Abstract:

Who has power in the European Parliament (EP)? This article examines voting power in the fifth European Parliament (1999-2002) under simple majority and absolute majority rule using the Shapley-Shubik voting index and taking into account (differential) levels of attendance and cohesion among party groups in the EP. We show that the voting power of the groups deviates often quite remarkably from the mere distribution of seats, and that this variation is significantly affected by cohesion and attendance levels. Particularly the largest groups, EPP and PES, benefit while the other groups hardly hold any power to influence voting outcomes, which is especially true for votes taken under absolute majority rule.