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Time to Decide: The effect of early agreements on legislative duration in the EU

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  • Toshkov, Dimiter and Anne Rasmussen

Abstract

The increased use of early agreements in the EU co-decision procedure raises the concern that intra and inter-institutional political debate is sacrificed for the sake of efficiency. We investigate the effect of early agreements (trilogues) on the time it takes for legislation to be negotiated during the first reading of co-decision. We find that the first reading negotiations of trilogues on salient legislation take longer than first readings of similar files reconciled at second and third reading. First readings of early agreements also appear to last longer when considering all co-decision files submitted to the 5th and 6th European Parliaments, but the effect is masked by a general increase in first reading duration after 2004. We conclude that even if early agreements restrict access of certain actors to decision making, they allow for more time for substantive debate at the first reading stage than similar files reconciled later in the legislative process.

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  • Toshkov, Dimiter and Anne Rasmussen, 2012. "Time to Decide: The effect of early agreements on legislative duration in the EU," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:erp:eiopxx:p0224
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. König, Thomas & Lindberg, Bjorn & Lechner, Sandra & Pohlmeier, Winfried, 2007. "Bicameral Conflict Resolution in the European Union: An Empirical Analysis of Conciliation Committee Bargains," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(2), pages 281-312, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Heike Klüver & Iñaki Sagarzazu, 2013. "Ideological congruency and decision-making speed: The effect of partisanship across European Union institutions," European Union Politics, , vol. 14(3), pages 388-407, September.
    2. Desmond Dinan, 2013. "EU Governance and Institutions: Stresses Above and Below the Waterline," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51, pages 89-102, September.
    3. James P Cross & AustÄ— VaznonytÄ—, 2020. "Can we do what we say we will do? Issue salience, government effectiveness, and the legislative efficiency of Council Presidencies," European Union Politics, , vol. 21(4), pages 657-679, December.
    4. Anne Rasmussen & Dimiter Toshkov, 2013. "The effect of stakeholder involvement on legislative duration: Consultation of external actors and legislative duration in the European Union," European Union Politics, , vol. 14(3), pages 366-387, September.
    5. Vibeke Wøien Hansen, 2014. "Incomplete information and bargaining in the EU: An explanation of first-reading non-agreements," European Union Politics, , vol. 15(4), pages 472-495, December.
    6. Bernard Steunenberg, 2022. "How Implementation Affects Revision: EU Decision‐Making on Changing the Posting of Workers Directive," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 562-579, May.
    7. Jørgen Bølstad & James P. Cross, 2016. "Not all Treaties are Created Equal: The Effects of Treaty Changes on Legislative Efficiency in the EU," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 793-808, July.
    8. Gijs Jan Brandsma, 2015. "Co-decision after Lisbon: The politics of informal trilogues in European Union lawmaking," European Union Politics, , vol. 16(2), pages 300-319, June.
    9. Mühlböck, Monika and Berthold Rittberger, 2015. "The Council, the European Parliament, and the paradox of inter-institutional cooperation," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 19, January.

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