Roll-call Votes in the European Parliament

Abstract

The text analyses the conditions for the use of the roll-call votes (RCV) in theEuropean Parliament in the context of the democratic accountability to thevoters. The research is focused on examining the rules of procedure of thisinstitution from its beginning to the present. The goal of the text is toanalyse the formal setting of the rules of RCV. The procedures concerningRCV have been completely in the hands of deputies. The historical analysistherefore endeavours to reveal whether the deputies decided to act in away that would grant the greatest possible level of transparency and thuscontrol to their voters, or whether the step taken in 2009 is only a historicalexception. In the conclusion, the authors come to the result that the MEPsdid not strengthen the relations between the voters and the MEPssignificantly, although in 2009 and 2014, certain changes were made in thisrespect.