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Role of Political Affiliation across the European Institutions in the Dynamics of the EU Legislative Process

Author

Listed:
  • Radko Hokovský

    (Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Studies, Prague, Czech Republic)

  • Viera Knutelská

    (Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Studies, Prague, Czech Republic)

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of the impact of party political affiliation on the pace of the EU legislative process. It hypothesizes that the codecision process should be faster if the key actors from the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council are closer on the left-right policy scale or share affiliation to the same political family. The hypotheses are tested on the data covering the period of five years, from May 2004 to June 2009. While closeness on the left-right policy scale did not prove to have any effect, the findings show that if all three main actors, or at least the EP rapporteur and responsible Commissioner, come from the same political family, the codecision-process is indeed faster. The paper thus aims to contribute to the study of importance of party political ties and left-right cleavages in the EU decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Radko Hokovský & Viera Knutelská, 2012. "Role of Political Affiliation across the European Institutions in the Dynamics of the EU Legislative Process," Czech Economic Review, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, vol. 6(2), pages 125-138, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:fau:aucocz:au2012_125
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Thomson, 2008. "The Council Presidency in the European Union: Responsibility with Power," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46, pages 593-617, June.
    2. Abdul Ghafar Noury & Simon Hix & Gérard Roland, 2007. "Democratic politics in the European Parliament," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/7744, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    3. Robert Thomson, 2008. "The Council Presidency in the European Union: Responsibility with Power," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 593-617, June.
    4. Laver, Michael & Benoit, Kenneth & Garry, John, 2003. "Extracting Policy Positions from Political Texts Using Words as Data," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 97(2), pages 311-331, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    European decision-making; co-decision; left-right cleavage; party political affiliation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government

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