This article offers three different perspectives on the changing role and behaviour of the European Parliament as seen by 'insiders'. The first concentrates on the overall success of the Parliament in transforming its constitutional position. The second contrasts the dominant position of budgetary politics in the 1980s with the much more variegated shape of the Parliament's role in policy-making now. The third underlines how parliamentary 'oversight' has assumed greater importance in response to the higher visibility of the impact of EU laws. * All views expressed are offered in a personal capacity and do not necessarily reflect the position of the institution. has established itself as part of what makes the EU radically different from a traditional intergovernmental organization.The second section recalls the dominant place of budgetary politics in the EP during the 1980s, looking specifically at the 1987 budgetary procedure. It considers the constraints on Parliament at that time, the restricted volume of communication with the Council and the very special status enjoyed by the Committee on Budgets. It contrasts the position then with the greater range of options now available to the Parliament, the much denser level of contacts with Council and the greater affirmation of legislative committees.The third section takes two areas of EP activity which were all but nonexistent 20 years ago, namely the implementation of policy and the scrutiny and control of the other EU institutions. Greater participation in the establishment of legislation and higher political visibility of the impact of EU laws at national level have pushed MEPs to undertake the task of 'oversight' in a way that rarely crossed the minds of their predecessors in the 1980s.
Is it still right to classify European elections as ‘second‐order elections’? There are some reasons used to justify such a classification that are changing or evolving, while others are not. A neat and tidy first‐/second‐order division may not be appropriate. But is the ‘lead candidate’ (Spitzenkandidat) development one of the reasons to re‐evaluate? In most Member States, it had little impact on the election campaign and, at the time of writing, the effect on the final choice of Commission President is not definitively settled, but it looks as though it has changed the expectations of many politicians involved in that choice. Its longer term evolution remains to be seen and could well become more important for political actors, but the jury is still out as to how far this might eventually impact on the wider public.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.