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PALGRAVE STUDIES IN EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS
SERIES EDITORS:
MICHELLE EGAN · NEILL NUGENT · WILLIAM E. PATERSON
The Parliamentary Roots

of European Social Policy
Turning Talk into Power
Mechthild Roos
Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics
Series Editors
Michelle Egan, American University, Washington, DC, USA
Neill Nugent, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
William E. Paterson, Aston University, Birmingham, UK
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Brigid Laffan (European University Institute, Italy)
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Mark Rhinard (Stockholm University, Sweden)
Ariadna Ripoll Servent (University of Bamberg, Germany)
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Mechthild Roos
The Parliamentary
Roots of European
Social Policy
Turning Talk into Power
Mechthild Roos
University of Augsburg
Augsburg, Germany
ISSN 2662-5873 ISSN 2662-5881 (electronic)

Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics
ISBN 978-3-030-78232-0 ISBN 978-3-030-78233-7 (eBook)
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Acknowledgements
There are people who love reading acknowledgements before diving into
(or even regardless of) a book’s contents. I am one of them. They provide
beautiful evidence that behind every book, there’s an author, and behind
the author(s), there’s a crowd. Even if writing a monograph demands
many, many hours in academic solitude (particularly tangible in times
of a pandemic…), it is a pleasure to see that the published result builds
strongly on a dense network of collaboration, friendship and love.
That is certainly true for this book, which would be much poorer
without the help and support of many people, bodies and organisa-
tions, the most important of whom I would like to mention here. First
and foremost, I would like to express my profoundest gratitude to my
doctoral supervisors—my Doktorvater David Howarth and Anna-Lena
Högenauer at Luxembourg University, and N. Piers Ludlow at the LSE—
under whose guidance this book took shape, and who are all in their
own wonderful ways champions of advice, encouragement and inspira-
tion, plus, over time, friendship, for which I am possibly the most grateful.
I am furthermore very thankful for the advice I received from my exam-
iners Berthold Rittberger, Francis Jacobs and Benoît Majerus (to whom
I am particularly indebted because he showed confidence in my research
and teaching abilities already before I had been granted an opportunity to
prove them—indeed, without whose encouragement I might never have
started a Ph.D. in the first place). I am furthermore very grateful to René
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Leboutte, under whose supervision this research project took off, and who
offered much valuable advice prior to as well as after his retirement.
In the assembly of the archival material on which the analysis of this
book builds, I received great support from various archives and libraries.
Special thanks go to the team of the Historical Archives of the Euro-
pean Parliament in Luxembourg—especially to Alexandra Devantier, for
her patience and all her help with my many requests—and of the Histor-
ical Archives of the European Union in Florence, as well as of the Fonda-
tion Jean Monnet pour l’Europe in Lausanne, where I was granted a Henri
Rieben Scholarship for archival research.
I would not have gained as profound an understanding of internal
processes, procedures and the dominating ideas in the European Parlia-
ment (EP) prior to 1979 without all the information, memories and expe-
riences that former Members of the EP and EP staff shared with me. I am
very grateful to the 26 contemporary witnesses who agreed to answer
questions about their time in the EP,1 and also to the children, assistants
and friends2 of the interviewees who helped with access, translation and
technological implementation of the interviews. These interviews were
conducted with generous financial support from the Institute of Political
Science and the IPSE Doctoral School of the University of Luxembourg,
and through a fieldwork grant from UACES, the association in the area
of European studies most dear to me, where every event—regardless of
its size or theme—feels like coming home.
Friends and colleagues at various academic institutions have greatly
helped me sharpen my arguments, look at my material from different
and new angles and walk the fine line of interdisciplinary research,
starting with the wonderful people at the Institutes of Political Science
and History at the University of Luxembourg, my alma mater. Amelia
Hadfield and her colleagues at the Centre for European Studies, Canter-
bury Christ Church University, allowed me to try out ideas and argu-
ments, and to sharpen my academic research and writing skills as Jean
1 My gratitude goes not only to those 25 who are listed in the annex of Chapter 1
as interviewees, but also to Ep Wieldraijer, who had agreed to speak with me about his
experiences in the EP prior to 1979, but who passed away three days before the scheduled
day for the interview.
2 Special thanks go to Maurizio Travella for his help as a translator during the interview
with Renato Ballardini.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
Monnet Guest Scholar at their centre. During an immensely produc-

tive and pleasant retreat as a Guest Researcher at the Max Planck Insti-
tute for Legal History and Legal Theory in Frankfurt, I could then
polish the manuscript in the most stimulating of settings. I am deeply
grateful to Stefan Vogenauer, Head of the Department of European and
Contemporary Legal History, for this opportunity, and to the great people
in his team—especially to Philip Bajon, Jan-Henrik Meyer and Philipp
Schmitt—for countless inspiring exchanges. Finally, my doctoral research
could be turned into this book thanks to the support and backing of my
dear colleagues at Augsburg University’s Institute of Social Sciences, and
particularly of our team at the Chair in Comparative Politics of Peter A.
Kraus.
Many more deserve to be mentioned here, but I dare not overstretch
the already extended word count of the manuscript (many thanks for the
extension and, more importantly, for all their support and advice in the
publishing process to Ambra Finotello and Geetha Chockalingam from
Palgrave Macmillan). An additional handful of people, however, cannot
remain unnamed: I am greatly indebted to Amie Kreppel for her exper-
tise and feedback on various aspects of this research project; many thanks
also for making available to me a big collection of EP Rules of Proce-
dure. Thanks also to Craig Parsons for our insightful discussion and his
advice on the study of ideas in European integration, and to Koen van
Zon for many inspiring talks about the early EP and the Communities in
the 1950s and 1960s in and around the beautiful Villa Salviati and Badia
Fiesolana during our simultaneous stays there. To Lennaert van Heumen
for discussing and conceptualising the study of informality, and for finding
humour in the more uncomfortable parts of academic life. And finally, to
Mathias Haeussler—who is the co-architect of the single most productive,
inspiring and entertaining virtual office in existence, and whose contribu-
tion to this work goes so much further than his phenomenally constructive
historical and linguistic advice. The exchange in our co-working space has
repeatedly pushed me to aim yet a little higher and go just a little deeper,
and I already look forward to the next 1001 instances of shared academic
joy, despair, bewilderment and amusement.
Finally, my family deserves and has my profoundest gratitude: my
parents and my siblings, who allowed me to grow up believing that I
could reach almost anything with sufficient dedication, and who continue
to show me what such dedication looks like; but, more importantly, who
silently but firmly ensured that the connection between them and their
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
rarely resting no. 3 was never cut, no matter how far the distance, so that
I always knew where to find orientation and rest.
And, most importantly, my personal little European union, consisting
of the little A currently crawling around my legs, and the roughly 2.25
times bigger A who I am grateful beyond words to have at my side.
Not even the most poetic, elaborate, beautiful acknowledgements section
could capture what happiness you instill into my every day.
Contents
1 Introduction: The Parliamentarisation of a Consultative

Assembly 1
1.1 Research Question 2
1.2 The EP Pre-1979: An Understudied Actor
with Noteworthy Influence 4
1.3 Studying the EP’s Institutional Evolution Through
the Lens of Community Social Policy 8
1.4 Collection, Processing and Interpretation of the Source
Material 14
1.5 Structure of the Analysis 19
1.6 Refuting the Image of a Powerless “Talking Shop” 23
A1 Annex: List of Interviews 25
References 27
2 Conceptualising the European Parliament’s Gain
in Power, 1952–1979 35
2.1 Introduction 35
2.2 Historical-Sociological Institutionalist Approach (HSI) 36
2.2.1 What is an Institution? 36
2.2.2 Explaining the EP’s Institutional Development
With Historical Institutionalism (HI) 39
2.2.3 Explaining MEPs’ Behaviour with Sociological
Institutionalism (SI) 49
ix
x CONTENTS
2.2.4 Combining HI and SI in One Hybrid

