[Press release from VoteWatch, Brussels, 6 May 2014] Members of the European Parliament from the 15 ‘old’ EU Member States have been more active, on average, than their colleagues from the 13 ‘new’ countries, according to a VoteWatch Europe analysis of the 2009-2014 European Parliament term which was published today. In particular they have been more successful in obtaining rapporteurships, enhancing their ability to influence EU legislation.
The research also shows that MEPs from small national delegations are both among the most active and among the least active, whereas MEPs from large national delegations occupy the middle ground. The picture varies somewhat depending on type of activity. It is interesting to note, for instance, the high level of activity by German and UK MEPs when it comes to legislative reports under the co-decision procedure.
On average, Portuguese MEPs drafted the most reports, thanks largely to a procedural quirk which has handed a large number of rapporteurships to Vital Moreira, Chair of the International Trade Committee. MEPs from the Baltic states are at the bottom of the rapporteurs table.
When taking into account only co-decision reports (July 2009-January 2014), and excluding the Portuguese for the above-mentioned reason, German MEPs have the best average, followed by those from Ireland, Luxembourg, the UK, Finland and Sweden (all old EU Member States). At the opposite end are Malta and Lithuania, whose MEPs had not drafted a single co-decision report adopted by plenary by January 2014. (Note: The same conclusion applies to Croatian MEPs too, but one has to keep into account that Croatia only joined the EU in July 2013).
Just as was the case during the 2004-2009 EP term, Austrian MEPs have been the most active participants in roll-call votes in the EP plenary. They are followed by the Slovakian and Luxembourgish Members. At the bottom of this ranking we find the Lithuanian, Greek and Maltese MEPs.
The full study is available for download here.
For more information on all votes on gender equality matters, click here
