In Varietate Concordia - An European Union Election Game

[Finland SSR]

In Varietate Concordia
An European Union Election Game
Game Thread (TBD) | Full Game Mechanics Doc | Election Simulator Link

Setting

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It is May 2019, the Commission of Jean-Claude Juncker is coming to the end of its term, and the Luxembourgian politician has declared his decision to not seek another, meaning that the reins of the European Union are up for grabs once again - and the events of the past five years have shaken the foundations of the Union to such a point that the direction of the next Commission may decide its fate for decades to come. The first years of the Juncker Commission saw the breakout of the European refugee crisis, and though situation has somewhat stabilized by 2019, the resentment and bitterness which, according to many, an insufficient EU response to the crisis fostered has led to the growth of Eurosceptic movements across the whole Union. Though the defeat of Marine Le Pen in the 2017 French presidential elections and the less than overwhelming results from Eurosceptic parties in Germany, the Netherlands and other member states gives a ray of hope to the European project, one of the three most important members of the Union, Italy, is now controlled by a self-described “populist” government.

The crowning event of the Juncker Commission, however, was undoubtedly the series of events in the United Kingdom known as “Brexit”. Having voted to leave the European Union in a history vote in 2016, the UK went through three years of political conflict, instability, and constant failed attempts to secure a beneficial deal with the EU before all of its options were finally exhausted and the island nation was forced to depart in a No Deal Brexit on March 29th. For the first time in the history of direct European Parliament elections, the legislature assembled in the aftermath will have less MEPs than it had in the previous election, with 705 seats up for grabs.

The European Union is a political and economic union of 27 European nations, its current constitutional framework enshrined by the Treaty of Lisbon, also known as the Reform Treaty. The structure of the EU can best be described as a confederation-esque hybrid of supranational and intergovernmental decision making, and its powers are defined by two principles:

• Conferral - the member states of the EU willingly concede certain competences to the Union, and EU law is restricted to only acting within the limits of these conceded competences. In practice, this means that the European Union is not a state in its own right, as its sovereignty comes “from the bottom up”, granted to it by its member states rather than the other way around.
• Subsidiarity - the EU is restricted to acting only where a specific objective can only be sufficiently achieved by its member states working together. In practice, this means that the EU is limited to being a supranational organization, a union of independent states rather than a state in its own right, and otherwise cannot have influence in national matters.

The European Union follows the framework of Western-style division of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, although with the added complication of member state representation. The legislative power in the EU is vested by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, while the executive power in the EU is vested by the European Commission and the European Council.

Introduction

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In Varietate Concordia is a hybrid between a character and a faction RP, a P2TM adaptation of the popular genre of “election games” and “government simulation games” popular on the site alternatehistory.com. Its purpose is to simulate the governance of the European Union, where the players signing up for the game play as Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and immerse themselves in the complicated European political system to accomplish whatever goals they or their characters might hold, including, but not limited to, assuming the position of President of the European Commission, the highest executive office outside of the unelected European Council.

Unlike standard P2TM roleplays, be it character based or nation based, election games place the most emphasis on, first, cooperation between players involved in the game, be it players in the same political party, or members of the same government, to achieve the most optimal possible outcome for the country/organization which the players command (in this case, the European Union), and second, RNG-based and turn-based mechanics, rather than free-form roleplaying.

The game will be run on a turn-based format, where each turn will account for a single ingame year. Each turn shall end either one RL week after the last, or twenty-four hours after the initiatives of the European Commission have been submitted, whichever comes first. Each turn shall include actions taken both by all of the players participating in the game as well as the player who holds the position of President of the European Commission (and thus controls the European Commission), and will be followed by a turn report written by the OP (me), where the results of all the actions taken by the players will be processed and results given, as well as all the modifiers, issues and sliders which show the situation of the EU as a whole updated. As the term of the European Parliament, and by extension the Commission, lasts five years, every five turns an election will be held to determine the composition of the EP and the new President of the Commission.

Game information

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Note: Though much of this information, especially the Turn format and Election format spoilers, are important to the operation of the game, memorizing everything below is definitely not mandatory, as long as you know how turn-based games work and are willing to follow given instructions in the Game Thread.

The European Parliament

The European Parliament is the only directly elected institution of the European Union, composed of 705 MEPs elected by all of the citizens of the EU aged 18 or older, and serves as the lower house of the legislature of the European Union, sharing legislative power with the Council of the EU. Despite presenting itself as a parliament through and through, the European Parliament holds many differences from the many national parliaments across Europe and the rest of the planet. Most importantly, neither it nor the Council of the EU hold the power of legislative initiative - they can vote on laws, but not propose them, this power is instead held by the European Commission, although the European Parliament can make non-binding requests to the EC for a law project to be put on the agenda.

The European Parliament wields the powers of:

• voting on proposed laws, which require the consent of both the EP and the Council to pass;
• adopting and amending the annual budget of the EU;
• confirming the President of the EC and the rest of the Commission, as well as the power to recall it with a majority vote;
• ratifying international treaties between the EU and other countries.

The EP also holds a significant amount of indirect power in affecting European policy, its non-binding resolutions (for example, on European Union treaties) serve as a check on the support for the actions of other EU institutions, and may be used as justification by national governments to endorse or veto treaties which the EP has voiced their opinion on.

All player characters in In Varietate Concordia will start out as Members of the European Parliament, representing one of the “European parties” composing the Parliament, and the European Parliament will be the primary playing ground in the game.

European Commission



The European Commission is the primary executive organ of the European Union, responsible for proposing EU law, implementing decisions approved by the legislature, upholding the treaties of the European Union and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. It resembles a cabinet of ministers, composed of 27 commissioners, each one chosen by each of the member states of the EU and responsible for a specific field of affairs, with a President of the European Commission at the top as an informal “prime minister” of the European Union. Unlike all the other structures in the European Union - the EP, which represents citizens, or the Council of the EU, which represents member states - the Commission is bound to act independently, or, as some describe it, it is “the only body paid to think European”.

The European Commission, however, is not as powerful as its cabinet government counterparts, as many of the usual powers of such a cabinet (for example, foreign policy) are instead vested by the European Council. Regardless, it remains as the premier executive institution in the European Union, and its powers include:

• proposing legislation to the EP and Council of the EU and hearing their requests for legislation proposals;
• influencing the policies of member states and defining the long-term goals of the EU with the EU White Papers and EU Green Papers;
• upholding the treaties of the European Union;
• representing the EU in foreign organizations, such as the G8 and the WTO, and implementing the Common Foreign and Security Policy;
• enforcing legislation and acts passed by the European legislature.

The position of President of the European Commission in In Varietate Concordia will be held by a player character and come with additional powers and responsibilities. The other Commission positions may be designated to player characters for roleplay purposes, but carry no ingame effect.

