The European Parliament, an assessment

Le Regard Libre N° 52 - Jérémie Bongiovanni

European political institutions are regularly criticized and called into question within member states. The European Parliament is one of those structures that often come under fire from Europhobes: absentee elected representatives, paid handsomely, who ultimately have little impact on politics in Europe, we are told. But what is the reality? Let's take a look at the decisions taken by the European Parliament over the last five years.

In the run-up to the election of the new European Parliament at the end of May, there will have been a great deal of discussion on the subject. A turnout exceeding 50% illustrates the rare interest aroused by these elections. It's therefore time to take a closer look at this institution, to understand its role and observe its more or less concrete actions during the last legislature.

Its role

In its legislative role, the European Parliament has a slightly different position to that of our Swiss parliament. In the European Union (EU), the Parliament cannot independently propose individual projects. It is the European Commission, the executive body, which has a monopoly on initiative. Parliament cannot therefore propose texts, but only discuss those proposed by the Commission. 

The Parliament also has a supervisory role. It elects the President of the Commission - Jean-Claude Juncker's successor is due to be elected shortly - and monitors the Commission's activities. It also has an institutional role, as it must vote on the integration of each new member.

Finally, the Parliament approves the EU budget, in collaboration with the EU Council. The Council is made up of the national ministers of each EU country, according to the policy areas covered.

His concrete actions?

For the last legislature, from 2014 to 2019, the European Parliament's research department has published a document to explain the impact the institution has had over this five-year period. Let's dive in!

This report lists various topics dealt with by the Union's legislative body. In November 2017, the European Parliament adopted a text aimed at limiting CO₂ emissions for vehicles sold in the EU. Through another vote in June 2018, it was decided to reach 32% of renewable energy for all European consumption until 2030.

What a modern Parliament! It still has to be implemented in every member state. Parliamentarians allocated an additional 240 million euros to the Erasmus+ program to promote education, youth and sport. The regulation of an air passenger register, notably to combat terrorism, was also accepted. 

A reactionary Parliament

From this list of voted measures, it is clear that Parliament is mainly reactive, which is regrettable. It only reacts to events that punctuate the news, but which do not always represent the greatest political stakes. The best illustration of this bias is the adoption in October 2018 of a quota of 30% of European creations to the platforms of streaming; it's ineptitude without a name! Since when should politicians decide what the public wants and interfere with private projects? Parliament doesn't offer any fundamental movement or general direction. It takes its role too much to heart, and proposes laws for each theme, probably out of overzealousness.

Read also: A Europe of destiny

To say that Parliament is useless would be wrong. However, it must be acknowledged that its impact is very limited, and its lack of vision makes it very unappealing. As the EU's only democratically-elected body, however, its role is crucial. It provides a forum for European debate, and should therefore be able to act as a platform for the changes needed to make Europe a "global player". leader. After the European elections in May 2019, the potential of this parliament is double-edged.

Write to the author: jeremie.bongiovanni@leregardlibre.com

Image: © Drawing by Nicolas Locatelli for Le Regard Libre