This week will be held the elections for the head of the European Parliament (EP). Kosma Złotowski, from the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), is the only Polish candidate.
As emphasized by Złotowski, the current functioning of the European Parliament leaves much to be desired, and the main accusation is "the constant exceeding the competences of the EU, which is enshrined in the European treaties".
- If, for example, the European Parliament draws the attention of Poland or other EU countries to the principles of the rule of law, it would be good if it wasn't at odds with them itself. The main law determining the activities of the European Parliament are the European treaties, and one cannot go beyond the competencies that are enshrined in them. Meanwhile, debates on, for example, termination of pregnancy are held in the EP, and at the beginning of each of them, the Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, informs that although it is not the EU's competence, such a debate is worth having. Then a resolution is adopted. The European Parliament should not deal with matters for which it has no competence. Ignoring the provisions of the treaties misleads citizens and, consequently, undermines the credibility of the EU. And that needs to be changed - said Złotowski.
He added that if he was elected head of the EP, he would want to remove the 'sanitary cordon' imposed on some groups in the EP.
"In this way, the EP ignores not only the MEPs, but also the voters of these MEPs. These are millions of Europeans. For example, in the EP there is a d'Hondt system and for this parity, the ECR group should have chairs of two committees. Meanwhile, it is not so. My faction also does not have an EP vice-president. The 'sanitary cordon' is an absolutely undemocratic practice and this needs to be changed. The right-wing parties are covered by the sanitary cordon, but not the left-wing parties. Meanwhile, there are people in the EP who publicly state that they are the heirs of Marx, Engels, Stalin, and Trotsky," - he pointed out.
In his opinion, the European Parliament should be "a place of open, democratic debate, where the majority is won by the strength and honesty of arguments, and not by secret political bargains."
In his opinion, the exaggerated influence that group leaders and "non-elected officials of the clerical elite" have today should be limited. He is also against the EP having a legislative initiative.
