Domestic Elections and Distributional Bargaining in the European Union

Abstract

This paper analyzes electoral cycles in distributional bargaining in the European Union. I argue that governments attempt to increase their EU membership benefits above average levels in the pre-election period hoping to appear politically competent to their voters. The theory discusses when and how EU members can increase these gains before elections through negotiations in the Council of Ministers. A time-series cross sectional analysis of EU member states' annual budget negotiations from 1977-2006 supports the existence of electoral cycles in distributional bargaining and generally points to the importance of accounting for such cycles when analyzing patterns of international cooperation.