parties  should  have  a  key  role  in  increasing  the  turnout  in  the European elections

- National parties should be ready to follow the agenda of their European equivalent on European issues

- Candidates  MEPs   for  the   European   parliamentary   elections  should  be  elected under the same political umbrella that the European Parties provide

- European  Parties  should  share  specific  visions  and  proposals  on  European  issues that they should communicate to the citizens of the Union

- European Parties should have clear procedures and statutes that will  be respected by  their  members  —    accordingly  the  MEPs  should  comply  with  the  rules  and decisions of their political parties

- European  Parties  should  propose  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  of  the  European Commission before the European elections

- In accordance with the proposal by the EP European parties should be represented directly   at  the  EU   level.   10%  of  the  seat  of  the  EP   should   be  allocated proportionally  after  a direct  vote given  to the  European parties.  The remaining 90%  should  be allocated  as presently  in  multiseat  national  constituencies.  By introducing a direct representation for EU parties, the EU parties can present their Commission candidates on a European platform. This would further the European campaign  and increase the legitimacy of the Commission.

Therefore UEF and JEF  Europe:

- Call upon the national  political parties  to open the debate about the role  of the European ones and commit  themselves  to strong, alliances,  based on the ideology and the vision about Europe

- Request   the  Commission   and  the  European  Parliament   to  engage  citizens — especially those active in political parties- to this dialogue

- State once more their  belief that  strong  European  Political Parties  will  lead  EU  a step forward and will  bring  citizens  closer  to the decision-making  level,  providing them the necessary political platform for their “European demands”.


Resolution adopted by the JEF  Federal Committee on 31 October 2004
Resolution adopted by the UEF Federal Committee on 21 November 2004