Suchergebnisse

This article analyses how the administrative-bureaucratic or staff support structures available to Members of the European Parliament (Secretariat officials, political group advisors and parliamentary assistants) changed in response to the formal development of the European Parliament into a legislature or parliamentarisation. Providing a temporal perspective, the aim is to explain bureaucratisation (as the processes whereby non-elected officials carry out elected representatives' duties and tasks) as it presents in the EP today. Based on interviews and other data, findings show that while changes to administrative-bureaucratic structures have not always been timely to EP's parliamentarisation, they strengthened the EP's administrative capacity incrementally. Arguing that administrative and political structures develop differently at given moments and infringe upon another, the article discusses the consequences of staff support for democracy. The analysis shows that the diversity of administrative structures is a source for maintaining democratic control in parliament and limiting bureaucratisation.

This article explores supranational activism on the example of bureaucratic growth in the institutions of the EU - operationalised as the number of staff members. The main question is to what extent are the numbers of staff employed in the EU institutions and bodies dependent on member states and their decisions to increase the functions of the EU through either treaty changes or the ratifications of accession treaties. To answer this question, two hypotheses are tested based on time-series data collected from the EC/EU annual budgets (1959-2016). The first hypothesis predicts an incremental growth of staff in EU institutions and bodies. The second hypothesis tests whether member states decisions to reform treaties and ratify accession treaties affect the number of staff members in EU institutions and bodies. Results show that the growth of EU staff has not been gradual and that decisions which are under the control of member states partially impact the growth of EU staff. Decisions and willingness of member states as well as EU institutions are needed to affect the number of staff members in the EU.

Abstract: "The article scrutinises the behaviour of the personal staff of MEPs, using newly collected survey data. The personal staff known as accredited parliamentary assistants (APAs) have long been in the shadow of staff in parliamentary groups and staff in the European Parliament's (EP) central Secretariat. In the 2010s, MEPs' allowance for personal staff increased and a statute for APAs was adopted. Against the background of these reforms, this article hypothesises that APAs are a frequent source of assistance for MEPs in comparison to the other EP staff. It assumes that the significance of APAs' involvement depends on their characteristics as direct employees of MEPs. Results show that APAs frequently assist MEPs in activities relevant for the internal life of the EP, but that they are less frequently involved in inter-institutional relations. The article shows that MEPs seek support which is political, but also that is tailored towards them personally." (Seite 295)

This article explores supranational activism on the example of bureaucratic growth in the institutions of the EU - operationalised as the number of staff members. The main question is to what extent are the numbers of staff employed in the EU institutions and bodies dependent on member states and their decisions to increase the functions of the EU through either treaty changes or the ratifications of accession treaties. To answer this question, two hypotheses are tested based on time-series data collected from the EC/EU annual budgets (1959-2016). The first hypothesis predicts an incremental growth of staff in EU institutions and bodies. The second hypothesis tests whether member states decisions to reform treaties and ratify accession treaties affect the number of staff members in EU institutions and bodies. Results show that the growth of EU staff has not been gradual and that decisions which are under the control of member states partially impact the growth of EU staff. Decisions and willingness of member states as well as EU institutions are needed to affect the number of staff members in the EU.

The dissertation 'An Analysis of Legislative Assistance in the EP' treats the problem of unelected parliamentary officials, which assist the elected members in the EP. The main research question is how does the organisational form of legislative assistance affect the functioning of the EP. The dissertation contributes to a new area of research in legislative studies on the relationship between technocracy and democracy. To gain an insight into the research question, the dissertation is concerned with the institutional design of legislative assistance in two different ways. First, the research project explains the form of legislative assistance in the EP between 1952 and 2013. Second, the dissertation investigates the behavioural consequences (i.e. staff's frequency of involvement in assistance) of the administrative form in the seventh term (2009-2014). Following these aims, the dissertation is divided into two empirical parts. The qualitative part explains the form of legislative assistance in the EP based on new-institutionalists approaches to organisational design and qualitative methods (content analysis of interview and secondary data). The quantitative part investigates how the form of legislative assistance affects the behaviour of staff based on organisation theory and quantitative methods (PCA/regression). A comparison with the national legislatures reveals that in most aspects the organisation of legislative assistance in the EP resembles the one in state-parliaments, while other aspects are exclusive to the EP. State-parliament characteristics were adopted already in the 1950s due to functional-ideational considerations. Changes were more dynamic in the 1960s/1970s compared to the 1980s/1990s. Until the 1980s, the administrative structures of the EP were responding to political events. Organisational structures significantly determine the frequency staff assist MEPs. To sum up, while the behaviour of staff is conditioned by the organisation of legislative assistance, the organisation itself is conditioned by the historical institutional environment and functional considerations of the EP.

Parliamentarians receive public funding to employ local staff in the constituency. Local staff help members of parliament to execute their representative duties, but can also become an electoral asset. Drawing on theories of personal vote-seeking we study local staff as an example of constituency service. Modelling within-individual changes in local staff size among 1174 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), we find that the number of local staff increases before both European and national elections, and more so in candidate-centred than party-centred systems. Despite a single European Parliament (EP) staff system, EU citizens are represented differently depending on where they elect their members and the electoral system that applies. Attempts to mend the EU's democratic deficit by strengthening MEPs' contacts with citizens through local staff potentially means that European public money is used to fund EP incumbents' electoral campaigns. We discuss the implications of our findings for the democratic functioning of the European multi-level system.

This research paper investigates citizens' perceptions and attitudes to EU Cohesion policy, its impact and the relationship with European identity. Discussions with 240 participants in 47 focus groups organised in 16 regions showed that the citizens of the EU have an implicit and cursory knowledge of Cohesion policy. Citizens recognise the importance of Cohesion policy for addressing regional disparities and improving the quality of life, but feel they are inadequately informed. Citizens want to have more say on how funds are allocated or governed in their area and expect the responsible authorities to improve their communication on Cohesion policy. Although many positive views were expressed about the impact of Cohesion policy on the region or city's development, only a small number of participants considered that Cohesion policy has had a direct impact on their feeling of European identity. Furthermore, Cohesion policy can also have negative effects on European attitudes and identity if it is not perceived to be addressing local needs. ; COHESIFY Research paper 13. COHESIFY WP5 -- Task 5.4