Members Of The European Parliament Research Articles

Online Political Communication Strategies: MEPs, E-Representation, and Self-Representation

ABSTRACT Research into the communication strategies of legislators has a long history. The European Parliament offers an opportunity to add to understanding of how legislators prioritize styles of communication, with a comparative perspective across 27 nations. Through content analysis of online communication, we investigate how the Internet is used by members of the European Parliament. Our analysis assesses three communication strategies: homestyle, impression management, and participatory. We find that a homestyle strategy predominates, followed by impression management. Participatory communication is emergent, but may earn legislators political capital, as it appears that proactive communicators who offer participatory opportunities are more likely to build an online following.

The challenges of territorial representation at the supranational level: The case of French MEPs

Even though the territorial dimension of the European representative mandate may be a key element for European Union's legitimization, it remains overlooked in academic literature. This article explores this statement by analysing the EP's French delegation, which includes several interesting features with regard to territorial representation. The article is structured around three research questions: how do French Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) deal with the territorial dimension of their mandate? Why are there some variations regarding focus of representation? To what extent does their focus of representation affect their role orientation? Relying on the results of 37 interviews with French MEPs using both closed and open-ended questions, we demonstrate that the MEPs develop a composite view of representation and display some variations in terms of focus of representation. Those variations are explained mostly through the actor's political orientations and socio-biographic characteristics. We also understand that the focus of representation has some effect on how French MEPs conceive their mandate.

Proposal stage coalition-building in the European Parliament

Almost all existing studies of conflict and coalitions inside the European Parliament (EP) rely on the statistical analysis of voting behaviour. Yet who proposes the alternatives put to vote? Which political groups jointly co-author legislative amendments? Which strategic considerations (if any) determine legislative coalition-building inside the EP? To answer these questions, this article analyses information on the proposer identity for all legislative amendments drafted in the sixth legislative period. My findings suggest that, when building coalitions, political groups consider the degree of inter-institutional conflict. However, despite the highly proportional rules of procedure, the rapporteur emerges as the most powerful player in proposal stage coalition-building. Other groups may successfully challenge the rapporteur only if they aim at pulling the draft report closer to the floor median. Those who are interested in pulling the outcome away from the median have little choice but to include the rapporteur as a member of their coalition. In this case, rapporteurs must strike a fine balance between convincing their fellow Members of the European Parliament of the strategic exigency of deviating from the median and maintaining their credibility when bargaining with the members of the Council. If rapporteurs are too close to the Council, they forfeit their trustworthiness among their potential coalition partners.

The political economy of corporate tax harmonization — Why do European politicians (dis)like minimum tax rates?

Setting minimum tax rates is a well discussed way of mitigating pressure from tax competition. This paper investigates which motives shape the support for a minimum corporate tax among politicians. We make use of a unique data base: a survey among members of the European parliament. Our results confirm that the politicians' ideology as well as individual characteristics such as educational background exert a major influence. Moreover, several predictions regarding national interests are derived from various standard tax competition models. These hypotheses are partly supported by the data; in particular, different national preferences towards social equality shape the support. A comparison with survey results from the German Bundestag reveals that German politicians on the national level do not show different attitudes towards tax rate harmonization.

From ‘Frankenstein’ to ‘toothless vampire’? Explaining the watering down of the Services Directive

The Services Directive is one of the most significant and controversial legislative proposals ever negotiated in the European Union (EU). This article fills a gap in our knowledge by addressing the key questions as to why and how this prestigious proposal was watered down during the negotiation process. By applying the framework of rational choice institutionalism, the analysis pinpoints the positions of the key players and estimates their relative importance in shaping the final outcome. Prima facie, the European Parliament seemed to be the decisive actor developing the text which was adopted in the end. However, a closer inspection reveals that the text was influenced by the newly elected conservative–socialist coalition government in Germany and reflected a relatively low common denominator which secured acceptance from not only the vast majority of Members of the European Parliament, but also avoided any explicit opposition in the adoption by the Council of Ministers.

Modernising the Global Drug Control System: Can Europe Lead - A Civil Society Perspective

On the afternoon of 29th May 2012, a number of representatives from civil society organisations from across Europe gathered to discuss the role of the European Union (EU) in leading the debates around reforming the international drug control system. This meeting comes at a time when the EU is drafting its new Drug Strategy for 2013-2020, and when a number of government officials in many regions of the world are calling for a paradigm shift on drug control.On the morning of 29th May, the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) and the Global Commission on Drug Policy organised a seminar directed at Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to discuss the issue, with the participation of two Global Commissioners – Michel Kazatchkine, physician and former Executive Director of the Global Fund, and Pavel Bem, psychiatrist and mayor of Prague, who has played a leading role in designing the current Czech drug policy. The seminar reflected the fact that a number of MEPs, as well as the European External Action Service, now seem interested in drug policy reform. On the other hand, there are signs that the European Commission and the DG-Justice seem more reluctant to support a debate on the drugs issue. The afternoon session focused on the conclusions of the report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and its implication for Europe. The discussions touched upon issues related to the willingness of the EU to engage in meaningful debate around drug policy reform and harm reduction, and strategies that could be implemented to encourage more leadership among EU institutions.

