Download full text
(external source)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v11i4.7326
Exports for your reference manager
Crisis Learning or Reform Backlog? The European Parliament’s Treaty‐Change Proposals During the Polycrisis
[journal article]
Abstract In May 2022, the European Parliament (EP) launched a procedure to amend the EU treaties and began drafting a report with concrete reform proposals. In their resolution, EP members explicitly described this as a necessary response to recent crises (notably the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the ... view more
In May 2022, the European Parliament (EP) launched a procedure to amend the EU treaties and began drafting a report with concrete reform proposals. In their resolution, EP members explicitly described this as a necessary response to recent crises (notably the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic, and climate change) as well as a follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe. However, the stated objectives of the reform, in particular more efficient and democratic EU decision-making, were not new but followed long-standing discourses on deepening EU integration. This raises the question of to what degree the EP's initiative really reflected a lesson from recent crises - in line with a "failing forward" approach towards EU reform - or rather a "backlog" of reforms which had already been proposed before but whose implementation had been blocked by member states, and for which the crises only represented a window of opportunity. The article assesses the development of treaty change proposals by the EP and bodies close to it, comparing three comprehensive plans for institutional reform: the federalist Spinelli Group's Fundamental Law for the EU (2013), the EP's Verhofstadt Report (2017), and the EP's latest Article 48 Report (2023). The comparison shows that, while the crises had an impact on the level of ambition in some policy areas, the EP's general approach, especially on institutional issues, was characterised by a high degree of continuity.... view less
Keywords
EU; European Parliament; treaty; reform
Classification
European Politics
Free Keywords
EU treaty reform; crisis learning; institutional reform; polycrisis
Document language
English
Publication Year
2023
Page/Pages
p. 311-323
Journal
Politics and Governance, 11 (2023) 4
Issue topic
Governing the EU Polycrisis: Institutional Change After the Pandemic and the War in Ukraine
ISSN
2183-2463
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed