Rick Falkvinge, pirate

Brussels: One Pirate or Two?

Right now, there’s a bit of confusion about exactly what happens to the mandatory number 19 and 20. We know that we have 19 seats, with full qualification if and when the Lisbon Treaty enters into force.

But the question is what happens before then. Until yesterday, it was crystal clear—it serves us well to send an observer, except that this observer has no voting rights, as Hax has reported several times.

Yesterday, Dagens Nyheter contradicted this, saying that the Election Authority has never received any such instructions:

There have been reports in the media throughout Europe that the additional members will act as observers in the House until the Lisbon Treaty goes through. But this was denied on Sunday by the European Parliament’s Office in Stockholm. Some observers will be in Parliament until and if the Lisbon Treaty goes through.

So one or two will go; in the case of one pirate, we know that it’s not actually the current situation. Yesterday, it was crystal clear that Christian and Amelia would go down together. Now the 19 seats are in a complete fog.