The European Parliament should be stripped of its right to increase the EU budget and veto trade agreements.

A new report by the Open Europe think tank concludes that, instead of repeating the same mistake of addressing the European Parliament’s failure to connect with voters by increasing MEPs’ power, boosting the role of national parliaments in EU decision making would return democratic accountability closer to voters.

The common view that voter apathy is largely due to a lack of awareness or public ignorance is simplistic. Data from the European Commission’s own Eurobarometer public opinion surveys shows that, across the EU, there is no correlation between voter turnout and awareness of the European Parliament or interest in EU affairs.