Theoretical Approach 58
2.3 Conclusion 61
References 62
3 The Institutional Evolution of the European
Parliament Prior to 1979 67
3.1 Introduction 67
3.2 Brief Chronology of the EP’s Institutional Evolution
Prior to 1979 68
3.3 Parliamentary Powers, and How They Were Obtained 76
3.3.1 Power of Control 76
3.3.2 Legislative Power 84
3.3.3 Budgetary Power 90
3.3.4 Power of Initiative 96
3.4 The Impact of MEPs’ Shared Ideas and Socialisation 100
3.4.1 Preparing the Ideational Ground: What
Induced MEPs to Become Engaged in the EP
Prior to 1979? 101
3.4.2 “We Turned It into a Parliament”: The Impact
of Norm Entrepreneurs 105
3.4.3 Parliamentary Powers Through
a Parliamentary Institutional Structure: Party
Groups and Committees 110
3.5 Conclusion 119
References 121
4 Creating a Borderless Europe: The European
Parliament’s Activism in the Pursuit of a Free
Movement of Persons 127
4.1 Introduction 127
4.2 The European Communities’ Social Policy Concerning
the Free Movement of Workers and Their Families 129
4.3 The European Parliament’s Social Policy Concerning
Free Movement Prior to 1979 134
4.4 The Ideological Basis of MEPs’ Behaviour in the Area
of Free Movement Policy 139
4.4.1 Towards Equality of all Community Citizens:
Dominating Policy Ideas in the EP’s Free
Movement Policy 139
CONTENTS xi
4.4.2 Displayed Unity Despite Controversial Debates:

The Impact of Shared Polity Ideas on the EP’s
Free Movement Policy 144
4.5 The Impact of the EP’s Free Movement Policy on Its
Institutional Development 148
4.5.1 From Activism to Alignment: Gradual Change
in the EP’s Free Movement-Related Policy
making 148
4.5.2 The Institutionalisation of the Consultation
Procedure Through Rhetorical Entrapment 154
4.5.3 Inter-Institutional Contacts as a Means
of Empowerment 158
4.6 Conclusion 164
4.7 Annex 165
References 169
5 Emancipating Europe: The European Parliament’s
Involvement in Community Equality Policy 171
5.2 The European Community’s Equality Policy 172
5.3 The European Parliament’s Equality Policy Prior
to 1979 177
5.4 Institutional Factors Shaping the EP’s Equality Policy
making Over Time 182
5.4.1 The Policy-making Framework Shaping the EP’s
Activism on Equality Policy 182
5.4.2 The Impact of Contemporary Events
and Developments on the EP’s Equality Policy 187
5.5 The Ideational Basis of MEPs’ Activism for More
Equality 194
5.5.1 The Shared Policy Idea of Comprehensive
(Work-Related) Equality 194
5.5.2 The Influence of Polity Ideas on the EP’s
Equality Policy 196
5.5.3 Norm Entrepreneurs Shaping the EP’s Equality
Policy 199
5.6 Conclusion 203
References 205
xii CONTENTS
6 Forging Europe’s Next Generations: The European

Parliament’s Children and Youth Policy 207
6.2 Community Social Policy Concerning Children
and Youth 209
6.3 The European Parliament’s Policy Concerning
Children and Youth 213
6.4 Teaching the Next Generation the Values
of Integration: The Ideational Basis of the EP’s
Children and Youth Policy 218
6.5 Formal and Informal Rules Determining EP Activism
Concerning Children and Youth 228
6.5.1 Attempts to Formally Legitimise Activism:
MEPs’ Reference to the Treaty 228
6.5.2 MEPs’ Changing Usage of Policy-making Tools
in Children and Youth Policy 236
6.6 Conclusion 242
References 244
7 Controlling the Purse: How the European Parliament
Shaped Social Policy Through the European Social
Fund 247
7.2 The Establishment of the ESF 248
7.3 The EP’s Gain in Power Through the ESF 251
7.3.1 Gradual Institutional Change in the EP’s
Involvement in the ESF 252
7.3.2 The EP’s Informal Empowerment Through
the ESF 260
7.4 Policy and Polity Ideas Driving MEPs’ ESF-Related
Activism 268
7.4.1 Policy Ideas: The ESF as a Means to Establish
a Community Social Dimension 268
7.4.2 Polity Ideas: The ESF as a Means
of Empowerment 271
7.5 Conclusion 275
References 277
CONTENTS xiii
8 Conclusion: The Making of a Parliament 279

8.2 Main Findings 281
8.2.1 The Impact of Ideas, Norms and Socialisation
on MEPs’ Behaviour 281
8.2.2 Processes of Institutional Change Resulting
in the EP’s Gradual Gain in Power 285
8.2.3 Why Did the Commission and the Council
Accept the EP’s Empowerment? 289
8.2.4 Bringing the Community Project Closer
to the People: The EP’s Impact on the Evolution
of European Social Policy 293
8.3 Added Value of the Hybrid HSI Approach 295
8.4 Outlook 297
References 303
Index 307
Abbreviations
Art. Article
e.g. exempli gratia (for example)
EAGGF European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund
ECB European Central Bank
ECJ European Court of Justice1
ECSC European Coal and Steel Community
ed(s). Editor(s)
EDC European Defence Community
EEC European Economic Community
EP European Parliament
EPC European Political Community
ERDF European Regional Development Fund
ESC European Economic and Social Committee
ESF European Social Fund
et al. et alii (and others)
et seq. / seqq. et sequens (and the following page/s)
Euratom European Atomic Energy Community
HAEU Historical Archives of the European Union (in Florence)
HI Historical Institutionalism
HSI Historical-Sociological Institutionalism
i.a. inter alia (amongst others)
1 This book uses the abbreviation ‘ECJ’, rather than ‘CJEU’ (Court of Justice of
the European Union) as is normally used nowadays, because ECJ was the abbreviation
commonly used during the period under consideration.
xv
xvi ABBREVIATIONS
i.e. id est (that is)

ibid. Ibidem (in the same place/reference)
ILO International Labour Organisation
MEP Member of the European Parliament
OJ Official Journal of the European Communities
p./pp. Page(s)
RCI Rational-Choice Institutionalism
SEA Single European Act
SI Sociological Institutionalism
SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (German Social
Democrat Party)
TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
UN United Nations
WEU Western European Union
List of Figures
Fig. 3.1 Distribution of the duration (in days) of EP mandates

prior to 1979, sorted in quartiles 109
Fig. 4.1 Number of EP documents concerning free movement
per year 149
Fig. 5.1 Number of adopted EP resolutions and reports concerning
equality policy per year 189
Fig. 5.2 Number of parliamentary questions concerning equality
policy per year 190
Fig. 6.1 Percentage of EP documents concerning children
and youth among all EP documents on social policy
consulted for this research 217
children and youth per year 237
Fig. 6.3 Number of parliamentary questions concerning children
and youth per year 240
the ESF per year 254
Fig. 7.2 Number of parliamentary questions concerning the ESF
per year 259
xvii
List of Tables
Table 1.1 Distribution of national background and party-group

affiliation of the interviewed former MEPs 16
Table 1.2 List of interviewees 25
Table 3.1 The evolution of the EP’s formal powers prior to 1979 75
Table 4.1 Community legislation on the free movement of workers
prior to 1979 166
xix
CHAPTER 1
Introduction: The Parliamentarisation

of a Consultative Assembly
Studying the European Parliament’s (EP) history prior to its first direct
elections in 1979 frequently prompts the question: why should anyone
care? Why invest time and effort to study an institution without note-
worthy powers and functions? Indeed, the bulk of academic work on
the EP covers its pre-1979 development on a space ranging from one
sentence to two or three pages. These studies usually point out—right-
fully—that the pre-1979 EP was little more than a consultative assembly
in formal terms, with only one notable power, namely to dismiss the
Communities’ executive (i.e. the High Authority of the European Coal
and Steel Community, and later the Commission of the European
Economic and Atomic Energy Communities). These works mostly take
the two budget treaties of 1970 and 1975, which granted the EP a say
in budgetary matters, and the EP’s first direct elections in 1979 as the
first indicators of the EP’s evolving parliamentary nature, truly achieved
only from the 1980s and 1990s, when the Single European Act (SEA),
the Maastricht and the Amsterdam Treaties granted the EP increasing
legislative powers.
By contrast, this book argues that, long before Parliament’s formal
empowerment, Members of the EP (MEPs) succeeded in cementing the
parliamentary fundaments of their institution through their supranational-
level activism. This activism was facilitated by the growing willingness
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1

