Resumen de The European Parliament’s oversight powers in economic governance: proper scrutiny or a play to the gallery?

Maja Kluger Dionigi

• The European Parliament (EP) was instrumental in acquiring new oversight powers in EU legislation addressing the European debt crisis, such as the economic dialogue. We know little about how Members of the EP (MEPs) use these powers in practice. In this paper, I systematically analyse the practical application of the economic dialogue by focusing on the factors that drive MEPs’ engagement and diligence in the dialogue. Using original data on MEPs’ activity and type of questions asked, I focus on the economic dialogue with EU governments between 2012 and 2016. I show that MEPs are most active when their own government is under scrutiny and MEPs hold key institutional roles. Parliamentary questions are, however, often patchy and unfocused. Only few MEPs ask questions that go to the heart of the economic situation facing the country under scrutiny.