European Council and Council of the European Union



The European Council and the Council of the European Union are the institutions with which the interests of the member states are represented in the European constitutional framework, the former composed of European heads of state and the latter of representatives and ministers from each member state. The former acts as a collective “head of state” of the European Union, representing the organization in foreign affairs and proposing candidates for the European Commission, while the latter serves as the upper house of the bicameral European legislature, votes on legislation and its approval is necessary for any legislation to pass.

As both of these institutions are unelected and represent the interests of the member states of the EU, both of the Councils will be controlled by the OP (me), and their responses to proposed legislation or other actions taken by the player characters will be controlled by weighted RNG.

Introduction: RNG System and Institutional Power

The results for decisions and acts made by player characters during the course of the game will be resolved using a simple weighted RNG system. The base rolls for each action will be rolled by me with an online random number generator on a scale of 1 to 100, where 1 means the worst possible result and 100 means the best possible result, and posted in the turn report. These rolls are then modified by effects such as game-wide roll modifiers and personal traits to yield the final result. A modified roll needs to reach at least 50 to be considered a success, otherwise it is considered a failure.

Traits are fields in which a specific character excels in and thus receives a positive roll modifier. Traits are granted by the OP as a result of successful initiatives in the specific field, may be further improved through additional initiatives in the same field, and affect the character’s further rolls in that field. There is no defined list of possible character traits, and the OP is free to create new traits fitting for the situation at hand.

An example of a successful initiative resolution would be this:

Code: Select all

Name NoName - Propose the Universal Glass-Wearing Directive: 69 (RNG) + 10 (Trait: Expert Politician) + 10 (EC Green Paper: Endorse Glass Industry) = 89

Name NoName's proposal to require all inhabitants of the European Union to wear glasses passes through the European Parliament successfully and has been implemented into law.

Name NoName gains the trait Friend of the Glass Industry, which grants him a +10 roll boost on initiatives related to the glass industry.

A base roll may be modified by a maximum of 45 points in any direction, positive or negative.

The player character in control of the European Commission, while making annual decisions, has to keep track of an additional mechanic, Institutional Power (IP). Institutional Power represents the strength of the EU institutions, the influence of the incumbent Commission in affecting policy-making, as well as the support which those institutions have among the member states and the general population. It is a simple stamina system - the Commission receives a specific amount of Institutional Power at the end of each turn report and is able to spend it on making actions.

The amount of Institutional Power accrued by the incumbent Commission every year depends on a number of factors, but in general, the primary ones are the support which the Commission President wields among the European Parliament (whether he has a friendly plurality or majority supporting his decisions), the personal traits of the Commission President, the successes or failures of the previous turn and the current situation in the European Union (measured by modifiers and slider conditions). It cannot go below zero (but can be zero).

Player Initiatives

Every turn, all of the players (except for the Commission President) receive a single player initiative which they are able to submit during the turn by posting it in the Game Thread, and which represents the most important action which your character does throughout the year. Player initiatives may belong to one of these four categories: Propose Legislation, Support Initiative, Oppose Initiative, Non-Parliamentary Action.

Propose Legislation is, as the name entails, a proposal for a some sort of law project submitted for a vote in the EU legislature. As the constitutional framework of the EU entails, however, the EP does not have legislative initiative power and can only request the Commission to submit the initiative they want for a vote. This means that the player controlling the European Commission (i.e. the Commission President) may veto any Propose Legislation initiative they desire, nullifying it immediately. The player who submitted the vetoed initiative does not lose their single annual initiative, however, and is able to submit a different one.

Non-Parliamentary Action is something which the player character does which is not related to proposing legislation. This can be anything from meeting with voters to appearing on television to talk about specific policy or seeking funding from lobbyists, pretty much anything else which a MEP would be able to do, but is not related to parliamentary work. These initiatives may not be vetoed by the Commission President, but can still be supported or opposed by other players, and have a higher chance of granting traits.

Support Initiative makes the player sacrifice their own initiative for the turn in exchange for giving a +15 roll boost to an initiative submitted by another player. The exact same thing, except the other way around, is Oppose Initiative - the player sacrifices their initiative for the turn in exchange for giving a -15 roll malus to an initiative submitted by another player. Players are able to support or oppose player initiatives as well as Commission legislation proposals - however, they cannot oppose the entire Commission list of actions, only a specific initiative, nor can they support or oppose Support Initiative or Oppose Initiative actions.

The template for player initiatives would be this:

Code: Select all

[b][size=150]PLAYER INITIATIVE FOR YEAR [insert here][/size]

Character: [insert character name here][/b]
[hr][/hr]
[b]Type of initiative:[/b] (Propose Legislation, Support Initiative, Oppose Initiative, Non-Parliamentary Action)
[b]Description:[/b] (If Propose Legislation or NP Action, describe what your character is doing or what the law project entails. If Support or Propose, state which initiative your character is targeting.)
[b]Applicable traits:[/b]

(RP can be posted below.)

Players are free to put roleplay below their initiatives, but it will have no effect on the result of the initiative. However, the OP is free to reserve the right to grant an initiative maluses if it is particularly illogical, memey, or crazy, or bonuses if they believe it to be well researched or fitting to the current ingame situation.

Commission Actions

The player in control of the European Commission does not follow the usual initiative rules and have a separate template for the turn. Unlike other players, which only have a single initiative, the Commission may make as many actions as it wants as long as it has the Institutional Power to spend for them - and the choices which they are able to make with this Institutional Power are different as well. The Commission may:

• Propose Legislation (base cost - 1 IP) - effectively identical to the Propose Legislation initiative available to players, except that, of course, it does not hold the risk of a Commission veto. The primary way how the European Commission may affect EU policy. May be targeted by Support/Oppose Initiative.
• Publish Green Paper (base cost - 1 IP) - in essence, an EU recommendation. In political jargon, a “green paper” is a consultative document published by a government where they offer their ideas on a specific topic, seek public reactions and advice. In the European Union, green papers are consultative recommendations to EU member states published by the European Commission, which are non-binding, but nevertheless hold the pressure to get the member states and the EU legislature to follow the Commission’s will. A Green Paper needs to be targeted towards a specific policy (for example: harmonization of tax rates, pro-Russian foreign policy, etc.) and grants all initiatives during the turn towards that policy a +10 roll bonus. Both Commission and player initiatives are affected.
• Publish White Paper (base cost - 3 IP) - a communication of the plans of the Commission to the public and the other EU institutions. Unlike green papers, these are not consultative, but are rather a pre-decided vision of the Commission towards a specific topic to seek support for their policies. Much like Green Papers, White Papers need to be targeted towards a specific policy and grant all initiatives during the turn towards that policy a +20 roll bonus. Both Commission and player initiatives are affected.
• Make Foreign Initiative (base cost - 3 IP) - reaching out to a foreign, non-EU nation to achieve a specific foreign policy, such as sign a trade agreement, organize a foreign military mission under the flag of the EU, so on and so forth. This category also includes processing applications for European Union membership. May be targeted by Support/Oppose Initiative.
• Call For a New Union Treaty (base cost - 10 IP) - reach out to the European Council with a set of amendments to the European Union constitutional framework and request the organization of an intergovernmental conference to approve a new EU structural treaty, much like the Treaties of Rome, Nice, Lisbon, etc. If the European Council approves, a conference will be held with the proposed amendments in discussion. How the conference will be resolved will be decided later on (not really relevant right now, it’s not going to be a common event), but if the amendments are approved, the changes to the game’s mechanics will be implemented immediately after.
• The Commission is also able to save any Institutional Power which they did not spend on actions and transfer it to next year - unless the next year is election year, in which case IP transfer is not allowed.

