The European Parliament’s Standing Committees: Patterns of Behaviour and Modes of Functioning After the Treaty of Lisbon. Bruges Political Research Papers 69/2018

Schwartz, Michail (2018) The European Parliament’s Standing Committees: Patterns of Behaviour and Modes of Functioning After the Treaty of Lisbon. Bruges Political Research Papers 69/2018. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

The widened scope of Codecision brought on by the Lisbon Treaty considerably strengthened the role of certain standing committees inside the European Parliament (EP), allowing them both to shape directly EU law and to veto the Council’s positions. Has this change had an impact on their modes of functioning? Has it influenced the work MEPs and groups carry out on a day-to-day basis inside these committees? Building on institutionalist theories and original data on voting inside EP committees, this work examines patterns of behaviour in four EP’s standing committees that turned to co-decision on December 1st 2009: AGRI, INTA, LIBE and PECH. In particular, it focuses on three specific features of intra-committee dynamics under Codecision: participation to vote, coalition building and group cohesion. The period of reference ranges from 2009 to 2017. The added value of this work is threefold: first, it adds up to the literature by inquiring for the first time behavioural patterns within committees that turned to co-decision after Lisbon. Secondly, it adds a comparative element to the study of committee’s patterns of behaviour, exploring possible mainstreaming patterns across them. Finally, it presents original data on voting behaviour inside EP’s committees after the Lisbon Treaty.

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