UNCERTAINTY OVER DATE FOR EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS IN 2004.

The Committee of Member States' Permanent Representatives to the European Union (COREPER) has so far failed to reach a unanimous agreement on the dates for holding the elections to the European Parliament in 2004. The 1976 legislation governing elections to the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage states that the elections must take place in all the Member States within the same period, stretching from Thursday to Sunday. The dates for the elections are automatically set for a corresponding period every five years by reference to the dates set in 1979. These dates may only be amended by a unanimous decision, which can bring the electoral date forward or back by one month. In 2004, the relevant dates are between Thursday, June 10 and Sunday, June 13 within the two-month authorised period from May 13-July 11.

The latest COREPER discussions represent the culmination of the survey carried out earlier this year at the initiative of the United Kingdom Presidency with regard to the national...