ABSTRACT
Most studies of small states focus on the Council of the European Union and the European Council. However, nowadays, the European Parliament is an equal partner in most areas of legislation and plays an increasing role in non-legislative policy areas. In addition, the number of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sent by each state is degressively proportional. Yet, due to a lack of studies, we know almost nothing about the impact of the size of the member state on the work of MEPs. This chapter aims to address the gap through a series of qualitative interviews with MEPs from the two smallest member states, Luxembourg and Malta, on the challenges and side effects of being a small-state MEP. It finds that MEPs from small states depend more on cooperation, tend to cover more committees and are pushed towards a more generalist stance. At the same time, a disproportional number of Maltese and Luxembourgish MEPs is ranked among the most powerful MEPs, which suggests that this broad engagement may help them overcome the challenge that sizes pose in the competition for posts in the EP.
