Tag: European Parliament
How transparency can be improved in the way EU laws are negotiated and agreed
The EU’s legislative process has often been criticised from the perspective that it lacks transparency. Aidan O’Sullivan outlines the findings of a recent inquiry by the European Ombudsman on the transparency of so called ‘Trilogue’ negotiations, where representatives of the European Parliament and national Ministers meet to negotiate and agree on a common final text […]
The trouble with unequal partnerships? How UK governments’ views on representation in the EU have changed over time
This spring the EU is reconsidering, debating and reformulating its future foreign policy agenda. Drawing on her recent research, Rinna Kullaa outlines the role successive British governments have played in formulating common EU foreign and security policies in the past. She writes that if the UK votes to remain in the Union it can continue […]
Recruitment procedures shape the gender composition of party lists in European Parliament elections
Different countries select their Members of the European Parliament in different manners, with Britain opting for a party list system based on regional (in the case of England) and national constituencies (in the cases of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland). The European Parliament has better gender representation than most legislatures, however as Jessica Fortin-Rittberger, Berthold Rittberger, […]
The UK’s renegotiation: What a fair deal between London and its European partners might look like
David Cameron is in the process of renegotiating the terms of the UK’s EU membership ahead of a referendum to be held before the end of 2017. However there remains little clarity on the precise concessions that the UK wishes to secure. Thierry Chopin outlines a proposal for a fair deal between the UK and […]
The tyranny of the familiar: why we should be wary of proposals to ‘parliamentarise’ EU decision-making
Strengthening the role of the European Parliament has often been proposed as a method for addressing the EU’s alleged democratic deficit. Sergio Fabbrini writes that while there are legitimate criticisms to be made about the intergovernmental model of European integration, any attempt to create a system approximating national parliamentary democracy at the European level would […]
Book Review: Career Behaviour and the European Parliament: All Roads Lead Through Brussels?
The main contribution to the literature that Career Behaviour and the European Parliament makes, writes Sara Reis, is to create a single theoretical framework that can predict under which circumstances an MEP will behave in their career choices: use the European Parliament as a temporary springboard for a position at the national level, or consider the […]
The European Parliament’s transnational party groups are surprisingly cohesive, but don’t underestimate the potential for national divisions
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) do not sit in country blocs, rather they sit in pan-European ideological party groupings. But how cohesive are these groups? Rory Costello and Robert Thomson argue that they are remarkably so – but that the potential for divides along national lines is great, particularly with MEPs who share a […]
Birds of a feather flock together: why EU party and interest group alignments reflect the left-right political cleavage
The role of lobbying in the EU legislative process has been the subject of numerous studies, but to what extent do party political lines affect the nature of the relationship between interest groups and parties in the European Parliament? AsJan Beyers, Iskander De Bruycker and Inger Baller write, there is generally an expectation that business […]
Europe’s war on migrants – while we argue, thousands perish in the Mediterranean
Recent weeks have seen the full extent of the consequences of withdrawing the Mediterranean Mare Nostrum patrols for migrant boats, with thousands dying since the EU affected the policy change. Heaven Crawley argues that its time for the rest of Europe to follow Italy’s lead and act on the crisis, instead of pursuing endless talks […]
Newspapers focus on who MEPs are rather than on what they do in the European Parliament
For the European Parliament to confer legitimacy on the EU’s legislative process it is necessary for voters to be aware of the actions taken by MEPs. But how do newspapers cover the work of the Parliament? Based on a study of newspaper coverage of 302 MEPs, Katjana Gattermann and Sofia Vasilopoulou write that the visibility of […]
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