The template for Commission initiatives would be this:

Code: Select all

[align=center][b][size=150]THE COMMISSION OF [character name]
YEAR [insert here][/size][/b][/align]

[b]Institutional Power available:[/b]
[hr][/hr]
[size=150][b]LEGISLATION PROPOSED[/b][/size]
(You may copy and paste the following template any number of times for each action taken.)
[box][b]Name:[/b]
[b]Description:[/b]
[b]IP cost:[/b]
[b]Applicable traits:[/b][/box]
[hr][/hr]
[size=150][b]CONSULTATIVE PAPERS PUBLISHED[/b][/size]
(You may copy and paste the following template any number of times for each action taken.)
[box][b]Name:[/b]
[b]White or Green?:[/b]
[b]Description:[/b]
[b]IP cost:[/b][/box]
[hr][/hr]
[size=150][b]FOREIGN ACTIONS TAKEN[/b][/size]
(You may copy and paste the following template any number of times for each action taken.)
[box][b]Name:[/b]
[b]Description:[/b]
[b]IP cost:[/b]
[b]Applicable traits:[/b][/box]
[hr][/hr]
[size=150][b]UNION TREATIES CALLED[/b][/size]
[box][b]Host city for the conference:[/b]
[b]Proposed amendments:[/b]
[b]IP cost:[/b][/box]
[hr][/hr]
[b]Institutional Power remaining and transferred to next turn:[/b]

Modifiers and Slider Conditions

The situation in the European Union at any given moment is depicted by modifiers and slider conditions. Modifiers are ongoing events or present conditions which directly affect the government of the European Union one way or another. They can best be compared to, say, National Spirits from Hearts of Iron IV. Sliders are important measurements which serve as a measure of the economic, social and political situation in the European Union. Affecting sliders and gaining or removing modifiers is the primary way how the legislation and actions made by the players of the game will affect the European Union as a whole.

The slider conditions and their starting positions in In Varietate Concordia are these:

Economic Health

Economic Miracle
Booming
Above Average
>Stable<
Below Average
Failing
Economic Collapse

Economic Health details the current economic situation in the member states of the European Union. This measurement directly affects the government of the EU in the size of its budget, as well as the trust of its citizens in the European project - high economic health means a stronger pan-European government, increasing the amount of Institutional Power available, while low Economic Health yields the opposite result.

Faith in the European Project

Fanatically Loyal
Loyal
Supportive
Ambivalent
>Suspicious<
Disillusioned
Faith Completely Lost

Faith in the European Project represents the trust which the citizens and members of the governments of the member states of the EU hold towards the European Union and its institutions. This measurement directly affects the EU’s ability to implement legislation and directives - high faith grants all Legislation Proposals a passive roll boost, and the opposite goes for low faith.

National Representative Relations

Rubber Stamp
Alliance
>Mutual Support<
Ambivalence
Suspicion
Open Friction
Open Conflict

National Representative Relations represents the relations between the “European” institutions - the Commission and Parliament - and the “national” institutions, the two Councils, and whether the incumbent EU government represents the interests of the member states. While high relations with the two Councils does not hold any positive effects, negative relations with them will run the risk of negative events taking place every turn, such as the European Council calling for the Commission to resign or the Council of the EU vetoing legislation which they deem to be encroaching on member state rights. At its most extreme point, it may even lead to a breakup of the European Union.

The starting modifiers in In Varietate Concordia are these:

Turn reports

Once a week passes since the previous turn report, or 24 hours pass after the initiatives of the Commission are submitted, whichever comes first, the time window for submitting initiatives is closed and the OP writes a turn report to close the turn in question.

The turn report includes RNG resolutions for all submitted initiatives, rolls for the chance of any unfortunate events, disasters as well as actions by the European Council, and finally some basic rolls on the situation among the rest of the world’s powers - the US, Russia, India, China, etc. - and rolls on the resolution of any events which might be ongoing, such as, say, the war in Ukraine.

Once all the RNG resolutions are completed and all the traits for successful initiatives distributed, the post includes the new slider settings and what they entail, any gained or lost modifiers, and finally, the amount of Institutional Power which the Commission has for the next year.

Electoral Initiatives

Elections to the European Parliament, the only institution in the European Union framework directly elected by all of the citizens of the European Union, are held every five years, after the end of the turn beforehand (so, for example, if elections are held in 2024, then ingame, they are held after the 2023 turn report). In Varietate Concordia starts with an election, the European Parliament election of 2019. Elections are a quasi-turn, during which all player characters, including the Commission President, are able to submit a separate “electoral initiative”. This initiative does not take up a usual initiative slot and is the primary way how players are able to affect elections.

There are no traits which specifically impact electoral initiatives - instead, the sum of all of the character’s traits acts as a modifier to the base RNG roll. Player characters are able to choose from one of these initiatives as their electoral initiative:

• Electoral Campaign is exactly what the name implies. Your character dedicates the electoral season towards campaigning for their party, in whichever way they deem best, be it with live rallies, meetings with voters, through television or the Internet. The results of this initiative directly impacts the party’s vote results in the election.
• Electoral Attack is also fairly self-explanatory. Your character dedicates the electoral season towards mudslinging at another party, again, whichever way they deem appropriate. The results of this initiative directly impacts the attacked party’s vote results in the election.
• Raise Issue dedicates your character’s electoral campaign not towards attacking or supporting a specific political party, but rather raising an issue as well as an answer to that issue. The list of available issues as well as the answers to them is listed below as well as underneath each election announcement post. The results of this initiative impact the popularity of a specific issue as well as a specific answer to it, which indirectly affects the popularity of specific parties.

The template for election initiatives is here:

Code: Select all

[b][size=150]PLAYER INITIATIVE FOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTION OF [insert here][/size]

Character: [insert character name here][/b]
[hr][/hr]
[b]Type of initiative:[/b] (Electoral Campaign, Electoral Attack, Raise Issue)
[b]Target:[/b] (Your party if Electoral Campaign; targeted party if Electoral Attack; targeted issue and issue answer if Raise Issue)
[b]Applicable traits:[/b]

(RP can be posted below.)

