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Sandro Guerrieri
In this article, Sandro Guerrieri argues the case for studying the emergence of the European Parliament from the historical perspective, now made more feasible by the growing availability of the European Union's own archives at Florence. He suggests that, so far, most analysis of the development of the Parliament has been undertaken by lawyers and political scientists. A historical approach is particularly important, because the European Union does not exactly fit the normal institutional classifications, it is not an interstate association, nor a developed federal state, but combines elements of both. It follows that the European Parliament has developed in ways which partly replicate the development of parliaments in national sovereign or federal states, but is also adapted to the unique political structures of the European Union. The article then traces the path of development from the original Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community, made up of members nominated by the national parliaments to act as a monitor of the work of the High Authority. From its inception, this Assembly began to press for the organization and authority of a parliament. From then on the Assembly and its successor institutions, which in 1962 finally secured the official title of the European Parliament, has steadily enlarged its powers. The article suggests that while the Parliament can be expected to develop many features that have characterized Europe's national parliaments, it will diverge from them because historically it is a pioneering experiment in supranational parliamentarianism.