Switzerland AG 2021
M. Roos, The Parliamentary Roots of European Social Policy,
Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78233-7_1
2 M. ROOS
of other Community institutions and member state governments to

accept the EP’s involvement, and a range of exogenous developments
such as crises and technological change, providing fertile ground for the
MEPs’ endeavour to empower their institution. This book analyses MEPs’
activism and the EP’s resulting gain in institutional and political power,
suggesting that the EP’s formal empowerment from the late 1970s and
1980s was to some extent the result, rather than the beginning, of institu-
tionalisation processes within the EP leading to increasing parliamentary
influence within the Community political and institutional system.
In its analysis of the EP’s gradual parliamentarisation, this book builds
on the differentiating conceptionalisation of power on the one hand and
influence on the other by Bressanelli and Chelotti (2019). Based on their
definition—which is slightly extended here to cover not only formal, but
also informal processes—power is understood in the following “as a capa-
bility formally [or informally] institutionalised or, in other words, as an
institutional attribute allowing actors to shape outcomes despite external
opposition”.1 Influence, in turn, is defined as the concrete instance “when
power, as an institutional capability, is concretely exercised and put into
practice”.2 The following chapters trace the evolution of such power and
influence in the EP’s early institutional development.
1.1 Research Question

This book analyses the EP’s institutional evolution over the first three
decades of its existence with the aim to answer the main research question:
How did the EP shape social policy, and thereby its own role and powers, in
the European Communities prior to the first direct elections in 1979?
The EP’s gain in power prior to 1979 is analysed with a focus on both
institutional gains—i.e. changes of the rules of the game—and policy
gains—i.e. gains within the existing rules of the game, and more specif-
ically in the area of social policy, as further discussed below. These two
types of power gains can be considered the dependent variables in the
analysis, the development of which is studied by identifying and analysing
1 Bressanelli and Chelotti (2019): 266.

2 Ibid.
1 INTRODUCTION: THE PARLIAMENTARISATION… 3
a variety of institutional, ideational and social factors as well as the larger

contemporary context that influenced MEPs’ behaviour and the EP’s
institutional development. Within the study of power gains, this book
traces both formal and informal changes. It shows which of these gains
became established and contributed thus to the EP’s long-term empow-
erment, and which were merely short-lived gains in impact (rather than
power or influence).
The chapters of this book aim to answer the main research ques-
tion from different angles in a historical-sociological institutionalist (HSI)
analysis, i.e. an analysis applying tools and building on theoretical assump-
tions from both historical institutionalism (HI) and sociological institu-
tionalism (SI), as explained in more detail in Chapter 2. The analysis of
institutionalisation processes and of institutional change in the early EP
on the one hand, and of MEPs’ ideas and the impact of their socialisation
on the other, constitute the two main dimensions of the above-mentioned
research question. They can be formulated in two sub-questions, which
will guide the analysis:
(1) Why, how and with what consequences did MEPs become involved in
Community social policy making?
(2) What institutionalisation processes shaped the EP’s role and powers
prior to 1979?
While contributing from their different angles to the overall analysis,

neither of these two questions suffices in itself to explain the EP’s institu-
tional development prior to 1979. Instead, this book seeks to show that
the EP’s gradual gain in power can only be understood through the study
of different sets of explanatory factors which, in their interplay, resulted
in a significant empowerment of the EP beyond Treaty paragraphs. From
a historical institutionalist point of view, such factors are exogenous and
endogenous events and developments resulting in intended or unintended
processes of institutional change, which in turn led to shifting balances
of formal and informal powers. SI adds to the analysis an ideational,
normative and sociological dimension in focusing on factors such as the
impact of norms, policy- and polity-related ideas and resulting logics of
appropriateness on actors’ behaviour.
Importantly, this book looks at the EP as a body consisting of and
being steered by its individual members, rather than as a unitary actor,
4 M. ROOS
as sub-question 1 indicates. This distinction is crucial insofar as the

early EP’s frequent deviation from Treaty provisions cannot be explained
without examining the changing behaviour of its members, and the
reasons and ideas driving them to act the way they did. If an institution
acts in compliance with formal provisions, it can be assumed that all—or
at least a decisive majority—of its members agree with these provisions to
the extent that they consider it reasonable to follow them. However, if
an institution deviates from formal provisions, the reasons for this devi-
ation, and moreover the reasons why it deviated in one direction and
not in another, need to be sought among its members. Such a devia-
tion suggests that a significant part of these members did not agree with
the formal provisions, and considered another option of behaviour more
profitable or appropriate. Indeed, this study discusses the ideas based on
which MEPs considered a deviation from the Treaties more appropriate
than compliance with the Treaties. The early EP—seen as a product of the
actions of its members—is therefore shown to have been ever-changing
and ever change-seeking prior to 1979 (which it arguably remained also
thereafter).
1.2 The EP Pre-1979: An Understudied

Actor with Noteworthy Influence
In studying the EP’s institutional development prior to 1979, this book
focuses on a period of the EP’s evolution which is still significantly under-
studied, based not least on the misconception that the relatively powerless
position of the EP which the Treaties provided corresponded to the EP’s
actual institutional role in Community policy making. Whereas a growing
corpus of literature examines the EP’s general development as a parlia-
mentary institution,3 and sheds light on some select aspects of its early
3 Such as Héritier et al. (2019); Ripoll Servent (2018); Viola (2016); Mény et al.
(2009); Héritier (2007); Corbett et al. (2003); Kreppel (2002); Costa (2001); Westlake
(1994). For a recent review of the evolving landscape of research on the EP, see Costa
(2019).
history,4 much work remains to be done in explaining the EP’s evolu-

