Parliamentary Administrations in the European Union

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the role of parliamentary administrations in the control of European Union policy-making. It questions whether the decision to give parliaments greater powers in the aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty had only the intended effect of political debate on European policies, or whether it has also resulted in the bureaucratisation of parliaments. The authors argue that the challenges of information-management faced by parliaments lead them to delegate an extensive set of tasks to their administrations.

They offer a broad empirical picture, analysing the challenges faced by national parliaments and the role and response of their administrations in the case of the European Parliament, national parliaments and regional parliaments. In addition, the book studies the interaction between different administrations and their contribution to interparliamentary cooperation. It presents a new and different perspective on the challenges and dynamics of multi-level parliamentarism.

+ Highly topical in light of the recent Lisbon Treaty, it will be the first book to analyse the formalised role of National Parliaments in the EU's decisionmaking process.

+ Fills a gap in the market by bringing into focus the role of parliamentary administrations in supporting parliaments and the delegation of parliamentary business to administrators has largely been overlooked and is essential to understanding the administrative role in the EU policymaking process.

+ Innovative analysis, building on unprecedented empirical data gathered by the OPAL (Observatory of Parliaments after the Lisbon Treaty) and combining them with qualitative analysis to provide comprehensive insights into developments.