The European Parliament Ready for the Future? The Impact of Enlargement on the European Parliament

The first European elections in the Union of 25 were held on 10-13 June 2004. As a result, the European Parliament has become the world’s largest democratically-elected parliamentary chamber, having grown from 198 members before the first direct elections in 1979 to the present total of 732, bringing together representatives of over 100 different political parties from across a continent. The following week, on 18 June, the 25 governments agreed on a new Constitution for Europe. Assuming the Constitution is ratified, the EP’s legislative and budgetary powers will be further reinforced, with, in particular, ‘codecision’, by which Parliament and Council must agree on laws on the basis of a Commission proposal, being further extended and becoming the ‘ordinary legislative procedure’ for European laws affecting some half a billion people. Little more one month later, the Parliament’s powers regarding appointments began to be demonstrated. On 22 July, the European Parliament exercised its right to approve the person nominated by Council as next Commission President, José Manuel Barroso. In September and October it held hearings for the proposed members of the Commission. Indeed, this role received a very high degree of public attention. In the face of widespread opposition within the Parliament, in particular to the candidate proposed as Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security – the Italian nominee, Rocco Buttiglione – Mr Barroso did not at first alter the composition of the proposed College. In the end, however, he decided to ask for a postponement of the Parliament’s planned vote of approval on 27 October. The new Commission could thus not take office on 1 November. Abstract The European Parliament which was elected in June 2004 consists of 732 members representing 163 political parties from 25 countries. This ever larger chamber is being called upon to play an ever stronger role in the EU political system. Will this unprecedented enlargement affect the Parliament’s ability to live up to these political expectations? So far, its political balance has not been radically altered and the overall increase in numbers seems to have been digested without too much difficulty, although questions remain as to the impact of all the new languages on the EP’s working methods, especially after further enlargements. On the other hand the turnout at the 2004 elections reflected the continuing weakness of popular interest in the Parliament, especially in the new Member States. In preparation for the 2009 elections, new efforts will have to be made to bridge this gap not just by the Parliament showing that it can make good use of its new powers but also, where possible, by strengthening multi-level political parties and inter-parliamentary relations, as well as by increasing public understanding of the role of the European Parliament. The European Parliament