The Federal Constitutional Court found that the 3% threshold which the German parties have to overcome at the elections for the European Parliament violates is unconstitutional. according to the judges this is a serious interference with the principles of electoral equality and equal opportunities which is unjustifiable under the current legal and factual circumstances. The threshold is abolished only for the elections for European Parliament but still applies for the Bundestag elections, after the Court stroke a higher barrier of 5% last year.

Read more details in Euractiv.

Read Court’s press release in English and in German.