Issues and the Election Simulator

Elections to the European Parliament will be simulated using my own custom made Election Simulator, a Google Sheets system I had written for an election game on AH.com to not rely on the ideologically slanted forum polls used among the rest of the forum.

Link to the simulator

Delving into the intricacies of the Election Simulator is not necessary, but, in brief, the simulator calculates the results of an election by relying on three separate simulated “demographics” of voters - partisan voters, unaligned voters and issue voters, each one of these categories relying on different mechanics to spew out results.

Partisan voters are voters who strongly empathize with a single specific party and are thus likely to vote for them in any further elections, unlikely to change their positions unless something extreme takes place to change their views. The results of Partisan voting are distributed according to base percentages, and are slanted towards “establishment” parties, as they serve as their anchor to remain in relevance.

Unaligned voters are voters who do not have a strong party preference and thus are easily swayed by election campaigns and promises, and often only make up their mind at the very last day of the campaign, when they are already in line for the polls. The results of Unaligned voting are distributed according to the results of Electoral Campaign and Electoral Attack initiatives. This is the field where populist parties are likely to shine most.

Issue voters are voters who do not necessarily have party preferences, but vote according to specific issues which affect their lives the most. The results of Issue voting are distributed in accordance to the Issue system. At any given time, ten separate Issues are in public discourse in the European Union - all player characters need to form an opinion on them while making an application, as well as all parties seeking to compete in the election. All issues have five answers pertaining to different ideological positions - Left, Center-Left, Center, Center-Right, Right - from which the answer must be chosen. There are no write-ins (although you are able to specify next to your chosen position on how your character’s opinion personally differs)

In the election of 2019 and the 2019-2024 cycle, the ten issues in public discourse in the European Union are:

• Climate Change
• Copyright Directive
• EU-US Relations
• European Integration
• LGBT Rights
• Mediterranean Refugee Crisis
• Permanent Structured Cooperation/Unified European Army
• Poland-Hungary Sanctions
• Russia Sanctions
• Taxation Harmonization

Upon the announcement of each election, all parties in the race are required to announce their common platform in the election, listing the party’s positions on all ten of the major issues, which will be included into the Election Simulator to calculate the distribution of Issue votes. The announcement template should look something like this:

Code: Select all

[align=center][b][size=150]THE ELECTION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, YEAR [insert here]

[insert party name and logo. Logo should be no larger than 200px wide][/size][/b][/align]

[size=150][b]ISSUE POSITIONS[/b][/size]
[hr][/hr]
[b]CLIMATE CHANGE[/b]
[box][b]Party stance:[/b]
[b]Additional information:[/b] (If necessary)[/box]
[hr][/hr]
[b]COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE[/b]
[box][b]Party stance:[/b]
[b]Additional information:[/b] (If necessary)[/box]
[hr][/hr]
[b]EU-US RELATIONS[/b]
[box][b]Party stance:[/b]
[b]Additional information:[/b] (If necessary)[/box]
[hr][/hr]
[b]EUROPEAN INTEGRATION[/b]
[box][b]Party stance:[/b]
[b]Additional information:[/b] (If necessary)[/box]
[hr][/hr]
[b]LGBT RIGHTS[/b]
[box][b]Party stance:[/b]
[b]Additional information:[/b] (If necessary)[/box]
[hr][/hr]
[b]MEDITERRANEAN REFUGEE CRISIS[/b]
[box][b]Party stance:[/b]
[b]Additional information:[/b] (If necessary)[/box]
[hr][/hr]
[b]PERMANENT STRUCTURED COOPERATION[/b]
[box][b]Party stance:[/b]
[b]Additional information:[/b] (If necessary)[/box]
[hr][/hr]
[b]SANCTIONS ON POLAND AND HUNGARY[/b]
[box][b]Party stance:[/b]
[b]Additional information:[/b] (If necessary)[/box]
[hr][/hr]
[b]SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA[/b]
[box][b]Party stance:[/b]
[b]Additional information:[/b] (If necessary)[/box]
[hr][/hr]
[b]TAXATION HARMONIZATION[/b]
[box][b]Party stance:[/b]
[b]Additional information:[/b] (If necessary)[/box]
[hr][/hr]

The percentages spewed out by the Election Simulator are then converted into seats in the European Parliament according to a proportional representation system. Regarding candidacies to the European Parliament, player characters always take priority before NPCs when distributing seats. That means that if a party receives the exact amount or more EP seats as they have players, all player characters are counted as elected to the European Parliament and receive seats.

If a party receives less seats than they have players (for example, they won two seats and have three players), then the seats are distributed according to each player character’s electoral campaign. Characters who rolled better in the campaign phase will be prioritized.

Election of the President of the European Commission

The process of choosing the new President of the European Commission is a reflection of the Union’s necessity to balance national and European interests. The method is fairly simple - the European Council, composed of the heads of state of all member states, proposes a candidate to the European Parliament, which the parliamentarians vote on and either approve or dismiss until an appropriate candidate can be found. The European Council must find a candidate by majority vote and must take the results of the election to the European Parliament into account and thus pick candidates from the winners of the election. There are also several other unofficial criteria, all of which compile into this list of qualifications necessary for any prospective candidate to the Commission Presidency to fulfill:

• The character must be a Member of the European Parliament.
• The character must belong to a party which has garnered at least 10% of the seats in the European Parliament, and, if this party does not own a majority, it is likely to find backing from other political parties.
• The character must, preferably, not hail from the Big 3 (France, Germany or Italy) and instead represent a credible, yet not overpowering member. Preferably, this member must also be a member both of the Schengen Agreement and the Eurozone.
• The character has a credible amount of political experience, preferably both in national and European institutions.

The European Council, controlled by the OP, shall submit their candidate for the Commission President to the Parliament in the IC, evaluating all the following criteria, as well as preferences by the parties themselves (represented by OOC chatter), to submit a player character which they deem as the most appropriate to lead the European government. Upon the submission of candidacy, all player characters who are MEPs submit their vote on the candidate, using this post format:

Code: Select all

[b][size=150]VOTE ON THE CANDIDACY OF [insert candidate name here] FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION[/size]

Character: [insert character name here][/b]
[hr][/hr]
[b]Party:[/b]
[b]Vote:[/b] (APPROVE, OPPOSE or ABSTAIN)

(RP can be posted below.)

The NPC members of each party will follow after PC votes. If all the PC characters of the party in question vote the same way, all NPC members will follow their lead. Otherwise, the NPC MEPs will be distributed equally between each character. A candidate needs to receive at least 50%+1 APPROVE votes in the European Parliament to be successfully voted in as the new President of the European Commission - if the Parliament votes against, the candidate is defeated and the process starts all over again, repeated until a candidate approved by the Parliament is found.

Upon election, the character elected as the Commission President is able to nominate some of his fellow MPs as minor members of the Commission - however, this holds no effect on the game’s mechanics.

One final thing - a Commission President may only be reelected once.

