Policy Space Variation in the European Parliament: Committees vs. Plenary

The notion that the policy space in the EU is structured by a pro-/anti-European integration and a left-right dimension is well established. Roger et al. (2017), however, show that the dimensionality of the policy space can differ between committees and the plenary. This is because votes in the plenary reflect contestation of the compromise struck at committee level. We seek to determine to what extent plenary and committee votes on the same file are structured by the same dimensions. Are the plenary votes a repetition of the votes in the committees, or do they reflect different lines of conflict? Our study addresses this question by contributing a first comprehensive analysis of the policy space in the European Parliament’s committees. We draw on Obholzer & Wiesenthal’s (2024) data on committee roll-call votes and van der Veer’s (2018) dyadic method to compare voting patterns in the plenary and committees. Our study helps understand policy-making in the EP specifically and the EU in general, while casting an important light on the functioning of committees in working parliaments like the EP.