POLI 451 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Santer Commission, President Of The European Commission, Supermajority
11 Oct 2014
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Diverse 700 politicians, almost 30 nations, lots of political parties. Goal: gain as much authority/maximize influence vis- -vis the european commission, Negative public perception: ep moves from strasbourg to brussels and back and has smaller office in. Luxembourg (waste of time and resources: credibility damaged by travel allowances for meps, poor attendance of plenary sessions. Size of ep has fluctuated throughout history from 626 members (at eu15 conference) to. Size/digressive proportionality is contentious -> countries with less population have better seat ratios than countries with more pop. (eg malta -> 1 mep to 66,000 citizens vs. Germany constitutional court ruling on treaty of lisbon (2009): eu is not a federation, this undermines their democratic legitimacy and thus they cannot make claims to more power, especially given their current seat distribution scheme. Current seat distribution scheme is not ideal but sustainable as long as it doesn"t seek power increases.
