Roll-call Votes in the European Parliament
Abstract
The text analyses the conditions for the use of the roll-call votes (RCV) in the
European Parliament in the context of the democratic accountability to the
voters. The research is focused on examining the rules of procedure of this
institution from its beginning to the present. The goal of the text is to
analyse the formal setting of the rules of RCV. The procedures concerning
RCV have been completely in the hands of deputies. The historical analysis
therefore endeavours to reveal whether the deputies decided to act in a
way that would grant the greatest possible level of transparency and thus
control to their voters, or whether the step taken in 2009 is only a historical
exception. In the conclusion, the authors come to the result that the MEPs
did not strengthen the relations between the voters and the MEPs
significantly, although in 2009 and 2014, certain changes were made in this
respect.
Keywords
European Parliament, roll-call votes, rule of procedure, MEP
Author Biography
Ondřej Mocek
Born 1987, he is a PhD candidate in the field of European Studies at the
Department of International Relations and European Studies of the Faculty
of Social Studies, Masaryk University. Since 2013, he has worked as a
researcher at the International Institute of Political Science at Masaryk
University. In his research he deals with EU institutions, especially the
European Parliament, its functioning as a whole, the behavior of individual
MEPs of this institution, the connections of the Czech MEPs with domestic
political parties, and elections to this body.
Markéta Pitrová
Born in 1973, she is an Associate Professor at the Department of
International Relations and European Studies of the Faculty of Social
Studies at Masaryk University and an expert on European integration. She
specializes in the political development of the EU, and its institutional issues
and constitutional development. She is the author, co-author and/or editor
of a series of monographs, studies and articles, a research grant
beneficiary, a member of the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Social
Studies at Masaryk University and a member of the editorial board of the
magazine International Relations (Mezinárodní politika). Since 2012, she holds
the title of Jean Monnet Chair.