In brief

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In summary, an annual turn in this game goes like this:

• A new turn is announced in the IC thread and new Institutional Power calculated.
• The Commission President puts forward their Commission’s initiatives for the turn, spending Institutional Power.
• Player characters put forward their initiatives for the year, making actions or supporting/opposing other initiatives.
• The OP posts a turn report in the IC thread where the results of all initiatives are rolled for and calculated. Ongoing events are resolved, sliders updated, modifiers gained or removed.
• The cycle repeats.

In summary, an election in this game goes like this:

• The final turn in a Parliament’s term ends and an election is announced.
• During a specified timeframe, all the parties competing in the election submit their electoral programs, detailing their stances on all the issues posed.
• During a specified timeframe, player characters submit their election initiatives. These initiatives are rolled for.
• The Election Simulator is run and spews out the results of the election, and these results converted into seats in the European Parliament.
• The European Council submits a candidate to the Commission and the Parliament votes on it, whether aye or nay.
  (The above point may be repeated until a candidate is found)
• Institutional Power is calculated and granted to the European Commission for the first turn after the election. Move to the turn summary.

Applications

---

A few words on character applications:

• You are playing as candidates to the European Parliament. As such, the minimum age of your character should be at or above the age requirement for standing in European elections in the character's country. In most countries, it is 18 years old, but the age differs and is up to 25 in Italy and Greece. Check the age requirement here.
• I highly recommend your character starting out with at least some political experience in their home country. Freshman young faces are nothing bad to play as and feel free to take a shot at a 20 year old youth in the Parliament if you wish - however, the Commission requires any prospective candidates to have a portfolio of experience and that position is obviously off-limits for the youth. You are free to make your character into a former MP in their home country or even a former minister, even if they are an original character - the only lid, however, is on being a former head of state or head or government, for balance purposes.
• To make sure that as many player characters are concentrated in as few parties as possible, to encourage cooperation, your character may only start out as a member of these following European parties:
  
  • European People's Party
  • Party of European Socialists
  • Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
  • Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists
  • Europe of Nations and Freedom
  For the 2019 election, the other European political parties, as well as forming new parties, is disallowed.
• Real life politicians are allowed to be claimed, though don't go overboard with them. The "no former HoS or HoG" rule applies to them as well.
• You are able to make more than one character - however, no matter how many characters you own, you can only submit one initiative per turn, so keep that in mind before creating a flurry of characters.

With that in mind, the character application:

Code: Select all

[align=center][b][size=150]CHARACTER APPLICATION[/size][/b][/align]

[b]Appearance[/b]: (Real life pictures only, please.)

[b]Full name[/b]:
[b]Gender[/b]:
[b]Date of birth[/b]:
[b]Ethnicity[/b]:
[b]Member state of origin[/b]:
[b]European political party[/b]:
[b]Political portfolio[/b]: (i.e. previously held political positions)
[b]Biography[/b]:

