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Explaining the Characteristics and Behaviour of MPs in Europe

Comparative Politics
European Union
Parliaments

Abstract

Why do national members of parliament (MPs) use questions to ministers to ask about European issues, rather than just local or national ones? Questions are one of the most individual, flexible, and public ways that MPs can try to influence what their governments do at the European level. As such, they allow us to look below the level of parliaments and parties to try to understand why individual members of parliament choose to focus on Europe. This is particularly important since our understanding of EU involvement by national parties and parliaments should be rooted in the motivations of individual MPs. Using original web-scraped data on questions, as well as over 170 interviews with MPs, I find that some of the most important factors are party/MP Euroskepticism, public Euroskepticism, status as an opposition member, policy interests, and the availability of other possible tools. (Exploration of some additional factors, including electoral system, is ongoing.) As expected, Euroskeptic MPs, opposition MPs, and those focused on more Europeanized policy areas are more likely to ask about Europe. In countries with higher levels of public euroskepticism, there is an interesting divergence between pro-EU and Euroskeptic MPs. Pro-EU MPs in these countries are the least likely to ask questions about Europe, probably because they do not want to draw attention to the issue. In contrast, Euroskeptic MPs in these countries are the most likely to ask about the EU. However, when there are short term spikes in Euroskepticism, all MPs become more likely to ask about Europe. I also find that questions are used as a substitute for other tools or options for attempting to influence their governments' positions on Europe.