tion, and notably its gain in power beyond Treaty changes and formal
procedures. This applies in particular to the EP’s history prior to 1979.
Those studies that take into account the EP pre-1979 focus predomi-
nantly on the EP’s formal gain in power, notably through Treaty changes,
such as the Treaties of Rome of 1957 and the budget treaties of 1970
and 1975.5 A series of publications furthermore emphasise the impact
of specific events on the EP’s powers and position within the Commu-
nities, such as the negotiations of a European Defence and Political
Community,6 and the Empty Chair crisis 1965/1966.7 In addition,
several authors have analysed specific aspects in the development of the
EP’s institutional structure, namely its committee structure8 and party-
group system,9 as well as various individual party groups10 and national
delegations.11
4 See for instance Krumrey (2018) on symbolic politics in the early EP; Knudsen (2012,
2014) and Cohen (2012) on MEPs’ different mandates and careers at the national and
international level; J.-H. Meyer (2011, 2014) on the EP’s agenda-setting power in envi-
ronmental policy during the 1970s; Rittberger (2005, 2006, 2012, 2014) with Goetze
(2010) and with Lindner (2003) on the EP’s role in the planning of the European
Defence Community and the European Political Community, the EP’s gain in budgetary
power, and its role as provider of legitimacy to Community policy making; Murray (2004)
on the EP’s party groups prior to 1979; Daniel (2015) on the interdependence of the EP’s
institutional development and career paths within the EP; Costa and Magnette (2003) on
ideologies that shaped the EP’s empowerment.
5 See e.g. Viola (2016); Hix and Høyland (2013); Shackleton (2012); Goetze and
Rittberger (2010); Kardasheva (2009); Rittberger (2005); Kreppel (2002).
6 See e.g. Rittberger (2006); Corbett et al. (2003); Costa (2001).
7 See e.g. Krumrey (2018); Lindner and Rittberger (2003).
8 See e.g. Finke (2012); Jensen and Winsen (2011); McElroy (2006); and for contem-
porary analyses (Bieber, 1974; Bubba, 1969; Forsyth, 1964; Hagger & Wing, 1979;
Herman and Lodge, 1978; Reifferscheid, 1966; Schwed, 1978; Stein, 1959).
9 See especially Murray (2004), and also Guerrieri (2015); Raunio (2012); Mittag
(2011); Mény et al. (2009); Hix et al. (2003); Kreppel (2002); Corbett (1998); and for
contemporary analyses Lücker (1978), Fitzmaurice (1975), Forsyth (1964), Schierwater
(1961), Sperling (1961) and Haas (2004[1958]).
10 See e.g. Bardi et al. (2020), Kosowska-Gastoł (2015), Meyer (2011), Fontaine
(2009), & Kaiser and Leucht (2008) on the Christian-Democratic Group; Salm (2011)
and Benhamou (2020) on the Socialist Group; Orsina (2015) on the Liberals and Allies
Group; Jansen (1998) on the Conservative Group; and Brogi (2015), Guerrieri (2008),
Bracke (2007), and Leich (1970) on the Communist Group.
11 See e.g. Knudsen (2012, 2014); Cohen (2012); Guerrieri (2011); Pollack (2009);
D’Ottavio (2007).
6 M. ROOS
The first works which approached the EP’s early development from
a broader angle appeared in the 1990s. Noteworthy in that respect are
in particular the works by Westlake (1994) and Corbett (1998): both
discuss evolving procedures within the EP and inter-institutionalcontacts
at Community level which were gradually formalised, including conces-
sions by the Commission and the Council in the extension of the
consultation and conciliation procedures, and the involvement of the EP
more generally. While both authors point out such formally acknowledged
concessions as established successes, they do not question their respec-
tive application in everyday politics—which this book shows to have been
incomplete in several instances.12 Notwithstanding, these studies offer
some valuable starting points for research on the gradual institutional
development of the EP, notably because they take into consideration
gradual and initially informal changes, the importance of which for the
EP’s evolution is underestimated in the majority of publications covering
the early EP to date. More recent exceptions in that regard are the publi-
cations by Rittberger (2005, 2012, 2014) on the EP’s role as the provider
of legitimacy to Community policymaking, Meyer (2011, 2014) on the
EP’s evolving agenda-setting power in the area of environmental policy
during the 1970s, and Krumrey’s 2018 monograph on the symbolic poli-
tics behind the EP’s gradual parliamentarisation during the 1950s and
early 1960s.
The most comprehensive study of the EP’s gain in power to date is
the recent volume by Ariadna Ripoll Servent (2018), which covers the
EP’s evolution from its creation until today. In her multifaceted analysis,
Ripoll Servent traces the activism of MEPs and embeds it in the respec-
tive institutional and contemporary context, thus offering an in-depth
understanding of emerging formal and informal rules and procedures.
Given that the volume covers the EP’s entire history, Ripoll Servent puts
significantly more weight on recent developments than on the EP’s begin-
nings,13 providing punctual—albeit cutting-edge—insights into the EP’s
early years, rather than a coherent analysis of its institutional beginnings.
12 Héritier (2007) also discusses how the EP managed to negotiate and formalise
informal rules, naming the same examples as Corbett (1998), but she does not analyse
either whether these established rules were in fact implemented and applied on a regular
basis.
13 This is visible already in Chapter 2 of Ripoll Servent’s book, which summarises the
EP’s overall empowerment, and in which three pages cover the EP’s history up to its first
direct elections, whereas the period from 1979 to the present day is covered in 13 pages.
In a similar vein, Héritier et al.’s (2019) volume “European Parliament

Ascendant” constitutes a highly insightful study on different “Parliamen-
tary Strategies of Self-Empowerment”.14 The book examines a range
of examples of such strategies during the entire period from the EP’s
beginnings until today. Yet, the focus of analysis also leans more towards
recent developments than the EP’s early years. Studies like those by Ripoll
Servent and Héritier et al. are nonetheless a crucial basis for this book, in
that they allow the findings of the following analysis to be situated within
the broader context of the EP’s institutional development. Only by taking
into consideration later gains in power can it be established to what extent
procedures which have their roots in the period 1952–1979 developed a
lasting impact on the EP’s institutional evolution.
Another important pillar on which the following analysis builds consists
of contemporary studies from the 1950s to 1970s on the EP. These
publications, many of which are authored by practitioners who worked
in Community institutions during the period under examination, have
to be treated with some caution from an analytical point of view given
their limited timeframe and a certain level of partiality. Nevertheless, they
offer valuable insights in that they lay a focus on very different issues than
more recent studies on the EP, including everyday working procedures,
and personal experiences of informal practices and routines.15
In addition to these different corpora of works focusing directly on
the EP, the following analysis builds on the broad landscape of litera-
ture on other Community institutions. In order to contextualise the early
EP’s gain in power, this book draws on literature concerning notably
those institutions with which the EP frequently interacted, and which
in turn had a decisive influence on the EP’s development—i.e. first and
14 Part of the subtitle of Héritier et al. (2019), which reads in full: “Parliamentary
Strategies of Self-Empowerment in the EU”.
15 See e.g. Coombes (1979); Giraud (1978); Herman & Lodge (1978); Kofoed (1978);
Schwed (1978); Sasse (1976); Medefind (1975); Bieber (1974); Cocks (1973); Bubba
(1969); Duvieusart (1968); Forsyth (1964); Lassalle (1964); Kapteyn (1962); Schierwater
(1961); Stein (1959); Haas (2004 [virtually unchanged reprint of the 1958 edition]).
8 M. ROOS
foremost the Commission and the Council.16 Studies on these institu-

tions help embed MEPs’ activism and the EP’s gradual empowerment
in the evolving Community institutional system. This literature analyses
contemporary circumstances which the following chapters show to have
influenced MEPs’ behaviour, and the success or failure of EP activism.
This literature also helps understand why the Commission and Council
allowed—or accepted at least—that the EP’s gradual empowerment took
shape,17 and what national preferences were at play in the context of
different decisive events in the process of European integration.18
1.3 Studying the EP’s Institutional Evolution

