A Parliament for the People? – The European Parliament’s Activism in the Area of Social Policy From the Early 1970s to the Single European Act

The formal powers of the European Parliament (EP) prior to the Single European Act (SEA, 1986) were marginal. However, this limited formal role did not correspond to the perception of the early Members of the EP (MEPs) as to what role the EP should play in Community policy-making. Predominantly driven by pro-integrationist ideas of ever-closer union - and of an ever-stronger Parliament - MEPs became activists for deeper political as well as institutional integration from the institution’s beginnings in the 1950s. This article studies the EP’s emerging legislative influence through the lens of Community social policy, a policy area with a particularly strong ideational dimension. Perceiving a lack of public support for and identification with the Community project, MEPs invested considerable time and effort prior to the SEA into attempts of creating a broad Community social policy. In so doing, the delegates hoped to convince the member states’ citizens of the added value of closer European integration whilst simultaneously enhancing their own institution’s position. Based on an extensive collection of EP archival documents, this article contributes to a deeper understanding of the EP’s gradual empowerment at a time when the Treaties foresaw little more than a consultative assembly.