SENIORITY CORRELATES WITH INFLUENCE IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

From 1 thru 3 July 2014 will take place the Constitutive plenary session of the new European Parliament (EP). Expected appointments of President, Vice-Presidents, Quaestors and compositio of Committees.

From 7 thru 10 July 2014: Election of the EP Committee Chairs and Vice-Chairs

From 14 thru 17 July: EP Plenary session- expected election of the President of the European Commission (Mr. Juncker)

In the European Parliament the most experienced MEPs i.e. those that have carried out several mandates obtain the main posts of responsibility (Chair of influential committees e.g. Economic Committee or posts of Coordinator especially within the largest groups e.g. EPP and S&D). MEP seniority is operationalized in two ways: number of years that the MEP has served in the EP. The second measure of seniority is  whether the member served on a particular committee in the previous Parliament.

Even if the new MEPs are briefed by their parties, political groups or national authorities, or even if they are fine observers of the European parliamentary life, except in rare cases they won’t be considered as recognized personalities within the Parliament and have an important personal influence upon their arrival.

Differences in longevity of European MEPs can have variable consequences on the influence they can have within Parliament. There is a correlation between seniority and the capacity to obtain the chairmanship of the most influential committees e.g. Budget, Economic and Monetary Affairs, Environment, Industry, Research and Energy, Internal Market, Transport.  

Post of Coordinator : In the last legislature nearly 2/3 of MEPs appointed as Coordinators had carried out two mandates or more. 85% for PPE coordinators and 77% for S&D Coordinators.

Chair of Committee : In the last legislature 1 out of 2 Chair was carrying out his/her first mandate in the Parliament

Rapporteur : In the last legislature 53% of the designated Rapporteurs had carried out two mandates or more.

Bottom line: The 2014 MEP should be competent, recognized, bilingual, influential and display a conscientious commitment. Technical competency is essential as well as knowledge of foreign languages