Europeanization of national parliaments in New Member States

Abstract

This panel focuses on the impact of European integration on national parliaments in new EU member states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Whereas CEE parliaments in general have been researched at great length, the focus on Europeanization processes within parliaments is still fragmented and theoretically underdeveloped. The point of departure is the assumption that although being in the center of political transformation, similar to patterns in Western European states by fact but not by reason, new CEE member states have witnessed a decline in the influence of national parliaments in relation to governments. Yet we consider unique factors related to the economic and political transition from socialism in the 1990s and the nature of the EU accession process. In the late 1980s and early 1990s CEE parliaments were burdened with the task of drafting or redrafting constitutions and writing enormous quantities of new laws. The start of the EU accession process in 1997 legislatures faced a new “legislative storm” of transposing the aquis communautaire. Both waves minimized the parliament's room for political manoeuvre, due to the related enormous workload. Given that the EU accession process was largely executive driven, parliaments were also forced to redesign their institutional structure to compensate for their declining influence vis-à-vis the executive. Although all new EU member states of CEE share a common socialist legacy and have participated in the same EU accession process, we might expect a certain degree of divergence between the states in parliamentary configurations due to pre-existing institutions and norms. The papers tackle the topic alongside the following questions: What kind of parliamentary institutions, structures and procedures has each state put in place to manage parliamentary participation in EU affairs and decision making, and what are the key similarities and differences among them? To what extent has the EU accession process led to the strengthening of the power of central executives and the weakening of parliaments, especially in the ability to scrutinize decisions of the executive branch of government?

Title	Details
Europeanization of the Hungarian National Parliament	View Paper Details
Europeanization of the National Parliaments in the Baltic States	View Paper Details
Europeanization of the Slovenian National Parliament: Has de facto power become de jure?	View Paper Details
Europeanization of the Czech National Parliament	View Paper Details