| Abstract [eng] |
The Voting of European Parliament Members: National Interest versus EP Party Line The European Parliament has gained more legitimacy power after Lisbon treaty in 2009. However, there is still too little known how EP members are distributing their votes. Do they vote according to the EP party line or national interest? This paper attempts to look at the MEPs voting related to foreign policy issues that are identified as one of the most sensitive to reach a general consensus. This research focuses on MEPs roll call results related to EU neighborhood and EU - Russia partnership issues from 2014 to 2015 followed the annexation of the Crimea. This work aims to determine regional dimension between MEPs (geo) political preferences related to EU Eastern Partnership and relation to Russia voting’s. This master thesis tests two hypotheses: 1) The voting, following the EP group's position, often characterized by MEPs from those countries where there is no clear commitment to Russia. 2) The voting in accordance with the national positions often characterized by MEPs from those countries where there is a clear (relatively favorable / critical) position towards Russia. These hypotheses are tested by using roll calls and EU countries position towards Russia index which was updated in this work following the research of S. Braghiroli ir C. Carta. The results partly proved the tested hypotheses. The roll calls confirmed the first hypothesis, that voting, following the EP group's position, often characterized by MEPs from those countries where there is no clear commitment to Russia. Such voting is often characterized by MEPs from the West - Central European countries. The second hypothesis is partly proved. The voting in accordance with the national positions often characterized by MEPs from those countries where there is a clear critical position towards Russia (mostly from Poland, Baltic countries). However, the results haven’t confirmed that this hypothesis applies as well to MEPs from relatively favorable countries towards Russia. It was find out, that MEP from these countries are tend to abstain more while voting for favorable questions to Russia. This shows another tendency to find a compromise between national and EP party line. Recommendations for the future research. In order to find out more details related to MEPs voting trends, the future research should involve a longer period roll calls. The research methodology could be enhanced by including details of MEPs voting “abstentions“. Also, the future research could emphasize the “rebels“ in EP parties when expressing "softer" disapproval from general party political line by abstaining from the voting. |
