Dr Richard Whitaker from the Department of Politics and International Relations has just published The European Parliament’s Committees: National Party Influence and Legislative Empowerment, in which he examines the subject in the light of the increased legislative role of the European Parliament over the last three decades.

He shows how the Parliament’s greater legislative powers provide increased incentives for national political parties to care about what their MEPs are up to. Dr Whitaker found that MEPs see the committee system as a vehicle for achieving their own aims including acting on behalf of constituents – through committees covering agriculture or regional policies – and making policy on salient issues, such as the environment.

For national political parties, according to Dr Whitaker:

While voters may not have reacted to the growth in the EP’s powers by turning out in greater numbers at Euro-elections, national political parties and MEPs have responded in ways that help them further their policy aims.

• University Press Release