[b]Stance on the following issues:[/b]
(Either highlight the position your character stands for, or delete all other answers besides the one your character supports)
[list][*][u]CLIMATE CHANGE[/u]
RIGHT: Whether climate change is truly a man-made thing is still in doubt, so why should we concern ourselves with harsh regulations already?
CENTER-RIGHT: Regulations on carbon emissions and pollution should be coordinated with business concerns. We should not bankrupt our fragile economy with harsh regulations.
CENTER: The current stance towards climate change and the necessary regulations is sufficient.
CENTER-LEFT: The European Union should take a stronger stance towards climate change and enforce all of its member states to follow on wide-reaching regulations to limit European carbon emissions and pollution.
LEFT: The European Union should not only be exemplary in its stance towards climate change, but also force other nations across the world to follow. The EU should pressure the US to approve the Paris Agreement and encourage the spread of climate-friendly technology and climate change awareness in developing countries, such as Africa and Asia.
[*][u]COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE[/u]
RIGHT: The Copyright Directive, like most other EU laws, encroaches on national sovereignty and should be repealed.
CENTER-RIGHT: The Copyright Directive was a great step for the protection of author rights in the European Union and should be followed further with additional pro-copyright protection laws.
CENTER: The Copyright Directive was a great step forward, but the backlash suffered from it across the Internet and the public indicates that the act was highly controversial and should not be followed up with further reforms.
CENTER-LEFT: The Copyright Directive is a potential danger to the free flow of information on the Internet, and should be amended to address the concerns of internet users and small internet sites unable to establish upload filters and pay link taxes.
LEFT: The Copyright Directive, if it remains, will destroy the Internet and should be repealed immediately.
[*][u]EU-US RELATIONS[/u]
RIGHT: The United States will always be the greatest ally of European national sovereignty thanks to NATO and a history of trans-atlantic partnership. We should change our stance towards US foreign policy and Donald Trump's presidency to maintain this partnership.
CENTER-RIGHT: The United States and the European Union are natural allies, even if the relations between the two blocs have worsened over the years.
CENTER: The European Union should always offer a hand of cooperation to the United States, but as long as the current government is in charge of Washington, we cannot offer that option. Protest against the actions of the Trump administration on the international stage.
CENTER-LEFT: The 2016 election has signified a long expected end to European-American cooperation. The EU is on its way to become a superpower and it should treat the US as a potential adversary, even after Donald Trump leaves the White House.
LEFT: The sorry state of the planet requires the US and the EU to cooperate and promote democracy and liberty worldwide.
[*][u]EUROPEAN INTEGRATION[/u]
RIGHT: The European Union has grown too far from its original purpose of being merely a customs union. We should do anything we can to revert the dangerous growth of European institutions and the power of the EU over nation-states.
CENTER-RIGHT: The current level of European integration is fine, though European institutions could use more transparency and efficiency improvements.
CENTER: The European Union should continue its path of integration - however, a United States of Europe is too far away from reality to be discussed right now. For now, our focus should be solely on improving the efficiency and strength of European institutions while balancing it with national concerns.
CENTER-LEFT: Three hurrahs for Europe! The European Union has gone far, and we shall not stop until we establish the United States of Europe which its founders have sought!
LEFT: The integration of the European Union is highly concerning, especially since it serves the interests of the capitalist class rather than the workers and the common man. We should find a way to revert the dangerous growth of European institutions.
[*][u]LGBT RIGHTS[/u]
RIGHT: The European Union has given far too much ground to these minorities. It should serve as an anchor for traditional beliefs and the sacred marriage between a man and a woman, not degeneracy.
CENTER-RIGHT: There is nothing wrong with LGBT persons in general, but their demands for further recognition are baseless - discrimination in the EU is minimal and granting any more ground for LGBT rights would violate other freedoms such as freedom of expression.
CENTER: The European Union must enforce LGBT rights more strongly and enshrine equality no matter the person's sex or orientation as one of its core values, and actively endorse the legalization of same-sex marriage in all of its member states.
CENTER-LEFT: It is about time to enforce marriage regardless of sex as a universal right in the European Union, and force all of its member states to pass laws towards same-sex marriage, same-sex adoption, and elimination of discrimination of homosexuality.
LEFT: Alongside enforced same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption, the European Union should force its member states such as France or Slovakia, which have banned affirmative action as providing advantages to specific groups of peoples, to amend their laws and enforce full gender and orientation equality in the continent.
[*][u]MEDITERRANEAN REFUGEE CRISIS[/u]
RIGHT: The Mediterranean Refugee Crisis is proof that the European Union's policy towards refugees and free movement has failed. The member states of the European Union should be allowed to impose barriers and opt out of the Schengen Zone to resolve this crisis.
CENTER-RIGHT: The Mediterranean Refugee Crisis is a Southern European problem, Italy and Greece should find their own solutions to the wave. Nothing to worry about.
CENTER: The policy of refugee quotas should be established yet again, and enforced to make the refugees stay in their distributed nations, to share the burden among all of the Union's member states.
CENTER-LEFT: The policy of refugee quotas should be reestablished and the quotas even increased to share the burden more equally. Alongside that, the European Union should dedicate itself towards constructing refugee camps and centers among all member states, and impose affirmative action laws to allow migrants swiftly integrate to European society.
LEFT: All of our policies will be for naught if we do not tackle the source of the problem. The EU should mediate an end to the Syrian Civil War, intervene in Libya to stabilize the country, and remove Eritrea's totalitarian government, as well as provide significant funding for African infrastructure.
[*][u]PERMANENT STRUCTURED COOPERATION[/u]
RIGHT: PESCO should be disestablished. Why do we need a European army when NATO already exists?
CENTER-RIGHT: PESCO should remain, however, it should be reduced to only an advisory institution integrated into the NATO chain of command. We should continue relying on national armies for the defense of Europe
CENTER: PESCO is a great initiative which should be built upon. We should coordinate it with the European Defence Fund and enforce mandatory member state participation in all of PESCO's collaborative projects to swiftly integrate all European militaries to one framework.
CENTER-LEFT: PESCO shall be the tool with which we establish a unified European Army, an important stepping stone towards the unification of Europe into one state.
LEFT: Why is PESCO necessary when war is a thing of the past, and even if it wasn't, NATO is still around?
[*][u]SANCTIONS ON POLAND AND HUNGARY[/u]
RIGHT: Poland and Hungary are in the right - they have not violated anything, they simply express their national sovereignty, and more countries should follow suit.
CENTER-RIGHT: We should not put unneeded pressure on Poland and Hungary, infighting in the EU is the last thing we want. This matter will resolve normally.
CENTER: Threaten the governments of Poland and Hungary with cutting off Structural Funding for their country if they continue violating EU regulations and threatening the integrity of the Union.
CENTER-LEFT: Take away Poland and Hungary's right to vote in the European Council and freeze Structucal Funding for both of these nations to whip them back in line.
LEFT: We should find a way to enforce a change of government in Poland and Hungary to place pro-European governments in power in both of these nations.
[*][u]SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA[/u]
RIGHT: Putin's strong and competent rule should be an example for us to follow. Repeal all sanctions towards Russia, recognize their ownership of Crimea, and seek reconciliation towards this strong potential ally, even if we have to give up our sphere of influence in the east.
CENTER-RIGHT: Russia's actions in Ukraine are a great travesty, but there is little we can do to change them. Crimea will never be returned to Ukraine and Russia is willing to freeze the conflict in Donetsk forever - and our business concerns cannot wait forever. Approving Nord Stream and repealing most sanctions is a good start towards pragmatic relations with Russia.
CENTER: We should wait a few more years before we make a decision on Russian sanctions. Perhaps Putin will finally yield.
CENTER-LEFT: Sanctions on Russia should be widened and countries aligned with the EU encouraged to follow suit, in order to pressure Putin to a corner and force him to back down from the Ukraine.
LEFT: We should not stop sanctions until Putin is overthrown and Russia finally becomes a free democratic state.
[*][u]TAXATION HARMONIZATION[/u]
RIGHT: The tax level of each member state should be decided on by its national government, this is not the EU's field of affairs. Abolish the minimum 15% VAT rate and prevent any efforts of harmonizing the taxes of EU member states.
CENTER-RIGHT: Some harmonization is necessary to prevent some member states from turning to tax havens, but in general, each member state should decide on its own tax system. Maintain the current system.
CENTER: Taxation harmonization is necessary to turn the European single market fair for all of its members. A minimum 15% corporate tax rate should be implemented in the European Union.
CENTER-LEFT: Taxation harmonization is necessary to achieve a fair allocation of resources in the European Union. Establish tax floors for most forms of taxes, as well as establish a financial transactions tax which would fund the budget of the EU directly.
LEFT: The European Union needs to hold a far greater say in the fiscal systems of its members. Enforce a unified tax system, introduce a financial transactions tax and taxes on robots to fund the EU budget. Expand the financial instruments of the European Union such as the ECB and EFSF to hold greater sway in the finances of member states.[/list]

[Finland SSR]

Reserved.

[Deutschess Kaiserreich]

Tagged.

[Turmenista]

This is literally the exact same thing I did for model UN. PiS mode: Activate.

[Labstoska]

EuroTag

[Turmenista]

CHARACTER APPLICATION

Appearance:

Full name: Dylan Szymański
Gender: Male
Date of birth: 4/7/1970
Ethnicity: Polish
Member state of origin: Poland
European political party: Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (PiS)
Political portfolio: Polish Cabinet; Minister of National Defense
Biography:

Dylan Szymański was born 1970 in Legionowo, to parents with some military background (his father was a middle-ranking officer in the Military.) After completing his secondary education, he earned a Master of Law at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań in 1995, then later became a member of the Sejm from 1999 to 2000. Afterwards, Szymański then served in the political cabinet of Poland as the Minister of National Defense. During this time, he was noted for his openness to dialogue and moderate political position.

Serving in the cabinet from 2000 to 2004, Szymański then became a member of the European Parliament with his political party, the Law and Justice party, which was part of the European Conservatives and Reformists group. His role here was different than his role in the Polish cabinet—he served in the Committee on Civil Liberties, and Justice and Home Affairs, where he made notable contributions to improving relations with Belarus. He still retains the position, his ideology having shifted to reflect his interests with the PiS and the ECR Group.