Through the Lens of Community Social Policy
The following analysis seeks to explain the EP’s institutional develop-
ment, as implied in the research questions, through its involvement in
Community social policy. This focus of choice requires further elabora-
tion: in the 1950s, the founding Treaties attributed only few articles to
both the EP and social policy, making one a rather insignificant policy
area and the other a rather insignificant institution at Community level
during the examined period. Yet, the area of social policy is eminently
suited to gain a deeper understanding of how and why the EP gained
significant parliamentary powers prior to its first direct elections, despite
the limited role provided for it by the Treaties. Even though Community
social policy was handled by national governments largely as a byproduct
in the establishment of the Common Market,19 it developed into fertile
ground for MEPs’ activism, providing them with ample opportunities to
develop and institutionalise procedures of parliamentary involvement in
Community policymaking. Indeed, with regard to MEPs’ activism and
resulting institutional practices, this policy area can be seen as to some
extent representative of the Community’s policy spectrum at the time.
The policy-making tools applied by MEPs in order to empower their
16 See i.a. the contributions to Laursen (2014), to Kaiser et al. (2009), to Dinan
(2006), to Palayret et al. (2006), and to Loth (2001); Lewis (2015); van der Harst
(2007); Ludlow (2006a, 2006b); Westlake (1994); Spierenburg and Poidevin (1994).
17 See i.a. Schulz-Forberg and Stråth (2010); König (2008).
18 See i.a. the contributions to Rasmussen and Knudsen (2009) to Gehler (2009); Rye
(2006); Dinan (2004).
19 See i.a. Crespy (2019: 20) et seq.
institution were not area-specific, nor were the parliamentary powers the
delegates pursued. The area of social policy functions here as a magnifying
glass, allowing to trace MEPs’ typical behaviour in a series of concrete
cases within one focus area.
At the same time, social policy provides some unique insights,
particularly when it comes to the analysis of factors driving MEPs in
their supranational-level activism. More specifically, this area offers an
ideational dimension of analysis that no other Community policy area
could provide to the same extent. Namely, MEPs saw in social policy the
potential to directly reach the member states’ citizens with Community
measures, having a palpable impact on the people’s living and working
conditions. This direct connection to the citizens was considered crucial
by the MEPs, as the chapters of this book demonstrate, for mainly two
reasons.
First, the aim to deepen and extend European integration towards
the attainment of European Union, which the majority of MEPs shared,
could in the delegates’ view only be realised based on strong public
support for and on people’s identification with the Community project.
The MEPs hoped to reach such support and identification by demon-
strating to the people how Community social measures could improve
their lives, for instance with regard to their housing and employment
situation, and social-security coverage.
Second, MEPs sought to establish their institution as the representa-
tive of the people, in order to increase its parliamentary character, and
to reinforce their argument before the Council and the Commission
that the involvement of the EP in Community legislation would provide
Community decision-making with more democratic legitimacy. Conse-
quently, MEPs strove for a better social regulation of the citizens’ living
and working conditions, based on contacts with social partners, interest
groups and their constituents, in order to strategically position themselves
as promoting the people’s interests.
The representative character of social policy measures and the fact that
they were used as a potential connection to the Communities’ citizens
thus offer a key to understand the ideas driving MEPs in their activism.
In addition, precisely because social policy was so little regulated and
often at the margins of Community policy making, it constituted a terrific
playground for the kind of MEP activism that left Treaty provisions far
behind. The involvement of the EP in such a vaguely defined area of
10 M. ROOS
limited Community competence therefore allows for a profound anal-

ysis of MEPs’ strategies to reach political aims and to empower their
institution through the broadest possible interpretation of the Treaties.
The area of social policy was integrated more slowly, with more
difficulty and reluctance than a number of other policy areas such as
economic, transport or agricultural policy.20 To some extent, this was
because the—in the majority centre-right—governments of the Six did
not envisage European integration to have a strong socio-political dimen-
sion in the 1950s, assuming that flourishing markets and a peaceful
Europe would contribute in themselves to an improvement of people’s
living and working conditions, as further discussed below. Another reason
lay in the different social systems which had evolved in the six, later
nine member states over the previous century.21 Based on the distinct
national social-security systems and their historical evolution, the member
states had different definitions of social policy, which complicated polit-
ical harmonisation. France, for instance, treated employment policy and
social policy as one area, and in the Anglo-Saxon understanding, educa-
tion policy was an inherent part of social policy, whereas other member
states handled these areas differently.22
Nonetheless, adding a social dimension to the European integra-
tion project was already discussed and to some extent agreed in the
negotiations of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel
Community(ECSC). The underlying idea was not so much the pursuit
of a common social policy. Rather, the national delegations feared nega-
tive reactions from trade unions and the public if not putting a visible
focus on the welfare of those persons who would be concerned by the
new Community project. Moreover, the idea that the ECSC would be
just the beginning of a broader project of political integration, eventually
comprising all policy areas, was shared by a number of delegations around
the negotiation table.23 The introduction of social topics into the Treaty
was hence based on broader strategic considerations rather than concrete
policy-related ambitions.
20 See i.a. Hantrais (2007); Leboutte (2008).

21 See Esping-Andersen (1990); Sapir (2006: 375) et seq.; Majone (1993: 161).
22 See Caire (1992: 10) et seq.
23 See Varsori and Mechi (2007: 225).
In the negotiations of the Treaty establishing the European Economic

Community(EEC), social policy issues were to some extent used in the
pursuit of individual national aims rather than common policy lines.
Rye (2002, 2006) has analysed in detail how the French delegation
in particular prolonged discussions on social harmonisation by making
demands on which the French delegates knew that the other delegations
would have extreme difficulties to reach agreement. Officially just aiming
to prevent the distortion of competition, the French government was
eager to “secure time, protection and approval”24 : the French Parliament
needed to be won over on the Common Market project, and the French
industrial sector was in dire need of modernisation if it was to keep up
with other member state economies. Only once the French government
felt sufficiently secure that these aims could be reached did it agree to sign
the Treaties of Rome; up to that point, the area of social policy provided
a convenient tool to drag on the negotiations.
As a result of these strategic rather than content-related consider-
ations, and of the governments’ general reluctance to codify strictly
socio-political integration, most social policy-related articles in the EEC
Treaty remained relatively vague. Indeed, the Six were not only hesi-
tant to transfer responsibility to Community level, they also did not
see much need to do so, assuming that “steady economic expansion
and the creation of a free trade area and its concomitants would auto-
matically lead to prosperity for all”.25 Consequently, all three founding
Treaties contained specific social provisions merely for a handful of specific
issues, namely where a distortion of competition was feared, or where it
was expected that market failures would need to be corrected.26 That
concerned first and foremost labour migration, so that the articles on the
free movement of workers were among the most detailed social provi-
sions in the Treaties.27 Moreover, Community intervention was provided
for circumstances causing an elevated need for retraining and housing,28
24 Rye (2002: 85).

25 Lodge (1978: 116).
26 See Hantrais (2007: 2) et seq.; Rhodes (2010: 288); Dedman (2010: 85).
27 See Arts. 69 ECSC and 48-51 EEC. Also the Euratom Treaty provided for a
free movement of qualified workers (see Art. 2(g) Euratom), but did not specify the
introduction of their freedom of movement any further.
28 See Arts. 56 and 69 ECSC, 125 EEC.
12 M. ROOS
or wage inequalities.29 In addition, the Treaties granted the Communities

competences in the policy areas of training30 and occupational safety,31
and allowed for social measures concerning specific policy sectors such as
agricultural32 and transport policy.33 In spite of such a relatively broad
portfolio, however, social policy remained at the margins of Community
action and legislation, which is visible not least in the budget shares dedi-
cated to it: in 1975, for instance, only 6.5 per cent of the Community
budget was reserved for allocations in the social area, comparable to the
allocation for the Commission’s administration, which constituted 5 per
cent of the budget.34 Overall, Community social policy focused only upon
those persons who were “full-time members of the indigenous labour
force, or undergoing training or retraining for employment”,35 demon-
strating that social policy provisions were introduced to the Treaties with
the main aim to support economic rather than social integration. The
belief that politics could control the economy—including the application
of social policy measures to achieve full employment—was fundamentally
undermined only with the 1970s crises.36
Crises were indeed important motors for the development of the Euro-
pean social dimension, not least because they allowed MEPs to intensify
their involvement in Community policymaking beyond Treaty restric-
tions. During the period under consideration, the 1950s coal crisis as well
as the economic and financial crisis following the collapse of the Bretton
Woods system in 1971 and the 1973 oil shock had significant impacts
on Community social policy.37 Both periods had dire consequences for
the concerned Community industries, causing unemployment and factory
closures, and forcing numerous workers to retrain and (particularly in
the case of migrant workers) move. Moreover, a number of mine acci-
dents in the 1950s, the gravest of which took place on 8 August 1956 in
29 See Arts. 68 ECSC, 119 EEC.

