Attendance, liveliness and relevance
In this trial, the president or vice president steering the session will be able to choose on the spot who speaks once the first round of speakers on behalf of each group, usually the group chairs, have opened the debate.
According to the email, which was circulated Thursday, that means “members who request and are allocated speaking time will need to attend the whole debate in which they want to speak and check on the screens if they are the next to be called.”
The young lawmakers’ group sent a letter to Metsola in December with a set of proposals with 10 ideas on how to improve debate attendance, liveliness and relevance.
Other proposals include mandatory attendance quotas for each political group, encouragement for lawmakers to react to speeches ad hoc, and to allow MEPs to sit in the front rows of the chamber ― currently reserved for group leadership.
“Let’s establish a culture of testing improvements over the upcoming sessions,” the letter read.
And to spice things up further, the group is also planning to “hijack” next week’s debate by attending as a group and using the so-called Blue Cards system on each other to allow them to start an impromptu Q&A with the speaker, according to Boesleger, who coordinates the group.
The Parliament has for years brainstormed to improve attendance to its plenary debates. Last year, a working group composed of MEPs and civil servants issued a list of recommendations for political groups to consider.
