The Europeanization of National Parliamentary Administrations: Convergence or Divergence?

Abstract

In light of the low participation in the elections to the European Parliament and the remaining limits on the powers of this institution, EU affairs scrutiny by national parliaments is increasingly regarded as an additional source of legitimacy for the EU. However, as national parliaments take centre stage in the debate about the need to enhance the democratic legitimacy of EU decision-making, it becomes ever more important to ask questions not only about the relationship between parliaments, on the one hand, and national governments and the EU institutions, on the other, but also to illuminate the internal processes within national parliaments and the horizontal networking among them.