Chapter 11 The European Parliament

1
Chapter 11The European Parliament

• Cini (ed.) European Union Politics, 2nd edition
• OUP Online Teaching Resources

2
Structure of the Lecture

• A Historical Overview of the EP
• The Institutional Power of the EP
• The EP and Its Internal Politics
• EP Elections

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A Historical Overview of the EP

• 1952 the Common Assembly of the ECSC
• Members drawn from national parliaments
• Limited powers
• Based in Luxembourg
• 1962 renamed as the European Parliament

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A Historical Overview of the EP

• 1979 direct election to the EP
• Increasing the number of MEPs
• Activities in Brussels and Strasbourg

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The Institutional Power of the EP

• The increasing power of the EP
• The community budget
• 1970s Rights of modification and rejection
• The EP twice excised vetoes in 1979 and 1984
• 1980s Parliamentary approval for budgetary
  increase

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The Institutional Power of the EP

• Executive oversight
• Right to dismiss the Commission
• Veto power over the Commission nomination
• Day-to-day scrutiny of the Commission activities
• EU law-making
• From consultation to co-legislation
• The cooperation and co-decision procedures

7
The EP and Its Internal Politics

• The MEPs
• From different national political parties
• Including Euro-enthusiastic and Euro-sceptic
  members
• The party groups
• Broadly cohesive ideological collectives
• Internal politics compromises within the party
  groups

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The EP and Its Internal Politics

• The EP committees
• Well-established system of permanent committees
• Undertaking legislative work and oversight
  activity
• The EP plenary sessions
• Politically significant events
• Logistical difficulties of managing the plenary
  sessions

9
EP Elections

• Link between the people and the EU
• Providing political legitimacy to the EU
• EP elections and the democratic deficit
• Problems of EP elections
• Continuously declining turnout
• Campaign on national political issues
• Public apathy and disinterest
• The gap between increasing EP powers and
  declining public interest in EP elections