lecture 7 - EP Flashcards
structure EP
- 705 members elected in the 27 MS
- President of the European Parliament
- Plenary and 20 Committees + Subcommittees + Special Committees
- Parliamentary Delegations (over the world)
- Secretariat of the EP (hold working and functioning EP together)
since 1979 direct elections, but had no substantial powers at that time (but still could speak out bc it was directly elected)
contribution to CFSP/CSDP and EU
EP’s institutional role in CFSP/CSDP and EU external relations
- controller and scrutinizer (EP needs to give consent at executive level)
- decision-maker and legislator
- parliamentary diplomacy
power dev. from pre-Maastricht -> Maastricht -> Lisbon
it becomes a bigger player in international politics
parliamentary functions
- controllers and scrutinizers
- decision-making and legislation
- parliamentary cooperation and diplomacy
controllers and scrutiny: all future commissioners (incl. HRVP) need to appear in the EP
legislation: needs to give consent
parliamentary diplomacy: first European Compact with EP President as diplomat with Zelensky
what can the EP do e.g.
outlook and challenges
- politicization may undermine EP’s role as guardian of consistency and European values (acc to CJEU)
interest based decisions could overthrow original focus on European values - EP depends on workable coalitions (a grand coalition)
- EP becomes entangled in political conflict in times of geopolitics
e.g. Chinese Investment Agreement -> human rights concerns -> EP calls Agreements as ‘frozen’’ - role of EP depends on input legitimacy (high turnout) and throughput legtimiacy (legislative added-value)
(throughput e.g. undermined by ‘Quatargate’: MEP got bribes)
EP Elections
- directly elected since 1979
- every 5 years
- universal suffrage in all MS
- diff. rules across diff MS (voting takes place over several days: Thursday-Sunday)
- EU citizens’ right to vote in all MS = transnational way of voting
what determines voter turnout and election outcomes?
originally: idea of second order elections
- national topics matter
- lack of European public sphere
but: European Salience
- European topics matter: e.g. green deal, trade agreements, reaction to Russia
- increasing coverage of European topics
- politicization of European affairs
-> idea of second order elections no longer accurate to depict the increasingly politicised and Europeanised political parties
- still not: first order elections where only national interests matter to determine voter turnout
Spitzenkandidaten
competition for President of the European Commission
- in treaty: it is the European Council that decides based on the outcome of EP Elections
= political parties give lead candidates, if they get the majority -> they should be appointed
2014: race between Juncker and Schulz
idea that it would lead to more voter turnout (but no higher turnout, it was even lower)
the EP didn’t just want to confirm, wanted to have a choice
but MS don’t agree: all MS should decide, not some party deciding this is our Spitzenkandidat
EP elections 2019
more attraction to go out to vote -> highest turnout since 2004
so: EU investment helped
Manfred Weber represented the largest party, but: unclear how he could form a majority with other parties (disagreements EPP and S&D -> no longer possible majority-winning constellation) + lost support in the European Council
European Council looked at alternative options -> Ursula von der Leyen as president of the Commission
- EP eventually accepted it: Weber lost standing
will there ever be a first-order electoin
many characteristics of second-order elections, but with signs of emerging first-orderness
- they still don’t generate the level of interest and attention of national contests ->
EP elections fall short in informing and promoting debate about issues pertinent to EU-level policy making that should be crucial to voting behavior
EP elections 2024
Commission President is sitting and running for office again
-> maybe more first-orderness
EP will do Spitzenkandidat system again + blamed Council for not acting acc to rules
first vs second order elections
first order elections =
second order elections =
twighlight zone = somewhere in between
