Representation of environmental issues in the European Parliament: From the campaign to the plenary

Concern for the environment increased among EU citizens before the 2019 European Parliament elections. Some candidates in these elections discussed environmental issues during the campaign, possibly responding to this increased concern among citizens. Moreover, the environment was a motivator to participate for some citizens, who might have selected parties/candidates based on environmental issues, providing MEPs with a mandate to act on this EU policy. Nonetheless, the representation of citizens’ environmental concerns would be weak if this representation is confined to the campaign period. Moreover, that MEPs are not fulfilling their mandate could affect the legitimacy of the European Parliament. This paper investigates whether MEPs are fulfilling their campaign commitments, by assessing whether their environmental salience during the campaign is related with casting pro-environmental votes. The latter is measured using the emissions’ reduction target that each MEP supported in the context of the European Climate Law. Environmental salience is computed through a content analysis of tweets (using a dictionary approach) that MEPs had posted during the campaign. Finding a relationship between MEPs environmental salience during the campaign and their vote in the plenary would suggest that citizens’ environmental concerns are represented at the EU level and that MEPs perform their task of representing EU citizens.