They Work For You: EU

Describe your idea:

A version of They Work For You for MEPs/the European Parliament – ideally multilingual so it can be used EU-wide.

What problem does it solve?:

The abysmal web presence of the European Parliament which, despite a recent site revamp, still makes finding information on EP and MEP activities next to impossible – which in turn ensures that public scrutiny of the EU’s only elected institution and of the legislation that passes through it remains minimal.

Enabling easier access to information about EP/MEP activities could not only reduce the chance of bad legislation being passed without the public knowing about it and increase democratic engagement on an EU level, but also demythologise one of the least understood political institutions in the world.

Type of idea: A brand new project

12 Comments

  1. This is an excellent idea – I’d vote for this one. At the European elections earlier this year it was enormously difficult to find anything but the barest information about the incumbents’ voting records. It’s hardly surprising so few people vote in these elections when there are so many barriers to knowing what our MEPs actually do!

  2. I think we should tackle the European Commission first. They are more powerful, and more opaque than the Parliament. It would also be a more interesting, novel and controversial project.

    On the other hand, perhaps positive engagement of the Parliament could help increase its power.

  3. I’d also put in my vote for this one. EU institutions (both parliament and commission) have a terrible presence on the web, making it very difficult to find the info we are accustomed to for our MP’s from TheyWorkForYou. A EU version would so wonders for making the EU more transparent.

  4. This one gets my vote, too. The ‘how’ of multilingualism needs to be developed further, but I guess there’s not enough space here.

  5. Not really sure that I see the benefits in this idea. There are so many reasons that MEPs are not capable of serving as representatives. I have not experienced problems gathering information on MEPs voting, nor indeed contacting them directly. What I learn’t was that there simply wasn’t any point as a private individual.

  6. Sounds like a very good idea, even if a Europewide multilingual website is beyond the capabilities of MySociety, a site for UK MEPs would be nice.

    It should be noted though, that several MEPs are good at communicating with constituents online.

    A particularly good website was that of Richard Corbett, who was MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber until losing his seat this year, to the BNP of all people 🙁

    The website is still there, at

    http://www.richardcorbett.org.uk/

  7. Yes, I’d be in favour of a theyworkforyEU. The European Parliament is the part of the EU decision-making process that we can hold to account directly, but very little makes the press at least in the UK unless it’s related to expenses, national government-bashing speeches or poor explanations of a vote on a contentious issue. A voting record etc . site that set the codecision context would be very helpful indeed in helping increase undestanding of what exactly it is that MEPs are being asked to do on our behalf, and what they are actually voting on anf for/against.