This article examines the decisions behind group membership in the European Parliament (EP) using a rational-choice institutionalist framework. Following the goals ascribed to them by Strøm (1990) in other settings, national parties should join the largest group that matches their socioeconomic preferences. Yet, whilst explanations taking national parties as the basic unit of analysis might sometimes suffice, we argue that it is often necessary to consider the influence of individual parliamentarians and existing EP groups. The scope open to these various actors to pursue their interests determines the attractiveness of the various options available to a national party. We illustrate our conceptual framework by reference to the attempt by the British Conservative Party to leave the European People's Party-European Democrats (EPP-ED) group, an effort ending in the formation of an extra-parliamentary federation, the Movement for European Reform.
The upgrading of the European Commission and the European Parliament's role in the EU policy-process from 1999 might have been expected to herald a shift away from the previous security-and control-orientation of asylum policy. No such shift occurred. This paper traces the continuity in EU asylum policy's trajectory to the continuity in its 'policy-image': actors seeking to fashion institutional environments in which they can more effectively pursue their preferences can facilitate institutional change by shifting the 'image' of a policy -in other words, they can highlight new or neglected problems related to that policy, creating broader pressure for these to be dealt with by new actors in new venues. We disaggregate policyimages into two elements: an element justifying an actor's presence and function in policymaking, and an element justifying the pursuit of its substantive preferences. We argue that institutional change laid down in the Treaty of Amsterdam was facilitated by a policy-image that lacked the latter element. The newly empowered actors have subsequently struggled to assert their substantive preferences despite their institutional upgrade. Change and continuity in European asylum policyWith the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty (1999), the EU's asylum policy might have been expected to shift away from its previous control-and security-orientation: although still dominated by the national interior ministry actors which had been the driving forces behind a security-centric -or 'securitarian' -policy since the inception of cooperation, the institutional framework introduced by the Treaty formally boosted the power of the European Commission and European Parliament (EP). Yet, any expectations that the upgrading of these actors in the policy-process would lead to policychange have scarcely been met.It is here argued that the failure of institutional change to translate into policy-change can be traced back to the continuity in the 'image' underpinning EU asylum policy (i.e. in the broadly held perceptions of how EU asylum policy should be handled, around which support can be mobilised for political purposes).It is widely recognised that particular institutional set-ups can mould policy-making outcomes by privileging select actors, and thus the matching of certain problems to certain solutions. One body of analysis suggests that actors' behaviour is therefore characterised by efforts to remould institutional arrangements, or seek out institutional configurations favourable to the realisation of their preferences ('venue-shopping').1 According to this body of analysis, actors can facilitate and legitimise institutional alteration, or a full shift of policy-making venues, by successfully changing an issue's policy-image. In other words, they can alter broader perceptions of how a policy area should be dealt with, highlighting new or neglected problems, and instrumentalising the general expectation that these will be treated by new actors in new venues in order to facilitate institutional change.Our ...
As migration cooperation has grown in stature at the European level, a premium has been set on its conceptual coordination with related areas of EU policy. The Mobility Partnerships which the bloc recently signed with Moldova and Cape Verde appear as a model of this kind of coordination. Indeed their advocates believe they can regulate migration in such a way that the Union’s economic, social, development and neighbourhood policies all benefit. A simple tri-partite method is here employed to gauge the complementarity of one of the Partnerships, that with Moldova, with its broader policy context. The present analysis suggests that the political exigencies involved in realising the agreement led to conceptual overstretch. Although the Partnership seldom clashes with its broader policy context, the considerable demands placed on its coordinators in the European Commission mean that the Partnership’s positive contribution to related policy areas remains bitty and lacking in coherence.
As migration cooperation has grown in stature at the European level, a premium has been set on its conceptual coordination with related areas of EU policy. Th e Mobility Partnerships which the bloc recently signed with Moldova and Cape Verde appear as a model of this kind of coordination. Indeed their advocates believe they can regulate migration in such a way that the Union's economic, social, development and neighbourhood policies all benefi t. A simple tri-partite method is here employed to gauge the complementarity of one of the Partnerships, that with Moldova, with its broader policy context. Th e present analysis suggests that the political exigencies involved in realising the agreement led to conceptual overstretch. Although the Partnership seldom clashes with its broader policy context, the considerable demands placed on its coordinators in the European Commission mean that the Partnership's positive contribution to related policy areas remains bitty and lacking in coherence.
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