Research Papers

The current paper looks at interactions inside the European party groups in the European Parliament during the monthly group meetings, in order to reveal existing patterns of influence and the decision-making process, inside the group, during the negotiations on legislative acts, prior to the vote in the plenary. Studies on this subject have mostly concentrated on the activity and decisions of MEPs and party groups in the plenary of the House and the results of the final votes recorded here. This paper argues that the legislative stage that precedes the plenary sessions, the stage of parliamentary committees, constitutes the main EP arena where decisions are reached. These are then replicated in the plenary vote through internal group mechanisms of voting alignment, with the help of rapporteurs and group coordinators. Information gathered from the meetings of the party groups and field observations points towards a pattern of exchanges and alignment of views with the parliamentary committee decisions, based on the input from the rapporteurs and group coordinators from each of the specific committees. The two form and inform the group opinion on a specialised subject voted in their specific committee. Findings show that the influence exerted by the party groups is not externalised but rather internalised through group meetings and based on a position previously established and delineated by the Members in the committee. They identify committees as being the most important space where conflict is solved and where decision is reached in the EP and indicate that the final vote in the House is in fact replicating the one cast in committee.