The Empowerment of the European Parliament - An Analysis of its Role in the Development of the Co-decision Procedure
(2010) STVM01 20101Department of Political Science
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Abstract
In this thesis the EP’s role and influence in the development of the co-decision procedure is analysed. Over the last decades the European Parliament has increased its power in the legislative process. It has been one of the central actors in the development of the co-decision procedure, established in the Maastricht Treaty and extended in the Amsterdam Treaty. The question of how the EP has enjoyed increased influence as a consequence of the extension of the co-decision procedure is also being asked. The theoretical framework is a combination of insights from both rational choice institutionalism and historical institutionalism and it is argued that a rational choice-historical institutionalist perspective is favourable in order... (More) - Abstract
In this thesis the EP’s role and influence in the development of the co-decision procedure is analysed. Over the last decades the European Parliament has increased its power in the legislative process. It has been one of the central actors in the development of the co-decision procedure, established in the Maastricht Treaty and extended in the Amsterdam Treaty. The question of how the EP has enjoyed increased influence as a consequence of the extension of the co-decision procedure is also being asked. The theoretical framework is a combination of insights from both rational choice institutionalism and historical institutionalism and it is argued that a rational choice-historical institutionalist perspective is favourable in order to find a full explanation. The analysis shows that the EP due to the fact that the member states did not have full information and was not able to predict consequences of their decision of the establishment of the co-decision procedure. Hence the EP has managed to make an interpretation of how the procedure should be implemented and had a possibility to influence the development of the procedure. Trough creation of informal rules and institutions, which the EP has later managed to institutionalize in the Amsterdam Treaty, the EP has managed to maximize its interest and enjoyed an increased power by becoming co-legislator with the Council. Due to path dependency in the negotiations of Treaties, the member states have not been able to reverse decisions already taken and has had to further extend the co-decision procedure, even though the EP had interpreted the procedure in another way than originally intended.
Key words: the European Parliament, historical institutionalism, rational choice institutionalism, co-decision procedure Words: 9985 (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1652987
- author
- Karlström, Helena LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- STVM01 20101
- year
- 2010
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- co-decision procedure, rational choice institutionalism, the European Parliament, historical institutionalism
- language
- English
- id
- 1652987
- date added to LUP
- 2010-09-13 09:30:09
- date last changed
- 2010-09-13 09:30:09
@misc{1652987,
abstract = {{Abstract
In this thesis the EP’s role and influence in the development of the co-decision procedure is analysed. Over the last decades the European Parliament has increased its power in the legislative process. It has been one of the central actors in the development of the co-decision procedure, established in the Maastricht Treaty and extended in the Amsterdam Treaty. The question of how the EP has enjoyed increased influence as a consequence of the extension of the co-decision procedure is also being asked. The theoretical framework is a combination of insights from both rational choice institutionalism and historical institutionalism and it is argued that a rational choice-historical institutionalist perspective is favourable in order to find a full explanation. The analysis shows that the EP due to the fact that the member states did not have full information and was not able to predict consequences of their decision of the establishment of the co-decision procedure. Hence the EP has managed to make an interpretation of how the procedure should be implemented and had a possibility to influence the development of the procedure. Trough creation of informal rules and institutions, which the EP has later managed to institutionalize in the Amsterdam Treaty, the EP has managed to maximize its interest and enjoyed an increased power by becoming co-legislator with the Council. Due to path dependency in the negotiations of Treaties, the member states have not been able to reverse decisions already taken and has had to further extend the co-decision procedure, even though the EP had interpreted the procedure in another way than originally intended.
Key words: the European Parliament, historical institutionalism, rational choice institutionalism, co-decision procedure Words: 9985}},
author = {{Karlström, Helena}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The Empowerment of the European Parliament - An Analysis of its Role in the Development of the Co-decision Procedure}},
year = {{2010}},
}