Mr. Francis Jacobs:

Yes, but the average has slipped down for the whole of the European Parliament to about 45%. The US Congress, regardless of whether one likes it or does not like it, is a very powerful parliament and yet the turnout in mid-term elections is typically 40% to 50% as well. That percentage turnout is not very high for the US Congress. That is not a defence or an argument and clearly one of the key challenges will be to try to raise turnouts in individual countries and in Europe as a whole. The turnout at elections is an important factor in the legitimacy of all parliaments.