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Learning on the Job? EU Enlargement and the Assignment of (Shadow) Rapporteurships in the European Parliament

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  • Steffen Hurka
  • Michael Kaeding
  • Lukas Obholzer

Abstract

This article investigates the determinants of assignments to European Parliament negotiating teams comprising both rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs. We re-examine the argument that under-representation of MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) from new Member States on these key posts after enlargement might have been due to a 'learning phase'. We find that MEPs from newer Member States remain considerably less likely to act as rapporteurs during the second term after enlargement (2009–14). Most importantly, this trend also holds for shadow rapporteurships under the co-decision procedure, which is when they matter most. This structural under-representation entails important implications for European integration, most importantly that MEPs from newer Member States are less able to influence legislation. We suggest that the patterns we find could be the result of reduced willingness, a more limited skill set, or a structural disadvantage of MEPs from the accession states in the report allocation process.

Suggested Citation

  • Steffen Hurka & Michael Kaeding & Lukas Obholzer, 2015. "Learning on the Job? EU Enlargement and the Assignment of (Shadow) Rapporteurships in the European Parliament," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 1230-1247, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:53:y:2015:i:6:p:1230-1247
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/jcms.12270
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. William T. Daniel, 2013. "When the Agent Knows Better than the Principal: The Effect of Education and Seniority on European Parliament Rapporteur Assignment," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 832-848, September.
    2. Pierpaolo Settembri & Christine Neuhold, 2009. "Achieving Consensus Through Committees: Does the European Parliament Manage?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47, pages 127-151, January.
    3. Abdul Ghafar Noury & Simon Hix & Gérard Roland, 2007. "Democratic politics in the European Parliament," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/7744, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Steffen Hurka, 2013. "Changing the output: The logic of amendment success in the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee," European Union Politics, , vol. 14(2), pages 273-296, June.
    5. Virginie Mamadouh & Tapio Raunio, 2003. "The Committee System: Powers, Appointments and Report Allocation," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 333-351, April.
    6. J. Scott Long & Jeremy Freese, 2006. "Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables using Stata, 2nd Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, edition 2, number long2, March.
    7. Bjorn Hoyland, 2006. "Allocation of Codecision Reports in the Fifth European Parliament," European Union Politics, , vol. 7(1), pages 30-50, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Däubler & Mihail Chiru & Silje SL Hermansen, 2022. "Introducing COMEPELDA: Comprehensive European Parliament electoral data covering rules, parties and candidates," European Union Politics, , vol. 23(2), pages 351-371, June.
    2. Christian Staat & Colin R. Kuehnhanss, 2017. "Outside Earnings, Electoral Systems and Legislative Effort in the European Parliament," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 368-386, March.
    3. Steffen Hurka & Maximilian Haag & Constantin Kaplaner, 2023. "Proposal complexity and report allocation in the European Parliament," European Union Politics, , vol. 24(2), pages 307-326, June.
    4. Fang-Yi Chiou & Silje SL Hermansen & Bjørn Høyland, 2020. "Delegation of committee reports in the European Parliament," European Union Politics, , vol. 21(2), pages 233-254, June.
    5. Inger Baller, 2017. "Specialists, party members, or national representatives: Patterns in co-sponsorship of amendments in the European Parliament," European Union Politics, , vol. 18(3), pages 469-490, September.
    6. Frank M Häge & Nils Ringe, 2020. "Top-down or bottom-up? The selection of shadow rapporteurs in the European Parliament," European Union Politics, , vol. 21(4), pages 706-727, December.
    7. Ariadna Ripoll Servent & Lara Panning, 2019. "Preparatory Bodies as Mediators of Political Conflict in Trilogues: The European Parliament’s Shadows Meetings," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 303-315.
    8. Lukas Obholzer & Steffen Hurka & Michael Kaeding, 2019. "Party group coordinators and rapporteurs: Discretion and agency loss along the European Parliament’s chains of delegation," European Union Politics, , vol. 20(2), pages 239-260, June.

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