The European Parliament: From Consultative Assembly to Co-legislator

The European Parliament: A Key Institution in the European Union

With 751 members, the European Parliament constitutes one of the largest democratic institutions in the world. Its members (MEPs) are elected every five years through direct election – although there have been some issues concerning poor voter turnout – and are distributed among eight different parliamentary groups which are supposed to represent the whole political spectrum. It is considered one of the main institutions in the European Union alongside the European Council and the European Commission. In order to understand the relevance of the EP in the decision-making of the Union, it will be necessary to analyze what a parliamentary system is and then move into the application of this concept within the European Union.

Parliamentary Systems and the European Parliament

A parliamentary system is a form of governance where the democratic representation of the people is handled – through direct elections – to a Parliament and its members who will eventually elect a government and its president. In this political system, the Parliament exercises mainly four functions:

1. Legislative: Proposing and adopting new laws.
2. Watchdog: Monitoring and guiding the government’s actions.
3. Budgetary: Controlling and overseeing the national budget.
4. Government Formation: Holding the right to elect a government.

Although the EP is supposed to match the description above, many critics have been raised over its functions and role within the European decision-making process, often judged to be more of a consultative body rather than a legislative one. It is surely true that, while in the national context one of the main roles of a parliament is to initiate and propose legislation, within the European Union the EP can simply approve legislation passed by the European Commission. The same applies regarding the right to elect a government; indeed the EP cannot propose a candidate for the members of the Commission nor for its President, it can just agree whether the proposed candidate is suitable or not for that specific position.

Increased Powers and Influence of the European Parliament

However, these restrictions were addressed in the intergovernmental conferences leading up to the signing of the Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice, and Lisbon Treaties, which ended up giving more powers to the European Parliament (EP) and extending the areas in which it had joint decision-making powers with the Council. As a result, the EP has evolved from a consultative assembly to a co-legislator. Particularly with the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament dramatically increased its financial, legislative, and supervisory powers.

Indeed, the treaty extended the Ordinary Legislature Procedures (decision-making procedure used for adopting EU legislation, involving a shared decision between Commission, Council of Ministers, and Parliament) to 40 new fields such as agriculture, justice, immigration, etc… that were until then discussed just among the Commission and Council. In addition, it reinforced the role played by the EP in the budgetary area, being the Parliament responsible for the approval of the EU’s seven-year financial framework and the monitoring of the annual spending. Indeed, after the end of each year, MEPs scrutinize how the European Commission and EU countries have spent the money in order to decide whether to grant each institution discharge. It also increased the power of scrutiny with the right to vote for the appointment of the Commission members and the right to veto for the Commission president.

Examples of the EP's Influence

On some occasions, the EP has also been granted the right to propose changes regarding some international treaties. Just to provide some practical examples of the influence that the EP now has in the decision-making process:

• The law against animal testing for cosmetics was implemented – despite the firm French refusal – because of the EP’s refusal to postpone the law.
• The establishment of a directive dealing with higher water standards across the continent was achieved thanks to an EP initiative.

Conclusion: A More Powerful, but Still Evolving, Institution

To conclude, surely the EP cannot be considered to have the same power as national parliaments across EU member states; for instance, despite gaining the right to stop or pass legislation, it still lacks a proper right to propose and initiate laws based on the direct interest of the citizens. Many steps still have to be taken in order to guarantee that the citizens’ opinions are fairly expressed through the EP; however, it has surely moved away from that Cinderella connotation that characterized it for many years.