Outside of his political life, Szymański has been under controversy as of recent. In 2017, while speaking on a Polish Radio show about the refugee crisis, he stated that “Christianity stopped the Muslim invasion of Europe in the 8th century, and it can do it again now, in the 21st century.” His Twitter is by far the most glaring evidence of his often controversial antics thanks to its wide assortment of controversial tweets regarding Muslim immigrants, while others in the West—specifically the alt-right white nationalists United States—have taken up a sort of a cult following for the man, though he disregards them as foolish. He is active on Twitter, seemingly taking a note from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Stance on the following issues:

• CLIMATE CHANGE
  CENTER: The current stance towards climate change and the necessary regulations is sufficient.
• COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE
  RIGHT: The Copyright Directive, like most other EU laws, encroaches on national sovereignty and should be repealed.
• EU-US RELATIONS
  CENTER-RIGHT: The United States and the European Union are natural allies, even if the relations between the two blocs have worsened over the years.
• EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
  CENTER-RIGHT: The current level of European integration is fine, though European institutions could use more transparency and efficiency improvements.
• LGBT RIGHTS
  RIGHT: The European Union has given far too much ground to these minorities. It should serve as an anchor for traditional beliefs and the sacred marriage between a man and a woman, not degeneracy.
• MEDITERRANEAN REFUGEE CRISIS
  RIGHT: The Mediterranean Refugee Crisis is proof that the European Union's policy towards refugees and free movement has failed. The member states of the European Union should be allowed to impose barriers and opt out of the Schengen Zone to resolve this crisis.
• PERMANENT STRUCTURED COOPERATION
  CENTER: PESCO is a great initiative which should be built upon. We should coordinate it with the European Defence Fund and enforce mandatory member state participation in all of PESCO's collaborative projects to swiftly integrate all European militaries to one framework.
• SANCTIONS ON POLAND AND HUNGARY
  RIGHT: Poland and Hungary are in the right - they have not violated anything, they simply express their national sovereignty, and more countries should follow suit.
• SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA
  CENTER-LEFT: Sanctions on Russia should be widened and countries aligned with the EU encouraged to follow suit, in order to pressure Putin to a corner and force him to back down from the Ukraine.
• TAXATION HARMONIZATION
  RIGHT: The tax level of each member state should be decided on by its national government, this is not the EU's field of affairs. Abolish the minimum 15% VAT rate and prevent any efforts of harmonizing the taxes of EU member states.

[Insaeldor]

CHARACTER APPLICATION

Appearance:

Full name: Julius Schön
Gender: M
Date of birth: 2/5/85
Ethnicity: German
Member state of origin: Germany
European political party: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
Political portfolio:

• Member of Düssledorf District 1 Bezirksvertretung reprasenting Düsseldorf-Pempelfort (2006 - 2009)
• Member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia (2009 - 2014
• Member of the Bundestag (2014 - 2018)
  
  • Member of the Standing Committee of Defense (2016 - 2018

Biography: WIP

Stance on the following issues:
(Either highlight the position your character stands for, or delete all other answers besides the one your character supports)

• CLIMATE CHANGE
  CENTER-RIGHT: Regulations on carbon emissions and pollution should be coordinated with business concerns. We should not bankrupt our fragile economy with harsh regulations. 
  
• COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE
  CENTER-LEFT: The Copyright Directive is a potential danger to the free flow of information on the Internet, and should be amended to address the concerns of internet users and small internet sites unable to establish upload filters and pay link taxes.
  
• EU-US RELATIONS
  RIGHT: The United States will always be the greatest ally of European national sovereignty thanks to NATO and a history of trans-atlantic partnership. We should change our stance towards US foreign policy and Donald Trump's presidency to maintain this partnership.
  
• EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
  CENTER: The European Union should continue its path of integration - however, a United States of Europe is too far away from reality to be discussed right now. For now, our focus should be solely on improving the efficiency and strength of European institutions while balancing it with national concerns.
  
• LGBT RIGHTS
  CENTER-RIGHT: There is nothing wrong with LGBT persons in general, but their demands for further recognition are baseless - discrimination in the EU is minimal and granting any more ground for LGBT rights would violate other freedoms such as freedom of expression.
  
• MEDITERRANEAN REFUGEE CRISIS
  LEFT: All of our policies will be for naught if we do not tackle the source of the problem. The EU should mediate an end to the Syrian Civil War, intervene in Libya to stabilize the country, and remove Eritrea's totalitarian government, as well as provide significant funding for African infrastructure.
  
• PERMANENT STRUCTURED COOPERATION
  CENTER: PESCO is a great initiative which should be built upon. We should coordinate it with the European Defence Fund and enforce mandatory member state participation in all of PESCO's collaborative projects to swiftly integrate all European militaries to one framework.
  
• SANCTIONS ON POLAND AND HUNGARY
  CENTER-RIGHT: We should not put unneeded pressure on Poland and Hungary, infighting in the EU is the last thing we want. This matter will resolve normally.
  
• SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA
  CENTER-LEFT: Sanctions on Russia should be widened and countries aligned with the EU encouraged to follow suit, in order to pressure Putin to a corner and force him to back down from the Ukraine.
  
• TAXATION HARMONIZATION
  CENTER: Taxation harmonization is necessary to turn the European single market fair for all of its members. A minimum 15% corporate tax rate should be implemented in the European Union.

[Finland SSR]

Full name: Dylan Szymański

Full name: Julius Schön

Looking good so far, folks!

[Turmenista]

I'll finish it when I have time. Only just the bio at this point.

[Labstoska]

CHARACTER APPLICATION

Appearance: (Real life pictures only, please.)

Full name: Patrick Macmahon
Gender: Male
Date of birth: 7/3/1967
Ethnicity:White Caucasian
Member state of origin: Republic of Ireland
European political party: European People's Party
Political portfolio:
- Member of the Cork city council (1992 - 1998)
- Member of the Dáil Éireann for Cork North-central (1999 - 2006)
- Member of Government:
- Minister for finance(2006 - 2010)
- Member of the Seanad Éireann (2010 - 2016)
Biography: EuroWIP

Stance on the following issues:
(Either highlight the position your character stands for, or delete all other answers besides the one your character supports)

• CLIMATE CHANGE
  CENTER-LEFT: The European Union should take a stronger stance towards climate change and enforce all of its member states to follow on wide-reaching regulations to limit European carbon emissions and pollution.
• COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE
  CENTER-LEFT: The Copyright Directive is a potential danger to the free flow of information on the Internet, and should be amended to address the concerns of internet users and small internet sites unable to establish upload filters and pay link taxes.
• EU-US RELATIONS
  CENTER-LEFT: The 2016 election has signified a long expected end to European-American cooperation. The EU is on its way to become a superpower and it should treat the US as a potential adversary, even after Donald Trump leaves the White House.
• EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
  CENTER: The European Union should continue its path of integration - however, a United States of Europe is too far away from reality to be discussed right now. For now, our focus should be solely on improving the efficiency and strength of European institutions while balancing it with national concerns.
• LGBT RIGHTS
  CENTER-RIGHT: There is nothing wrong with LGBT persons in general, but their demands for further recognition are baseless - discrimination in the EU is minimal and granting any more ground for LGBT rights would violate other freedoms such as freedom of expression.
• MEDITERRANEAN REFUGEE CRISIS
  RIGHT: The Mediterranean Refugee Crisis is proof that the European Union's policy towards refugees and free movement has failed. The member states of the European Union should be allowed to impose barriers and opt out of the Schengen Zone to resolve this crisis.
• PERMANENT STRUCTURED COOPERATION
  CENTER: PESCO is a great initiative which should be built upon. We should coordinate it with the European Defence Fund and enforce mandatory member state participation in all of PESCO's collaborative projects to swiftly integrate all European militaries to one framework.
• SANCTIONS ON POLAND AND HUNGARY
  CENTER: Threaten the governments of Poland and Hungary with cutting off Structural Funding for their country if they continue violating EU regulations and threatening the integrity of the Union.
• SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA
  CENTER-LEFT: Sanctions on Russia should be widened and countries aligned with the EU encouraged to follow suit, in order to pressure Putin to a corner and force him to back down from the Ukraine.
• TAXATION HARMONIZATION
  CENTER: Taxation harmonization is necessary to turn the European single market fair for all of its members. A minimum 15% corporate tax rate should be implemented in the European Union.