30 See Arts. 128 EEC, 9 and 215 Euratom.
31 See Arts. 55 ECSC, 118 EEC, 30–34 Euratom.
32 See Art. 39 EEC.
33 See Art. 75 EEC.
34 See Lodge (1978: 116) et seq.
35 Hantrais (2007: 238).
36 See Schulz-Forberg and Stråth (2010).
37 See Leboutte (2008); Cassiers (2006).
the Belgian town of Marcinelle, forced the Communities to reconsider

their social-security policies. In these mine accidents, many Commu-
nity migrant workers were among the victims, making these accidents a
Community issue.38 There were no provisions in the founding Treaties
that enabled or facilitated the member states in collectively tackling events
of such dimensions and the resulting socio-economic conflicts, so that
the Treaty-provided aid mechanisms were insufficient to cope with the
consequences.39 The swift technological development of the 1960s and
1970s had similarly unexpected effects, leading to a change of tasks and
consequently of required qualifications or even the entire abolition of a
number of jobs, notably in the industry sector, and to an increasing shift
of workers to the services sector.40
Such events and developments opened unintended opportunities for
political activism, which allowed actors like the Commission and—as
demonstrated in this book—the EP to push for an extension of the
Communities’ otherwise narrow and vague social policy. Both institutions
strove for the implementation of a broader European social dimension
from the 1950s, the EP even more so than the Commission.41 The MEPs
“always opposed the view that social problems are only incidental to
economic integration”,42 and consequently pushed for Community social
measures beyond investment where economic return could be expected.43
The underlying aim was twofold: on the one hand, most MEPs who
steered the EP’s social policy were genuinely driven by the motivation to
improve the citizens’ living and working conditions, as provided for in
all three founding Treaties,44 not least in order to demonstrate that the
Community project had a palpable positive impact on people’s lives. This
aim was generally shared by the Commission, and from the late 1960s
38 See Leboutte (2008: 640).

39 See Leibfried (1998: 32).
40 See i.a. Kaelble (2007: 58) et seqq.; Sapir (2006: 372); Collins (1975: 201) et seqq.
41 For the Commission’s activism in the area, see i.a. Hantrais (2007).
42 General Secretariat of the European Parliament (1969): The first ten years
1958–1968. Luxembourg: Directorate-General of Parliamentary Documentation and
Information, 91.
43 See interview with Charles McDonald, who named this as one priority of the
EP’s social policy during the 1970s, and particularly of his party group, the Christian
Democrats.
44 See Arts. 2 ECSC, 2 EEC, 1 Euratom.
14 M. ROOS
increasingly also by the member states, allowing the extension of the

Community’s social dimension beyond the narrow limits of the Treaty
articles.45 On the other hand, political activism in the area of social policy
helped MEPs position themselves as representatives of the people, both in
the eyes of the citizens, who should see that “their” delegates fought in
their interest, and in the eyes of the other Community institutions, who
should acknowledge the EP’s function as bridge to the Communities’
population. MEPs thus hoped to gain legitimacy for their institution as a
parliament, and not merely a consultative assembly, so that the delegates
could argue that the EP’s involvement in Community decision-making
helped to democratically legitimise Community action. From this twofold
motivation derived a wide range of EP activism in the area of social policy,
which is analysed in the following chapters.
1.4 Collection, Processing

and Interpretation of the Source Material
This book seeks to fruitfully combine different approaches in its analysis
of the early EP’s role in Community social policy. It does so not only in
its hybrid theoretical approach of historical-sociological institutionalism,
but also in its methodological approach to the process of data collection,
processing and interpretation. Herein, it seeks to bridge two disciplines:
political science and history. In the case studies of this book, findings
within the theoretical framework from political science are backed up by
an extensive dataset of archival documents and semi-structured interviews
with contemporary witnesses, thus including a key element of historical
analysis. Moreover, the analysis benefits from insights and methodological
techniques from the area of oral history, which enhanced the preparation,
execution and interpretation of the semi-structured interviews.46
Two categories of sources thus constitute the basis for the analysis
of the EP’s gradual empowerment in Community social policy. First, a
corpus of ca. 4,000 EP documents which are accessible in the Histor-
ical Archives of the EP in Luxembourg and the Historical Archives of
the EU in Florence was assembled, providing insights into the actions
45 See i.a. Varsori and Mechi (2007); Brown (2012); Lodge (1978).
46 See i.a. Thompson and Bornat (2017); Ritchie (2015); McGrath (2009).
of the EP, its groups and committees. This corpus consists on the one
hand of approximately 200 resolutions and reports that mark important
events and developments in the EP’s institutional evolution, for instance
introducing party groups and committees to the EP’s Rules of Procedure,
adopting changes of the EP’s institutional title, and demanding more
general institutional change in the Communities, such as notably the
empowerment of the EP. The bigger part of this corpus (ca. 3,800 docu-
ments), on the other hand, constitutes a near-comprehensive47 collection
of EP documents concerning social policy which were produced prior
to the first direct elections, including resolutions, reports, parliamentary
questions, minutes of debates, opinions, drafts, motions, amendments,
memoranda and working documents. The qualitative analysis of these
documents allows for an in-depth understanding of MEPs’ behaviour,
of their changing strategies and evolving activism, as well as to some
extent of the ideas driving them. Moreover, quantitative developments
such as the changing and overall increasing frequency of EP involvement
in Community social policy, shifting political priorities and changes in
the applied policy tools can be demonstrated based on a dataset created
through the coding of all these documents.48
However, the documents depict only the official output of the EP:
although not every document was publicly accessible at the time of its
production, and some constitute background material only, all of them
were produced within those working processes of the EP that were
either formal, formalised or at least to some extent proceduralised. They
therefore offer only limited insights into informal and newly evolving
procedures, both within the EP, and between the EP and other Commu-
nity institutions. What is more, whereas dominating ideas can be traced
47 The corpus was compiled by going through (1) all documents digitised in the EP
Archives’ database, which according to the EP Archives contains all EP output from its
establishment until today, via extensive keyword searches; and (2) all Official Journals of
the Communities published prior to 1979 in order to check that no resolution—which
usually followed a report and connected corpus of preparatory documents that could
thus be identified—or parliamentary question had been overseen. Both resolutions and
questions were always published in the Official Journal (OJ).
48 The author coded all documents that addressed social policy issues based on their
archival code, title, date, document type, issuer, and the appearance of 19 social policy
topics (such as children, employment, free movement, social security, women and youth)
as well as 65 subordinate topics, identifying specific issues within the 19 main topics (such
as motherhood and equal pay as sub-topics for “women”).
16 M. ROOS
Table 1.1 Distribution of national background and party-group affiliation of

the interviewed former MEPs
Party group CDG* SG* LAG* ComG* EPDG* ConG* NA* Total
Country
Belgium 1 1
Denmark 2 2
France 1 1 2
Germany 1 3 1 5
Ireland 1 1 2
Italy 1 1 2
Luxembourg 1 1 1 3
Netherlands 2 1 3
United Kingdom 1 1 2
Total 3 11 3 1 1 1 2 22
*CDG = Christian Democratic Group, SG = Socialist Group, LAG = Liberals & Allies Group, ComG
= Communist Group, EPDG = European Progressive Democratic Group, ConG = Conservative
Group, NA = non-affiliated
in many of the documents, the evolution of these dominating—and of

