ABSTRACT
The European Parliament (EP) is a unique, directly elected supranational legislator occupying a key position in the institutional architecture of the European Union (EU) (Hix et al. 2007; Nedergaard and Jensen 2014). The importance of the institution is apparent in several ways (Jensen et al. 2009: 7-10). The European Parliament is first and foremost a co-equal legislator with the Council, passing legislation in more than 40 policy areas and thereby exerting a significant impact on the daily lives of the more than 500 million citizens living in the EU. Moreover, the European Parliament has received a number of competences regarding the budget of the EU, which it has used strategically as a vehicle to expand its own powers over the years. Last but not least, the institution controls the European Commission using a number of instruments, of which the right to question and approve commissioners before they are inaugurated and to dismiss them en bloc via a vote of no confidence are the most important. This chapter examines the relationship between the Nordic states and the European Parliament. Although the Nordic states have only 46 of the 766 seats in the seventh parliamentary term (2009-14), it is important to study their relationship with the European Parliament because of the significance of the institution, not least when it comes to representing the interests of EU citizens. Comparison will not only be made within the Nordic countries but also, when possible, between them and the rest of the European countries to highlight the extent to which the former are located close to one another. In short: Do the Nordic members of the European Parliament (MEPs) share more in common with each other than with MEPs from other member states? The answer is yes. The relationships between the Nordic member states and the European Parliament are examined with respect to three generic dimensions, which also serve to structure this chapter. First, the link between the citizens and the European Parliament is examined with respect to the different electoral systems and how elections in the three member states have unfolded over the years. Second, the Nordic MEPs are compared on demographic traits such as gender, age, education, occupation and previous political experience. Third, the roles of the Nordic MEPs are studied from an organisational perspective with regard to how many
committees they are sitting on as well as the posts they occupy and whether they vote in line with the party group in which they are sitting.
