"Necessary but not sufficient: understanding the impact of treaty reform on the internal development of the European Parliament."

Kreppel, Amie. (2003) "Necessary but not sufficient: understanding the impact of treaty reform on the internal development of the European Parliament.". In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 2003 (8th), March 27-29, 2003, pages 21, Nashville, Tennessee.

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of exogenous treaty reform on the internal organization of the European Parliament (EP). After each major reform of the EU's treaties the European Parliament took the opportunity to fully revise its own internal Rules of Procedure (RoP). This work reviews the key revisions of the Single European Act, Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice Treaties relative to the EP to gain an understanding of what types of internal EP reform were required by each new treaty. The actual reforms then undertaken by the EP to its RoP are then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. This research highlights some broad patterns of Rules reform, but also how these have changed over time. In particular the balance between required Rules reforms and internally and externally oriented strategic reforms is examined.