How Has the Composition of the EP Affected its Role in EU Decision-Making?

The composition of the European Parliament (EP) is directly shaped by trends in national party politics. The increasing party system fragmentation and polarisation across EU member states in recent decades has been reflected in the EP, where centre-left and centre-right parties have gradually lost ground to smaller, more ideologically extreme and Eurosceptic parties. If the EP as an institution is responsive to electoral outcomes, then changes in its composition will influence the positions it takes in the EU policymaking process. However, there are a number of factors that might limit the responsiveness of the EP: the ‘grand coalition’ of the centrist parties continues to dominate EP politics; and the continued second-order nature of EP elections in many countries might insulate MEPs from electoral accountability and free them to pursue a pro-integration agenda that is in the institutional interests of the EP. This paper tests whether or not the composition of the EP has influenced the position it takes relative to the Commission and member state governments in EU legislative negotiations. This is done in two ways. First, it examines the overall composition of the EP on the pro-/anti-EU and left-right dimensions, and tests whether the political ‘centre of gravity’ of the EP has affected its position over time. Second, the analysis tests whether the partisanship and ideology of key actors within the EP, in particular the rapporteur, influence the EP’s position across policy proposals. The paper contributes to the growing literature on the political responsiveness of the EU, specifically the link between elections and policy outcomes.