The next Multiannual Financial Framework: From National Interest to Building a Common Future

The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is the budget of the European Union and the most important tool to finance common policy areas, actions and strategies. Upon a proposal from the European Commission, it has to be approved by the majority of the members of the European Parliament, before it can be unanimously adopted by the Council. Furthermore, the Own Resources Decision has to be adopted with unanimity within the Council and be ratified by all 27 Member States in accordance with their constitutional requirements. Reaching an agreement between the three negotiating institutions will not be straightforward, as views on the development of the financial resources of the European Union diverge considerably. Nevertheless, a decision has to be taken by the end of 2012 in order to be able to implement the new MFF properly. With this paper, the Centre for European Studies contributes to the debate. The paper describes the European Commission's proposal, the European Parliament's resolutions on the topic as well as the positions of two Members of the Council. In addition, the paper sheds light on where the positions differ and where there is common ground and room for compromise.

Report allocation in the European Parliament after eastern enlargement

This article identifies factors that have influenced the chances for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to become rapporteurs in the European Parliament after the 2004 eastern enlargement. More specifically, it answers the question of how the MEPs from the new member states were integrated into the report allocation process under different legislative procedures. Controlling for a whole range of alternative explanations such as legislative experience, attendance rates or party group membership, we find that MEPs from the accession countries were at a disadvantage when reports were distributed. Their chances of becoming rapporteurs were lower than those of their peers from the old member states. Most importantly, this pattern still holds when comparing MEPs from the accession countries with first-time MEPs from the old member states.

National versus European: Party Control over Members of the European Parliament

This article examines different strategies of national governmental parties to influence ‘their’ Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), posing the following questions: Do national parties try to control voting behaviour of their MEPs? And do control mechanisms enhance the probability that an MEP toes a national party line rather than following his or her European party group? The analysis reveals differences between individual parties, indicating that at least some national parties actively attempt to control their MEPs. Furthermore, the article evaluates the success of the various approaches, taking compliance with the position of the minister in the Council as a benchmark. The results show that the overall effect of control mechanisms remains small. Instead of toeing the line of their national party's minister, MEPs tend to vote with their European group.

MPs call for renegotiation of working time rules

MPs have called for the government to renegotiate the terms of the European Working Time Directive and to seek practical ways that hospitals and doctors can get around the regulations. In a debate held by the Backbench Business Committee, MPs heard how the “well meaning” working time regulations are not achieving their aim of improving doctors’ work-life balance and are having a negative effect on junior doctors’ training, patients’ safety, and NHS finances. Given that members of the European Parliament cite the Working Time Directive as “the least popular piece of legislation ever introduced” by the European Union and that 16 of the 27 EU member states have sought to opt out, the United Kingdom should lead a majority of member states in demanding reform of the legislation, said Andrea Leadsom, Conservative …

National or European Parliamentarians? Evidence from a New Survey of the Members of the European Parliament*

AbstractThis article presents findings from a new survey of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), conducted in 2010. It explains the purpose of the survey, its content, the survey methodology and the potential limitations of the sample obtained. The article then presents results from the survey to explore the determinants of MEPs' policy preferences and, more specifically, whether MEPs from recent enlargement states continue to differ from those of longer‐standing EU Member States. The findings here indicate that ‘enlargement’ MEPs remain somewhat farther to the right, but are no longer more cautious about integration. The results also reinforce the importance of ideology, even more than nationality, as a factor underpinning MEPs' political attitudes.

Polish Election to the European Parliament in 2009 at a Regional Level. The Analysis of Competition in the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship

The Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship constitutes one of the smallest of the Polish voivodeships. It is composed of nineteen land districts and four city counties, including Bydgoszcz, Torun, Wloclawek and Grudziadz. According to the data provided by the Public Electoral Commission (PKW), in 2009 the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship was inhabited by more than 2 million people, 1.65 million of whom had the right to vote. Despite the relatively small number of inhabitants, due to provisions of the act regulating the process of voting for the Members of the European Parliament, the voivodeship in question became a separate electoral district with the electoral commission located in Bydgoszcz. This decision was infl uenced mostly by members of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) representing this region in the Polish Parliament. This lobbing activity seemed benefi cial from the party’s perspective, since SLD has been gaining extraordinary support in the region. But for this lobbing, the voivodeship under consideration would have been included in one district together with the Pomeranian Voivodeship, where the majority of voters are prone to give their support to the right-wing and centre-wing parties.

