Deeds instead of false promises

How my work in the European Parliament improves transparency

 Posted on July 15, 2021  |  5 minutes  |  941 words  |  Marcel Kolaja  • Other languages: cs

How are we doing in changing the way the European Parliament works? We pursue digitization, voting by roll call, and transparency of taxpayers’ money spending. Prior to the European Parliament elections in 2019, one of the main Pirate priorities was a free Europe that needed to be upgraded. European policy making should be more transparent and closer to the people. And since my election, I have been working hard on it. [Read More]
cyber security  FOSS  Free Software  Open Source  remote voting  transparency 

I strive for transparency in the European Parliament

We have the right to know how our money is used and how our representatives vote

 Posted on March 10, 2021  |  3 minutes  |  607 words  |  Marcel Kolaja  • Other languages: cs

Since the founding of the Czech Pirate Party in 2009, we have been striving for greater transparency, especially in the case of public money – whether at the Prague City Hall, in the Chamber of Deputies, or in the European Parliament. As Vice-President of the last named, I have the opportunity to lead this fight on several battlefronts. However, these are mainly two areas: the transparency of public money spending by Members of the European Parliament and the vote in the European Parliament committees. [Read More]
remote voting  transparency 

How can I verify my vote?

Why remote voting needs to be roll call

 Posted on September 14, 2020  |  4 minutes  |  790 words  |  Marcel Kolaja

Democracy needs to be preserved even during pandemics. The European Parliament, therefore—in order to make decisions—has been voting remotely since March. There is not just one single voting procedure used in the Parliament at this moment. How the Bureau of the European Parliament enabled remote voting The Bureau of the European Parliament temporarily allowed voting by e-mail back in March. In addition to it, some committees started using an internally developed voting application, which is fully dependent on the proprietary Apple platform. [Read More]
COVID-19  remote voting 

Remote voting in the European Parliament

Why iVote is a strategic mistake

 Posted on June 17, 2020  |  3 minutes  |  512 words  |  Marcel Kolaja  • Other languages: cs

The COVID-19 crisis created a lot of challenge on many fronts. The European Parliament is not an exception. One of the challenges lies in enabling Members of the European Parliament to vote remotely while respecting law, rules of procedure, and democratic principles. Current solution for remote voting So far, bodies of the European Parliament vote remotely based on a decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament that made temporarily remote voting possible by e-mail. [Read More]
COVID-19  cyber security  remote voting