Who gets committee leadership positions in the European Parliament? Evidence from the 2014 selection process

Abstract

What are the driving forces behind the selection of individual Members of the European Parliament for committee leadership positions? To shed more light on this process, the article analyses an original dataset comprising biographical and behavioural information on all 751 Members of the European Parliament who assumed office in 2014. We show that the choice of committee chairs and vice-chairs is not determined by loyalty to party groups or national delegations. Instead, we demonstrate that Members of the European Parliament’ career ambitions and their ability to demonstrate relevant experience play a key role. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the power of national parties and European party groups and for the emerging literature on political career patterns at the European level.