competing—ideas cannot be fully explained by EP documents alone. They
also provide only limited information on the socialisation of the early
MEPs both prior to and during their European mandates. Hence, the
research question outlined above could not be comprehensively answered
based on EP documents alone.
In order to gather necessary additional information, a number of
personal accounts from contemporary witnesses were collected: apart
from consulting a number of former MEPs’ published memoirs,49 the
author conducted 25 semi-structured interviews and written exchanges,
including 22 with former MEPs, two with former members of EP staff
and one with a former special advisor to the Irish government who
was involved in the drafting of the Social Action Programme of 1974.
The 22 interviews with former MEPs cover all member states and party
groups prior to 1979. Table 1.1 gives an overview of the distribution of
nationality and party-group affiliation of the interviewed former MEPs.
49 Many of these, however, make no mention of the respective MEPs’ time in the EP,
or give only limited information on their experiences in Strasbourg, Luxembourg and
Brussels.
The main issue in the interviewees’ party-group affiliation and national

background that leaps to the eye is the over-representation of former
Socialist MEPs. While the author tried to keep as even a balance as
possible, a number of difficulties arose during the organisation and the
conducting of the interviews. First and foremost, the few former dele-
gates who sat in the EP prior to 1979 who are still alive have reached
an advanced age, which complicated the process of getting in touch with
them, not least because phone or post were often the only media avail-
able to reach them, but addresses and phone numbers could not always be
found. In some cases, health conditions did not allow the scheduling of
an interview. Once an interview could be conducted, however, intervie-
wees occasionally provided contact details of former colleagues, allowing
the author to get in touch with additional MEPs. It seems that Socialist
MEPs remained particularly well connected, which is one of the reasons
why they dominate the list of interviewees. Another possible reason lies in
the comparatively high number of younger Socialist MEPs prior to 1979,
which means that particularly many of them were still alive.50
In addition to the bias with regard to party groups, the sample of
interviewees is biased with regard to the period it covers: hardly any
MEP could be contacted who held a European mandate in the 1950s
or early 1960s. Most interviewees sat in the EP during the 1970s, and
only a small number had entered the EP already in the second half of
the 1960s. Notwithstanding these imbalances, the interviews that were
conducted offer a valuable and indeed necessary fundament of the anal-
ysis, as they provide information, which is not accessible to that extent
elsewhere. Given how small the EP was at the time, how comparatively
low the level of fundamental controversies was, and how relatively united
MEPs strove for common political and institutional aims (as analysed in
more detail in the following chapters), the bias of the sample loses some
of its significance. Table 1.2 (in the annex of this chapter) presents a list
of all interviewees.
All interviewees were asked the same catalogue of questions, in addi-
tion to which specific details from their own experience were discussed in
50 Ca. 18 per cent of all Socialist MEPs who sat in the EP prior to 1979 were younger
than 40, compared to ca. 7.5 per cent of Christian Democratic MEPs, and ca. 12 per cent
of Liberal MEPs. These percentages were calculated based on an internal dataset from the
Historical Archives of the EP containing all MEPs from the pre-1979 period (according
to the archival team’s information), their date of birth, date of entry to and exit from the
EP, their sex, country of origin and EP party group.
18 M. ROOS
more detail. The questions dealt with MEPs’ perceptions of the EP and
its powers in general, with procedures, structures and everyday working
routines in the EP and contacts with the other Community institutions,
with MEPs’ individual engagement in the EP and their double mandate,
with MEPs’ attitudes towards European integration and the role the EP
played therein, and with the EP’s social policy. Moreover, the interviewees
were asked about their personal background, the reasons for which they
entered the EP and why they left it, and what other national, European
or international experiences they had that stood in any relation to their
European mandates.
The two interviewed members of EP staff were asked questions similar
to the first part of the questions addressed to the MEPs, namely about
the functioning and everyday working procedures of the EP, about inter-
and intra-institutional relations, and about dominating ideas and norms
in the EP not only among MEPs, but also among members of staff. The
two interviewees worked for the EP’s two biggest party groups: Fionnuala
Richardson was an administrator of the Socialist Group from 1974, and
became the group’s Deputy Secretary General in 1982; Arnaldo Ferragni
was Secretary General of the Christian Democratic Group from 1966
to 1972. Unfortunately, the author was unable to contact more former
members of staff, both because of difficulties in obtaining contact details,
and because of a lack of time and resources. However, the author was
able to gather more information on staff perspectives since a number of
interviewed MEPs themselves experienced the EP from that perspective,
having worked in the EP or another Community body prior to or after
holding an EP mandate.51 Furthermore, a number of interviewed former
MEPs could give insights into the cooperation of the Council with the
EP, because they later became ministers in their national governments
and thus members of the Council.52
51 Alain Terrenoire, for instance, was the Deputy Secretary General of his later EP
party group, the European Democratic Union (later renamed the European Progressive
Democrats) before joining the Parliament as MEP. Astrid Lulling regularly joined EP
plenary sessions and was in contact with MEPs as a member of staff of the Bureau de
Liaison des Mineurs et Métallurgistes from 1952 to 1963 (in the interview with the
author, Lulling stated that she never missed a plenary session ‘except once or twice, when
I was sick’ [original quote: “außer bei ein oder zwei, da war ich krank”]).
52 See i.a. interviews with Jean-Pierre Cot, Ole Espersen, Colette Flesch, Liam
Kavanagh and Jacques Santer.
Based on EP documents and the semi-structured interviews, the asser-

tion of certain procedures and ideas over others in EP policymaking
is traced in the following chapters. The extent to which the different
chapters of this book build their analysis on EP documents and on the
conducted interviews differs according to the subject under examination.
Indeed, the case studies have been chosen so that they cover a variety
of institutional and ideational factors influencing the EP’s institutional
evolution. Some of the following chapters focus more on the develop-
ment of rules and procedures within and around the EP, whereas others
discuss cases in which shared norms and ideas steering MEPs’ behaviour
came to the fore particularly clearly, as discussed in more detail below.
Consequently, the analysis of some chapters builds more on official EP
documents, whereas the statements made by interviewees and MEPs’
speeches during plenary debates, for instance, play a more important role
in others. These different foci of analysis allow for a multifaceted analysis
of the early EP’s socio-political activism and institutional development.
1.5 Structure of the Analysis

