The European Parliament

1. The European Parliament Joe Jupille CELD/CEUCE Workshop“Comparing Democracies” Boulder, CO, June 7, 2011

2. Outline • Preliminaries • The Basics • Composition and Organization • Political Groups • Issues: Democratic Deficit

3. The Basics, 1 • The European Union is a union of democratic states, all with their own democratic traditions and institutions. • The European Parliament (EP) is the direct democratic arm of the European Union. Its members (MEPs) are directly elected by universal suffrage. • MEPs organize themselves and substantially act along ideological, rather than national lines. “Political groups” (supranational political parties) dominate the work and functioning of the EP.

4. The Basics, 2 • In the EU’s institutional system, the EP serves as the lower house of the bicameral legislature, representing the people. The Council serves as the upper house, representing the states. • The EU is neither a pure parliamentary nor a pure presidential (separation-of-powers) system. Comparing and contrasting with the US (see Kreppel 2002) is potentially very fruitful. • Indeed, many experts consider the EP to be the second most powerful legislative body in the world, after the US Congress.

5. III. Composition and Organization • Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) • Composition: Individual (736, capped in future at 750) • Pathway to Power: Direct Elections, 5 year terms (CTEU art. 14(3)). • Role: Draft, Debate and Vote on Legislation, Budgets, engage in executive oversight, etc. • Political Groups (i.e., political parties) …

6. IV. Political Groups • The Members of the European Parliament sit in political groups – they are not organised by nationality, but by political affiliation. There are currently 7 political groups in the European Parliament. • Each takes care of its own internal organisation by appointing a chair (or two co-chairs in the case of some groups), a bureau and a secretariat. • The places assigned to Members in the Chamber are decided by political affiliation, from left to right, by agreement with the group chairmen. • 25 Members are needed to form a political group, and at least one-quarter of the Member States must be represented within the group. Members may not belong to more than one political group. • Some Members do not belong to any political group and are known as non-attached Members. • Before every vote in plenary the political groups scrutinise the reports drawn up by the parliamentary committees and table amendments to them. • The position adopted by the political group is arrived at by discussion within the group. No Member can be forced to vote in a particular way Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?id=45&pageRank=4&language=EN

7. EP Seat Distribution, 2009-2014 Read more at the EP’s website!

8. EP Voting Cohesion, 1 Upshot: Party Groups in the EP vote more consistently along ideological lines than along national lines. Source: Simon Hix, Abdul Noury and Gerard Roland (2009) 'Voting Patterns and Alliance Formation in the European Parliament', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 364, 821-831. (pdf)

9. EP Voting Cohesion, 2 Upshot: voting cohesion among EP party groups is growing over time. Source: Simon Hix, Abdul Noury and Gerard Roland (2009) 'Voting Patterns and Alliance Formation in the European Parliament', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 364, 821-831. (pdf)

10. EP Voting Cohesion, 3 Upshot: the high level of voting cohesion among party groups in the European Parliament is not due solely to the prior ideological agreement of MEPs; there are distinct “party effects” operating. Source: Simon Hix, Abdul Noury and Gerard Roland (2009) 'Voting Patterns and Alliance Formation in the European Parliament', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 364, 821-831. (pdf)

11. Topics, 1:EU Climate Policy: “20-20-20” • A reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions of at least 20% below 1990 levels • 20% of EU energy consumption to come from renewable resources • A 20% reduction in primary energy use compared with projected levels, to be achieved by improving energy efficiency. • … by 2020. • Tease out the national vs. ideological interests and simulate EP decision making.

12. Topics, 2:Financial Crisis • Fiscally sound countries called on to “bail out” countries with fiscal/financial difficulties. • Tease out the national vs. ideological interests and simulate EP decision making.

13. Democratic Deficit • In a variety of ways, the EU’s system for ensuring democratic representation, which is centrally focused around the EP, is flawed in design and/or practice. • Design: not a properly parliamentary system (Hix). • Design: national parties control elections, but supranational parties control legislative activity.

14. Electoral Systems for EP Elections Upshot: There are still substantial cross-country differences in how MEPs are elected. Source: Simon Hix and Sara Hagemann (2009) 'Could Changing the Electoral Rules Fix European Parliament Elections?', PolitiqueEuropeenne28, 27-41. (pdf)

15. Declining Turnout for EP Elections

16. Summary • EP is the world’s only directly elected democratic supranational body. • It is very powerful in the EU, and comparatively extremely powerful. • Its nature and limitations can be fruitfully compared with those of US Congress and other democratic legislatures. • Simulations can help students engage.

17. Links and Resources • http://www.votewatch.eu/ • Hix, Simon. What’s Wrong With the EU and How to Fix It. London: Polity, 2008. • http://www.idea.int/vt/index.cfm (IDEA voter turnout database) • Kreppel, Amie. The European Parliament and Supranational Party System. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. • Ringe, Nils. Who Decides, and How? Preferences, Uncertainty and Policy Choice in the European Parliament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. • Hix, Simon and BjørnHøyland. The Political System of the European Union, 3rd edn, London: Palgrave, 2011. • Hix, Simon, Abdul Noury and Gérard Roland. Democratic Politics in the European Parliament. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. • Rittberger, Berthold. Building Europe’s Parliament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. • Fabbrinni, Sergio. Compound Democracies.