The European Parliament’s role in Closer EU Integration

Citation

Maxwell, D.E. (2000), "The European Parliament’s role in Closer EU Integration", European Business Review, Vol. 12 No. 5, pp. 284-288. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.2000.12.5.284.2

Many would be daunted by the task Richard Corbett has set himself. His book on the European Parliament’s role spans a period of over 20 years, reflecting a period of enormous change as the fledgling nominated Assembly developed into a directly elected body seeking to spread its legislative wings.

The author acknowledges the role played by his doctoral thesis in forming the substance of the book. This has clearly been adapted and abridged to make the work readily comprehensible to a wider audience which might wish to understand the “how” and “why” of the European Parliament’s role within the European Institutions and speculate further on its future influence.

Richard Corbett has imposed a clear structure on a complex scene. Chapter titles are self‐explanatory and references supplied with succinct footnotes. The reader may choose to absorb the history in chronological order or “dip in” to savour areas of particular interest such as “The IGCs on EMU and on political union” or “Making the most of Maastricht”.

The opening chapter, entitled “Theoretical approaches” examines the hindsight, the diverse scholarly approaches – intergovernmentalism, interdependence theory, neofunctionalism, federalism and constituent federalism, which have sought to describe the dynamic process of European integration. Each has a part to play in interpreting the unfolding of European Parliament history, though judged singly each might provide a biased perspective. The interaction between development of policies and political networks and the bargaining processes inherent in each Inter Governmental Conference is clearly charted. Richard Corbett believes the Parliament has stimulated further European integration but may find itself more limited in an enlarged union.

The reader owes a debt of gratitude to the author’s diligence. His many years of experience behind the scenes in the European Parliament prior to becoming an MEP are reflected in his unravelling of the complex strands of information. Throughout this work Richard Corbett seeks to enlighten and illuminate the reader’s path rather than obfuscate. The European Parliament is, as he states, “unique as the world’s first transnationally elected Parliament”. An occasional reference in the book casts light on the privileged position Corbett has played as an active observer in the development process. On page 370 when he clarifies Parliament’s role in the Reflection Group for the Treaty of Amsterdam, he states that the European Parliament was represented by Elisabeth Guigou and Elmar Brok, adding merely “Elisabeth Guigou’s adviser was the author of this book”.

At the close of the book, Richard Corbett has inserted a Postscript on the Treaty of Amsterdam. An illuminating insight is given into the negotiating process and conclusions the author had previously drawn on Parliament’s influence on the germination of the Single European Act and the Treaty of Maastricht are confirmed.

As another Inter Governmental Conference unfolds in 2000, legislators and observers could benefit from studying the processes and conclusions set out in this excellent work.