ÖZP 2009/2  S.193-212

Johannes Pollak, Peter Slominski

Between De- and Reparliamentarization - the Role of the Austrian Parliament in EU Affairs

Keywords: Parliament, EU, deparliamentarization, reparliamentarization, deliberative democracy, Austria

The Austrian Parliament enjoys, at least from a formal point of view, significant power to influence the EU policy-making process. However, empirical evidence shows that despite the strengthening of these rights, the involvement of the Austrian parliament in EU politics is rather modest thus confirming the wide-spread "deparliamentarization" thesis. The objective of this article is to challenge this view arguing that it does not suffice to merely focus on formal rights and how they are used in parliamentary practice. Indeed, in the shadow of binding opinions, the working style of the two EU committees of the Austrian parliament is based on a considerable degree of deliberation widely absent of party politics which does not only lead to an increased exchange of information and positions among MPs as well as between MPs and the executive but can also be regarded as a form of reparliamentarization.