In Search for an Inter-Institutional Link at the pre-Legislative Level: Reality or Wishful Thinking?

The literature on the Commission’s interaction with the legislative chambers has been built on the idea that voting procedures and national interests in the Council, and ideological cohesiveness in the European Parliament condition the success of Commission’s initiatives. Despite this large literature, we know very little about the potential conditional effects of transnational party promises on the Commission’s legislative proposals and (non)legislative acts. This lacuna with respect to the Euro-manifestos’ political role in the EU is very unfortunate given the recent changes in the Treaty of Lisbon and the political role EP elections have begun to play in the nomination of the President of the Commission. What is the role of the political groups of the European Parliament in shaping the agenda of the Commission, and does the public expansion model of agenda-setting in the EU apply to the EP – Commission interactions? We expect the interests of the ‘public’ as reflected in the election manifestos made by EP political groups will be increasingly incorporated in the European Commission’s agenda. To ascertain this, the article analyses (1) the policy emphases of transnational party pledges made at the 2004 and 2009 EP elections, and (2) the extent of agreement between such promises and the Commission’s priorities laid out in its Annual Policy Strategies and Working Programs. While accounting for different Commission presidencies, the addition of new member-states, and the ideological orientation of Commissioners, we posit that the ability of EP groups to shape the agenda of the Commission is greater when the groups share the similar policy priorities among themselves. A high degree of overlap between what is promised during EP elections and what is prioritized by the Commission would indicate the presence of a link between the EU electorate and the EU political agenda, addressing concerns about the EU’s democratic mandate.