The interplay of language ideologies and contextual cues in multilingual interactions: Language choice and code-switching in European Union institutions

AbstractThis article analyzes multilingual practices in interactions inside European Union (EU) institutions. On the basis of our fieldwork conducted in EU organizational spaces throughout 2009, we explore different types of communication in order to illustrate how Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and officials at the European Commission practice and perform multilingualism in their everyday work. In our theoretical and methodological framework, we draw on existent sociolinguistic ethnographical research into organizations and interactions, and integrate a multilevel (macro) contextual and sequential (micro) analysis of manifold data (observations, field notes, recordings of official and semi-official meetings, interviews, etc.). In this way, a continuum of context-dependent multilingual practices becomes apparent, which are characterized by different patterns of language choice and which serve a range of both manifest and latent functions. By applying the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA) of Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), the intricacies of the increasingly complex phenomenon of multilingualism in transnational-organizational spaces, which are frequently characterized by diverse power-related and other asymmetries of communication, can be adequately coped with. (Code-switching, multilingualism, power, institutional spaces, European Union, ethnography, discourse-historical approach, critical discourse studies)*

Je t’aime … moi non plus! An empirical assessment of Euro-parliamentarians’ voting behaviour on Turkey and Turkish membership1

The article looks at the way the debate on Turkish membership has developed in the Sixth European Parliament (EP). First, it analyses the impact of the debate on Turkey on the voting dynamics in the assembly. Second, it assesses how and to what extent Euro-parliamentarians’ individual view of Turkey and Turkish membership influence their actual voting behaviour. The analysis suggests that the issue of Turkish membership has a very divisive impact on the voting dynamics and voting alignments in the EP. Given its national and political significance, the issue seems to determine ad hoc voting blocs only imperfectly matching Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) individual party affiliation.

The European Dimension of Minority Political Representation

The political integration of ethnic minorities is one of the most challenging tasks facing the countries of post-communist Europe. The roads to their political representation in the mainstream political process are numerous and diverse. The EU accession of the Central and East European countries has expanded the scope of the political participation of minorities by adding an electoral process at the regional level: the elections for members of the European Parliament. This article presents a comparative study of the ways in which EU-level electoral processes affect the scope and quality of minority representation on the example of the participation of ethnic political parties in Bulgaria and Romania in the 2007 and 2009 electoral cycles of the European Parliament.

Whitefish wars: Pangasius, politics and consumer confusion in Europe

Abstract Rapid growth in production of the farmed Vietnamese whitefish pangasius and its trade with the European Union has provoked criticism of the fish's environmental, social and safety credentials by actors including WWF and Members of the European Parliament and associated negative media coverage. This paper reviews the range of claims communicated about pangasius (identified as a form of mass mediated risk governance), in light of scientific evidence and analysis of data from the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feeds food safety notification system for imported seafood. This analysis shows pangasius to be generally safe, environmentally benign and beneficial for actors along the international value chains that characterise the trade. The case is made that increasingly politicised debates in Europe around risk and uncertainty are potentially counterproductive for EU seafood security and European aquaculture industry, and that the trade in pangasius can contribute to sustainable seafood consumption in a number of ways. Transparent evidence-based assessment and systems for communicating complex issues of risk for products such as pangasius are required in order to support continuance of fair and mutually beneficial trade.

