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THE DECONCENTRATION OF LEGISLATIVE POWER: THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMITTEES IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT *
Author(s) -
HAGGER MARK,
WING MARTIN
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1979.tb01272.x
Subject(s) - parliament , scrutiny , legislature , public administration , legislative process , legislation , constructive , political science , commission , power (physics) , control (management) , politics , law , process (computing) , economics , management , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , operating system
With a constitutional framework that provides only weak formal powers over the Council and Commission of the European Community, the European Parliament has adopted a constructive focus on policy control through its committee system. In this study, the organisation and powers of the committees are examined in a developmental perspective, and the manner in which they influence the policy process is analysed through a specific study of the Regional Policy and Social Affairs Committees in 1976–1977. This closer analysis uses both subjective and objective data to show: that the process of legislative scrutiny ‐ and to a lesser extent the initiative of legislation – has become a major focus of committee activity, which in turn absorbs most of the energy of MEPs; that control rests in the hands of a small number of committee members; but that party control over most of the institutional processes prevents the development of autonomous and powerful committees on the model of the U.S. Congress [1].