Calling the roll: Roll-call vote requests in the early European Parliaments and their consequences

With the exception of the first European Parliament, each subsequent one experienced a treaty change during its term, almost always implying changes in its powers and in the decision procedures it is involved in. As a consequence votes in this parliament changed in importance and significance over time and at the same time covered more and more policy areas. What has become visible of these votes, namely the individual voting behaviour in roll call votes, is thus likely to have changed. Drawing on a new data collection of all legislative votes (whether roll called or not) covering the five first EPs, we can demonstrate that roll call votes and their requests are affected by changes in the agenda and in decision-making procedures. Thus, we can offer a new view on the first twenty-five years of parliamentary work by directly elected MEPs.