Abstract
The chapter researches the role of the European Parliament (EP) in the politically charged Brexit process and outlines the opportunities and challenges that it implies. The EP’s role is explored within four specific dimensions: (1) constitutional dimension, (2) procedural dimension, (3) party-political dimension and (4) national-interest dimension. Within the constitutional dimension, the analysis focuses firstly on how the EP has reacted institutionally to Brexit (i.e. in terms of setting up special committees or working groups) and secondly on the relationship between the EP and other European Union (EU) institutions, reflecting on the interinstitutional balance and dynamics in the withdrawal process. The procedural dimension concentrates on the extent to which the EP has been able to influence the withdrawal process as opposed to only giving or withholding its consent to any final deal negotiated between the British government and the European Commission. In this context, attention is paid also to the balance between the EP’s formal and informal role(s) in the Brexit process. Within the party-political dimension, the chapter discusses the partisan influence, exploring if and how party-political ties impact EP’s performance vis-à-vis Brexit. Finally, the national-interest dimension addresses the extent to which members of the parliament (MEPs) are (or are not) split along national lines when it comes to taking positions on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
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Notes
- 1.
Some commentators even talk about “the Verhofstadt-Barnier dream team—a Eurosceptic’s nightmare” (Cooper 2016).
- 2.
Interviews and email correspondence with seven MEPs (belonging to ALDE, EPP, S&D, ECR, GUE/NGL and EFDD political groups) were held from January to April 2018. The interviewees wished to remain anonymous.
- 3.
This also relates closely to the EP’s longstanding need for institutional assertion and legitimacy and the limited basis of its popular mandate (in a sense of the low turnout at the EP elections) (Roederer-Rynning 2017, p. 510).
- 4.
A British tabloid, The Daily Express, ran a piece on this titled “Splits emerge in European Parliament as Guy Verhofstadt goes against Tusk” (Thalassites 2018). Yet, for completeness’ sake let us recall that interinstitutional rivalries form an inherent part of Brussels politics (Macdonald and Guarascio 2016; cf. Horten 2017; The Business Times 2016).
- 5.
Generally speaking, it is especially Verhofstadt that has been made “something of a villain in the British press” (De La Baume and Herszenhorn 2017).
- 6.
Deliberations within the CoP have not been devoid of internal tensions vis-à-vis Verhofstadt either.
- 7.
It is interesting to reflect that these findings stand in stark opposition to the opinions of some interviewed MEPs who are convinced that, apart from the UK, it is especially Ireland and Spain that break the EP’s unity during the votes on Brexit. Likewise, the MEPs are divided over whether the debate and voting on Brexit in the EP proceed along national or ideological lines.
- 8.
- 9.
It is also worth recalling that the EP has been trying to secure a much bigger role than it had during the EU renegotiations with the UK. As Neil Nugent (2017, p. 176) states in this context, the EP felt heavily sidelined during the renegotiations process: “it exercised no influence on the contents of the proposed reformed UK membership terms” and was therefore “dissatisfied with its role”, especially because of “its exclusion from high-level, intergovernmental deliberations and decision-making”.
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+ interviews and correspondence with selected MEPs. (January–April 2018).
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Brusenbauch Meislova, M. (2019). The European Parliament in the Brexit Process: Leading Role, Supporting Role or Just a Small Cameo?. In: Christiansen, T., Fromage, D. (eds) Brexit and Democracy. European Administrative Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06043-5_10
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