Parliament and Europe: Rhetorical and Conceptual Studies on Their Contemporary Connections

Abstract

This is a clever short book ideally suited for European studies. ‘Parliament and Europe’ – the first part of the theoretically based full title of the book describes its purpose well. This volume approaches multiple interconnections between the meanings of Europe and parliamentarism in 10 separate chapters from the perspective of several disciplines including political theory, linguistics and history. There are 11 contributors. One may ask: why a book on Europe by Finns, Germans, French, Swedes, Austrians, Italians and Canadians? How is a conceptual history of Europe and parliament best authored by scholars from this variety of backgrounds? The answer to that question is not given, but it needs not to be administered because the book presents an original idea. The premise of this book originates from the element that both parliament and Europe are concepts that are geographically and materially actualized, but are not complete. The European Union like the idea of parliament is a work in progress. Europe, parliament and the EU are initiatives and processes which are meant to be discussed. Their purpose lies within the process of debate – not in completion. These topics cannot be best discussed in chronological order. They are best described through carefully argued and particularly chosen case studies such as this book contributes. These include a narrative on the election manifestoes and campaigns of the Austrian social democrats (SPÖ), the conservatives (ÖVP) and the greens (Die Grünen) for the June 2009 European Parliament elections and the examination of the European Union as ‘sui generis’, an institutional framework where continued change of system is an inherent part of the political practice. Three of the 10 chapters refer to the writings and concepts of the political and legal thinkers Montesquieu, Rousseau and Locke (chapters 5, 7 and 9), who between 1690 and 1762 defined democracy. Two chapters look back even further, citing the political concepts of Aristotle (384 BC) and pointing to political behavior defined by Machiavelli (1469), later modified by Kant (1724) and Nietzsche (1844). The book connects the history of democratic political concepts to the thinking of contemporary fathers of the EU Jean Monnet and Ralf Dahrendorf (chapters 5 and 6). According to Dahrendorf’s ‘Plea for the European Union’, the EU should be perceived as a significant and central institutional experiment of the modern age. This volume is complete with the case studies compiled here. The distinction of this volume indeed lies in its approach that successfully combines chapters analyzing present day topics such as ‘the Role of the European Parliament in the EU’s Political Order’ by Teija Tiilikainen with Kari Palonen’s discussion of obstruction by Irish Parliamentarians in late 1880s Westminster. Tiilikainen examines the incomplete construction of a European executive branch with a view to the Lisbon Treaty. According to the Treaty (TFEU), the EP’s assent is necessary for ‘the accession of new members, association agreements creating reciprocial rights or obligations and other agreements which establish a specific institutional framework or create budget implications for the Union’ (p. 34). Yet, the EP is not empowered to make any amendments to the treaties which require its assent. Tiilikainen finds that the EP is currently better adapted to its inter-institutional setting than a strictly political one. It is a working parliament rather than a debating one. Perspectives on European Politics and Society Vol. 13, No. 4, 513–516, December 2012