Europe in Parliament: Towards Targeted Politicization

Abstract

Members of national parliaments can enhance the societal embedding of European policies through targeted politicization of European policy questions. Instead of subjecting all EU matters to political debate across the board, they should select appropriate questions for politicization at the right moments. Targeted politicization requires above all (1) a conscious self-reflection among parliamentarians leading to the understanding that there are limits to their scope of political action. Debate in one national parliament cannot always by itself translate into European policy outcomes, which can be frustrating; moreover, parliamentary actors, in particular political parties, need to balance their interests, including their internal ideological unity, the relevance of EU policy to their voters and, where applicable, their basic pro-European attitude. Therefore, not all EU issues will be politicized. Once this awareness is established, (2) a targeting of appropriate EU policy questions can take place. Substantive party positions on EU proposals will ideally form a logical continuation of domestic manifestos. When the subjects of politicization are targeted, political parties should, e.g. in election campaigns, (3) commit themselves to substantive positions on which they wish to be held to account. While doing so, they can appeal to their voters to consider elections to the European Parliament as a logical continuation of the expression of preferences at national level. As soon as parliamentarians have committed themselves to policy positions, they are free, as they (4) implement their promises, to use all possibilities that the European constitutional architecture offers. They need not restrict themselves to the calling to account of their cabinet ministers for their actions in Brussels, but can also enter into direct contacts with other EU member states, with members of the European Parliament, the European Commission and other EU institutions. Targeted politicization following these four steps leads to a better societal embedding of European policies than a mere ‘advertising’ of European integration, or the artificial setting up of new committees and oversight procedures.

Keywords: national parliaments, European union, democratic deficit, politicization of European affairs