‘The Roles Bureaucrats Play’: The Input of European Parliament (EP) Administrators into the Ordinary Legislative Procedure: A Case Study Approach

Abstract

The European Parliament (EP) is branded as one of the winners of the Lisbon Treaty. It has seen its role expanded to more than 40 Treaty articles and obtained the status of co-legislator in previously uncharted territory such as agriculture, fisheries and legal migration. This raises the question of how the EP adapts itself to the newly obtained powers in order to fulfill its legislative role. A very pertinent issue in this context are the type of tasks that are delegated to EP civil servants as this might have implications for the democratic legitimacy of the directly elected Members. This contribution identifies the conditions under which civil servants take up different types of tasks by looking at four cases in two different policy areas: migration and fisheries. Political importance of the dossier and expertise are identified as key determinants for the role of civil servants in the ordinary legislative procedure.