UACES Workshop W029

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New Member States and the European Parliament: Research Agendas in the Enlarged EU

Organisers: Karen Henderson and Dr Richard Whitaker, University of Leicester

Date: 6-7 May 2005

Venue: University of Leicester, UK

There is an established body of research looking at the operation of national and transnational party groups within European Parliament committees, and at the links between MEPs and their national parties. The workshop will explore the challenges of extending this work to monitor and map the impact of MEPs from new member states, and explore its significance for the future of the EU’s institutions. The new member states are mostly small, and have relatively unstable party systems with often erratic attitudes towards the EU. This creates methodological difficulties in assembling and interpreting data, yet it also raises important questions about the application of existing theories of institutional adaptation to the new member states. The workshop will confront current research with tentative post-May 2004 findings.

The workshop still has a few spare places. For a provisional list of participants and contributors and draft programme, please see the programme.

Contact: Karen Henderson, University of Leicester (T: +44 116 252 2713, kh10@le.ac.uk)