Inside the sausage factory: actors and decision-making in the European Parliament
Abstract
This article is intended to be a trip to «the kitchen» of the European Parliament. It explains how the European Parliament co-legislates, since it receives a proposal from the European Commission to its adoption. But beyond presenting the formal steps of the «ordinary legislative procedure», with the work in committee, the negotiations with the Council and the vote in plenary, the objective of this study is to provide an insider’s view of the actors, formal and informal, and the dynamics that make possible the adoption of legislation: the role of the rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs, the mediation of President for sensitive legislative proposals, the coalitions between political groups, or how the Parliament attempts to influence the legislative agenda despite not having the right of legislative initiative ... among others. Secondly, the article presents three new dynamics within the EP (European Parliament) and its effect in terms of winners and losers within Parliament. Finally, the article analyzes the challenges facing the EP in this new term. A legislature qualified by the President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, as «the last chance» and that will, certainly, determine the future of the Union.
Received: 19 May 2016
Accepted: 21 June 2016
Published online: 31 October 2016
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