[Finland SSR]

Full name: Patrick Macmahon

Those are some interesting stances for an EPP member. Looking good so far!

[Bruke]

tag tag tag. This is extremely interesting.

[Atrilan]

Looks intriguing, may hop in.

[Bentus]

Heavy WIP.

CHARACTER APPLICATION

Appearance: (Real life pictures only, please.)

Full name:
Gender:
Date of birth:
Ethnicity:
Member state of origin: France
European political party: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party
Political portfolio: (i.e. previously held political positions)
Biography:

Stance on the following issues:
(Either highlight the position your character stands for, or delete all other answers besides the one your character supports)

• CLIMATE CHANGE
  CENTER-LEFT: The European Union should take a stronger stance towards climate change and enforce all of its member states to follow on wide-reaching regulations to limit European carbon emissions and pollution.
• COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE
  CENTER-LEFT: The Copyright Directive is a potential danger to the free flow of information on the Internet, and should be amended to address the concerns of internet users and small internet sites unable to establish upload filters and pay link taxes.
• EU-US RELATIONS
  CENTER-RIGHT: The United States and the European Union are natural allies, even if the relations between the two blocs have worsened over the years.
• EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
  CENTER-LEFT: Three hurrahs for Europe! The European Union has gone far, and we shall not stop until we establish the United States of Europe which its founders have sought!
• LGBT RIGHTS
  CENTER: The European Union must enforce LGBT rights more strongly and enshrine equality no matter the person's sex or orientation as one of its core values, and actively endorse the legalization of same-sex marriage in all of its member states.
• MEDITERRANEAN REFUGEE CRISIS
  LEFT: All of our policies will be for naught if we do not tackle the source of the problem. The EU should mediate an end to the Syrian Civil War, intervene in Libya to stabilize the country, and remove Eritrea's totalitarian government, as well as provide significant funding for African infrastructure.
  (Also in favour of stricter, common EU border controls with joint-funding and the potential for offshore processing with an Australia-style immigration system)
• PERMANENT STRUCTURED COOPERATION
  CENTER: PESCO is a great initiative which should be built upon. We should coordinate it with the European Defence Fund and enforce mandatory member state participation in all of PESCO's collaborative projects to swiftly integrate all European militaries to one framework.
  (Although does agree with the CENTER-LEFT's goals over the long-term)
• SANCTIONS ON POLAND AND HUNGARY
  CENTER: Threaten the governments of Poland and Hungary with cutting off Structural Funding for their country if they continue violating EU regulations and threatening the integrity of the Union.
• SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA
  CENTER-LEFT: Sanctions on Russia should be widened and countries aligned with the EU encouraged to follow suit, in order to pressure Putin to a corner and force him to back down from the Ukraine.
• TAXATION HARMONIZATION
  LEFT: The European Union needs to hold a far greater say in the fiscal systems of its members. Enforce a unified tax system, introduce a financial transactions tax and taxes on robots to fund the EU budget. Expand the financial instruments of the European Union such as the ECB and EFSF to hold greater sway in the finances of member states.

[Labstoska]

Full name: Patrick Macmahon

Those are some interesting stances for an EPP member. Looking good so far!

Hmm would you say that the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party would be a better fit?

[Bentus]

Are we able to have recurring non-politician characters per chance?

[Turmenista]

Are we able to have recurring non-politician characters per chance?

I'm having Szymański have a little following on Twitter, but that's just for world building and fluff.

[Finland SSR]

Those are some interesting stances for an EPP member. Looking good so far!

Hmm would you say that the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party would be a better fit?

Well, the Right position on the Refugee Crisis, for example, would fit ALDE even less. Honestly, your character's positions are all right and good, I was just stating that they were unorthodox.

Are we able to have recurring non-politician characters per chance?

You're free to use any non-politician characters you want in your RP posts, yes, though they won't have any gameplay effect.

[Deutschess Kaiserreich]

Perhaps a year a turn is too much. A month or two?

[Finland SSR]

Perhaps a year a turn is too much. A month or two?

Definitely not. Parliamentary work is a far, far slower boil than that. Especially in the EP, where getting an agreement on a law project can take years due to all the conflicting interests.

[Deutschess Kaiserreich]

Perhaps a year a turn is too much. A month or two?

Definitely not. Parliamentary work is a far, far slower boil than that. Especially in the EP, where getting an agreement on a law project can take years due to all the conflicting interests.

Three months? Cause at this rate my potential character will be 80 by the time he rises to the rank of senior janitor

[Finland SSR]

Definitely not. Parliamentary work is a far, far slower boil than that. Especially in the EP, where getting an agreement on a law project can take years due to all the conflicting interests.

Three months? Cause at this rate my potential character will be 80 by the time he rises to the rank of senior janitor

You won't rise through the ranks any faster no matter if the turns are yearly or monthly. Elections will still each happen five years apart, after all, you would just be padding for time.

And besides, you are supposed to be important members in your respective parties, I wouldn't be so pessimistic as long as you play the game well.

[Deutschess Kaiserreich]

Three months? Cause at this rate my potential character will be 80 by the time he rises to the rank of senior janitor

You won't rise through the ranks any faster no matter if the turns are yearly or monthly. Elections will still each happen five years apart, after all, you would just be padding for time.

And besides, you are supposed to be important members in your respective parties, I wouldn't be so pessimistic as long as you play the game well.

Alright though I think the gap is far too wide I will think about making an app.

[Finland SSR]

You won't rise through the ranks any faster no matter if the turns are yearly or monthly. Elections will still each happen five years apart, after all, you would just be padding for time.

And besides, you are supposed to be important members in your respective parties, I wouldn't be so pessimistic as long as you play the game well.

Alright though I think the gap is far too wide I will think about making an app.

If you think that gap is too wide, then you probably don't want to know that standard procedure in AH.com election games is one term = one turn, and annual turns is considered to be too slow by many.

[Turmenista]

I'm sorry that I've put off this app for a while. It'll be done soon, I promise.