Power of the Spoken Word: Targeted Representation by MEPs Language Choice

The European Parliament is the only EU institution whose members are directly elected; but face the duality of representing two distinct audiences - their national constituency and a pan-European constituency. Whilst being subject to control from both domestic and European Party groups over activities like voting, MEPs do enjoy the freedom of choosing the language in which they raise political matters. Given their unique position, what motivates MEPs to resort to their national language when making speeches in this supranational arena? We argue parliamentarians strategically tailor their speeches, by language choice, to send policy signals to different audiences. Use of their national language in speeches allows MEPs to signal policy positions to their domestic audience and principals. This motivation is particularly strong when the issue grows in salience for the domestic public and political elites. In contrast, speeches in a foreign language permit MEPs to communicate their views and state policy positions to a broader audience of MEPs, EPGs, and policy topic interested public. The use of a common language in speeches, widely used and understood by many, also aids MEPs in demonstrating their commitment to EU institutions. To test our expectations, we draw on a novel dataset of parliamentary speeches in the EP between 2009-2019 with indicators capturing policy salience from Eurobarometer questions. We find that language choice allows MEPs a tool to target representation to their, at times, conflicting audiences of domestic voters and a pan-European policy relevant constituency.