Role of national parliaments in a changing European Union

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This project seeks to address how accountability can be improved in EU politics, and in particular how national parliaments can play a more prominent role in European policy-making. David Cameron has made this issue one of his main proposals in negotiations over Britain's continued membership of the European Union. Today, European societies are affected by decisions adopted by the EU institutions in almost every sphere of economic and political life. Yet, the economic and political crises that have unfolded since 2007-8 have uncovered great problems with how the Eurozone - and the EU more broadly - is governed. The crises have also demonstrated that something is changing in the relationship between citizens, parliaments and their executives. A recurring criticism that has intensified during these past years is that policies agreed in Brussels are too distant from the electorates, as citizens feel they have few possibilities for influencing the political agenda and direction of the Union. Such perceptions have great implications for the legitimacy and efficiency of the EU as well as national political systems, both in the short- and longer run. In the UK, as elsewhere, many voters have demonstrated their apathy by either turning towards political parties at the extremes, or by exiting from political engagement altogether.The central objective of this project is hence to address how the 'political chain of delegation' is changing in Europe; from citizens to national parliaments and governments, to policies adopted by nationally elected representatives in the EU institutions. With a particular focus on the UK, it seeks to address how citizens and national parliaments can hold their governments and representatives to account, and how a number of accountability measures affect political processes and public perceptions. The activities carried out during the Fellowship will come at a crucial time for the UK and for the EU more broadly. The Prime Minister has promised an 'In/Out' referendum on Britain's continued membership of the Union at a time when existential dilemmas regarding governance of the EU and Eurozone area must be addressed. Steps must also be taken to solve the geopolitical and humanitarian challenges in South- and South-Eastern Europe. The Fellowship will hence see it as its primary task to bridge academic analyses and evidence with the political reality that EU and UK decision-makers will be met with in the run-up to a British referendum and beyond. The Fellowship will result in a number of concrete outputs including a series of publications, public events and roundtables with politicians, officials and senior experts in the field. The Fellowship will in its analyses draw on a number of existing studies, including the applicant's own research and previous publications. Based on these insights, the candidate will be able to act as an academic expert adviser to policy practitioners in the UK and Brussels at a time where negotiations between the UK government and its European partners will enter into a crucial phase ahead of the UK referendum. Importantly, the Fellowship will also seek to inform and contribute to the public debate through public events, opinion pieces and analyses in the popular media. UK voters must be informed about the consequences for their democracy when they cast their vote in the EU referendum.