Breaking the Ice

An accelerated path of climate change has tremendously increased the Arctic's profile over the last decade. Formerly remote and of little relevance, the region now attracts significant political and economic interest as melting ice opens possibilities for the exploitation of Arctic natural resources and access to new trade routes. Rising temperatures and sea level as a result of retreating snow and ice coverage also provoke global security concerns. Consequently, interested states increasingly link the Arctic more closely to their security and foreign policy strategies. In addition, existing territorial disputes combined with unsettled patterns of governance and actor constellations trigger regional developments with important implications for international legal and political systems.As developments in the Arctic region project themselves globally, they will necessarily have certain repercussions for European countries and their citizens. It is reported that about half of the fish caught in polar waters are consumed in the European Union.1 One quarter of the oil and gas extracted from the Arctic flows to the EU and contributes to its energy security.2 Over the last decade, 200 million euros were generated from European funds (within the EU framework programs) for Arctic scientific research.3 As the largest trading block and in control of 40 percent of world commercial shipping, the EU also has a natural interest in securing nondiscriminatory access to the strategically important northern sea route and the Northwest Passage.4Geography serves as an additional legitimating factor for the EU's concerns in the Arctic. Indeed, it is hard not to have a stake in the region when three of its member states - Finland, Denmark/ Greenland, and Sweden - participate in the main governmental forum for circumpolar cooperation, the Arctic Council. Norway and Iceland are parties to the European economic area agreement, which links them closely to the EU's policies. More than that, prompted by severe financial crisis, Iceland is on its way towards EU membership, something that might upgrade the EU's leverage in the Arctic significantly. Finally, Canada, Russia, and the US belong to a vast group of the EU's strategic partners that are tied to the EU by a number of specific pacts.Given the changing strategic importance of the region and a necessity to protect and promote its own interests and values, the EU has declared a clear intention to be more engaged in Arctic affairs and to develop its own Arctic policy. This motion also corresponds to a general objective of European governments to set up a more ambitious union foreign policy and to enhance its effectiveness, given the opportunities provided by the Lisbon treaty.5This article provides a brief sketch of the development of the EU's Arctic policy, placing its institutions at the centre of the analysis. It starts with a short examination of the external and internal triggers that led to the call for a unified and coordinated Arctic policy and continues with a more detailed investigation of the preferences and institutional roles of the European Commission, the European parliament, and the EU Arctic Forum, as well as the member-states, in developing a common policy for the region. The article then turns to the current chaUenges and future prospects of EU Arctic policy, given that the policy itself is a work in progress. FinaUy, some concluding remarks are provided on the question of how to make the EU's Arctic policy successful.MAPPING THE GROUND: OVERVIEW OF THE EU'S INITIAL INVOLVEMENTThe Arctic first became a target of attention of EU policymakers at the end of the 1980s, when a number of members of the European parliament started to question the commission about the state of the environment in the Arctic.6 With the EU's northern enlargement in the mid-90s, the region's salience grew even more. Drawing on a proposal from Finland, the EU adopted the northern dimension policy as a strategy of practical cooperation with the Baltic states, Russia, and the European economic area countries. …

‘O, brother, where art thou?’ The Labour Party leadership election of 2010

This article examines the 2010 Labour leadership contest, seeking to explain why Ed Miliband narrowly defeated his brother, and erstwhile favourite, David. The article places this contest in the context of previous Labour leadership contests, and also the historical development of the often controversial electoral college which, on this occasion, meant that the first preferences of the Party's parliamentarians were outweighed by the votes of affiliated bodies, most notably the trade unions. Crucially, though, we argue that while undeniably important, the role of the trade unions in ensuring Ed Miliband's victory has been somewhat exaggerated by his political and media opponents. His success over his brother was also due to the fact that he attracted enough second preference votes cast by MPs/ Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and members of the constituency Labour parties (CLPs) to increase his share of overall support in the electoral college. David Miliband remained more popular than his brother among Labour parliamentarians and CLPs, but Ed Miliband reduced his brother's lead sufficiently over four rounds to ensure that when added to his share of the votes of individual trade union levy-payers, he secured a narrow victory over David Miliband. The votes of the latter were crucial to Ed Miliband, and ultimately decisive, but would still not have been sufficient to secure victory had he not also increased his support, via second preference votes, among Labour MPs/MEPs and CLP members.

Wise men, clear guidance and the Common Statute for the Members of the European Parliament. An argumentative Analysis.

To set the context for the more technical argumentative analysis, the Common Statute for the Members of the European Parliament will be introduced with its historical background. In the following methodology section, the Toulmin model of argumentation will be explained briefly. The main part consists of an argumentative analysis of “The Recommendation of the Group of Eminent Persons”, the most important document in the context of the Common Statute. The arguments will be reconstructed and evaluated separately. The paper concludes with a resume and critical evaluation of the findings.

Measuring Russia’s Snag on the Fabric of the EU’s International Society: The Impact of the East-West Cleavage upon the Cohesion amongst the EU Member States vis-à-vis Russia

This article explores Russia’s impact upon the cohesion of the European Union International Society (EUIS). The analysis proceeds from a systematic categorisation of Member States’ positions towards Russia, using an ‘‘index of friendliness towards Russia’’ based on various indicators. This index allows us to analyse the relative positions of Member States towards the Eastern neighbour and to order them along an ideal continuum which goes from ‘‘normative adamant’’ to ‘‘normative docile’’. By taking a broad perspective of the different national attitudes, this article offers an innovative approach to the key question of EU-Russian relations. Existing cleavages and social differences among the members bear an important divisive effect on the development of the EUIS. The present analysis explores adherence to norms deriving from the widely accepted institutions of sovereignty and the market. While there is no doubt that these institutions boast complete devotion on behalf of EU Member States (MSs), translation into both common language and action proves to be hindered by social differences among members. The difference among the preferences of Member States towards Russia is then compared to the preferences expressed by the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) during the 6th legislature. The analysis of MEPs’ voting behaviours towards Russia explores whether there is a coincidence between the positions of the MSs and those of the MEPs, as representatives of the EU’s societies.