"Elected legislators and their unelected assistants in the European Parliament"

Neunreither, Karlheinz. (2003) "Elected legislators and their unelected assistants in the European Parliament". In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 2003 (8th), March 27-29, 2003, pages 18, Nashville, Tennessee.

Abstract

This paper discusses, in the framework of a wider study on legislative assistance in all relevant EU institutions, the case of the European Parliament (EP). Looking at the legislative process in the EU, it is quite evident that we find within the EP, as compared to the Council and the Commission, the elected legislators. This direct legitimacy is one of the major assets of the community system. In exercising their legislative functions, the Members of the EP are assisted - as in most parliaments - by a number of internal services, and they have access to a large variety of external sources, not the least to sources based on specific interests, the so-called lobby. The paper examines the delicate relationship between those who act on the basis of a political mandate and those who influence their decisions.