The book is divided in eight chapters. Following this introduction,
Chapter 2 sets the frame for the subsequent analysis by presenting the
theoretical approach. The chapters thereafter constitute the analytical core
of the book. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the EP’s institutional
evolution prior to its first direct elections. It analyses inter alia through
which strategies MEPs pursued a number of parliamentary powers for
their institution: namely the power to control the executive, legislative
power, the power of initiative and budgetary power. The chapter exam-
ines also how the EP’s evolving internal structure of party groups and
committees enabled MEPs to increase the effectiveness of their treaty-
based as well as non-treaty-based actions, and facilitated the socialisation
of new MEPs into the EP and its working procedures. Furthermore, the
chapter traces the assertion of pro-European ideas of ever closer inte-
gration over others, notably through the activism of a small group of
particularly engaged MEPs who assumed the role of norm entrepreneurs
in the early EP.
The four chapters which follow then analyse the involvement of the
EP in three key sub-areas of social policy, and in the establishment of
the European Social Fund (ESF) as the main financial tool to implement
Community social action. Opening these four case studies, Chapter 4
20 M. ROOS
discusses the initial cornerstone of Community social policy: the free

movement of workers, the implementation and regulation of which
was considered a necessity by all member states in the creation of the
Common Market. Based on clear Treaty provisions, Community legisla-
tion was adopted relatively swiftly, partly even ahead of the schedule set in
the Treaties, which in the area of social policy was rare (as the other case
studies demonstrate). Even though the Treaties did not provide for any
EP involvement in the set-up of the free movement, MEPs managed to
gain a say in the related decision-making procedures as early as during
the 1950s. Chapter 4 analyses the strategies through which the dele-
gates succeeded in influencing Community legislation, what formal and
informal tools they used, and based on what ideological foundation they
pursued the bigger aim of reaching not only a free movement of workers,
but of all member state citizens in the Communities.
In most other areas of social policy, MEPs had fewer Treaty provisions
to go with than in the case of free movement. Chapter 5 examines a case
in which the MEPs could refer to only one narrow, though still relatively
clear, Treaty article to pursue broader socio-political aims: Art. 119 EEC
provided for the equal pay of male and female workers for work of equal
value. Chapter 5 analyses how a small group of mainly female MEPs used
the EP as a forum to promote their ideas of equality. The chapter also
shows that this policy area stood out in comparison to the other case
studies in that MEPs did not try to instrumentalise equality policy in their
pursuit of institutional aims with regard to the strengthening of the EP,
or the deepening of European integration more generally.
Chapter 6 analyses a case going even further beyond Treaty provisions:
none of the Treaties contained any provision on children, and merely
one article (Art. 50 EEC) touched upon youth affairs, calling for youth
exchanges among the member states. Yet, the EP developed from the
1950s an extensive children and youth policy, and pushed for Commu-
nity action to make younger generations feel concerned by and involved
in the bigger context of European integration. Indeed, whereas this case
study provides limited insight into the EP’s involvement in Commu-
nity legislation and formal decision-making procedures, it allows for a
profound analysis of the ideational basis in which the MEPs’ activism
beyond Treaty articles was rooted. This case study contributes thus to the
understanding of the ideas and norms steering MEPs’ behaviour not only
in their activism concerning children and youth but also in their striving
for closer integration more generally.
The fourth and final case study looks at a policy instrument rather
than another policy issue: Chapter 7 analyses how MEPs used their
Treaty-assigned powers to become involved in the establishment and revi-
sions of the European Social Fund to pursue different socio-political and
institutional aims. With a focus on the EP’s legislative and budgetary
powers, and its powers of control and initiative, the chapter studies various
strategies through which MEPs attempted to improve the member state
citizens’ living and working conditions and their own institutional posi-
tion at the same time. Using their say in the Community budget, the
delegates sought—at times successfully—to shift the focus of Community
social action towards disadvantaged groups, to change the weighting of
policy items through changes in the Community budget, and to put issues
on the agenda for which the Treaties foresaw no Community compe-
tence. The chapter therefore reveals the interplay of path dependencies
and strong, relatively uniform ideas-driven activism, which in turn led to
a significant power gain for the EP.
Each of these four case studies serves to identify different factors in
the EP’s gradual gain in power through its involvement in Community
social policy. They were selected on the one hand based on a variation
in the density of Treaty provisions, in order to see how the presence or
absence of formal rules shaped the behaviour of MEPs in their pursuit
to empower the EP and reach more socio-political integration. Among
the four chosen cases, Treaty provisions for the respective social policy
areas ranged from clear and relatively strict guidelines (Chapters 4 and 7)
to very few—if any—Treaty provisions (Chapters 5 and 6). On the other
hand, the case studies were chosen with a view on different factors influ-
encing the EP’s institutional development: in some of the case studies,
the MEPs’ activism was mostly driven by their ambition to deepen polit-
ical integration (Chapters 4 and 6), in one case mostly by the MEPs’ aim
to strengthen their institution (Chapter 7), and in one case, MEPs used
the EP first and foremost as a platform to attain policy aims which they
pursued unconnected from more general ideas of European integration
(Chapter 5).
Naturally, none of these case studies provides insights into only one
single factor. The varying balance of different institutional and ideational
factors traced in the different cases allows for a better understanding of
the reasons why, for instance, certain procedures were institutionalised in
one, but not another case, and why MEPs made use of a specific strategy
in one area, but less so in another. Indeed, the case studies are internally
22 M. ROOS
structured according to the elements within the explanatory framework of

this book on which they focus more. Accordingly, Chapters 4 and 6 open
with an analysis of the ideational factors influencing MEPs’ behaviour in
the respective case studies, before shedding light on the procedures and
the institutional framework within which these ideas were pursued. Chap-
ters 5 and 7 are more helpful to study the evolution of such procedures,
of habits and routines contributing to the EP’s gradual empowerment.
Consequently, both chapters open with an analysis of these institutional
developments in EP policymaking within the respective case study, before
discussing the influence of underlying ideas and logics of appropriateness.
It should be noted that the case studies discussed in this book are
only a selection of those which the author examined with regard to
the EP’s involvement in Community social policy prior to 1979. Since
a choice had to be made in order to keep the length of this book
within reasonable limits, a number of case studies which also deserve
scholarly attention did not make it into the final selection. First and
foremost, most of these unselected cases would not have contributed
fundamentally new insights into the MEPs’ behaviour, their strategies
and ideas, but would have merely confirmed the findings of the four
case studies that were eventually included. Among these is the EP’s
engagement in favour of people with disabilities and elderly persons: both
groups of people are not directly mentioned in the Treaties. Yet, the EP
adopted a significant number of reports and resolutions asking for support
for these specific groups of people, their better integration in national
labour markets and in (re-)training schemes, and decent living conditions
beyond the concerned persons’ working life. To some extent, the ideolog-
ical argumentation underlying the MEPs’ activism resembled the MEPs’
engagement in favour of children and youth: in the eyes of the MEPs,
the Communities should improve the living conditions of all citizens,
not just of the working population; and all citizens should be able to
identify with the Community project. Moreover, EP activism concerning
people with disabilities and elderly persons formed a part of the MEPs’
engagement in favour of disadvantaged groups of people—to which they
also counted women, children and youth—one motive behind which was
the EP’s positioning as the representative of the people at Community
level. All these aspects, however, can be demonstrated and analysed in the
above-mentioned four case studies, whereas the study of the EP’s policy
concerning people with disabilities and elderly persons offers no distinct
added value in answering the above-mentioned research question from an

analytical point of view.
As another example, MEPs’ activism in the area of Community policy
on occupational safety could have been studied as one of the earliest cases
of EP involvement in social policy. The above-mentioned series of grave
mine accidents in the 1950s in which numerous migrant workers were
among the victims led the member states to discuss Community regu-
lations concerning occupational safety beyond Treaty provisions.53 This
allowed MEPs who swiftly developed an expertise in the area to leave a
mark on adopted measures already prior to the Treaties of Rome, and thus
to solidify the early EP’s role as more than a mere control body. While
this could have been analysed as another case study, it would again have
provided insights on informal procedures, underlying ideas and gradual
gains in power and influence which could largely also be demonstrated
in the case studies selected for this book. The same applies to the respec-
tive social dimensions of other Community policy areas, which could have
been studied, such as MEPs’ socio-political activism in the areas of agri-
cultural, textile or transport policy. All these examples would have offered
only limited additional insights, while demanding a lot of background
explanation and contextualisation, which would have overstretched the
length of this volume. The selected case studies which are analysed in
the following chapters thus represent model cases of different modes and
dimensions of MEP behaviour and the EP’s institutional development.
They reveal aspects and dynamics which can be traced even beyond the
area of Community social policy, as the conclusion to this book discusses.
1.6 Refuting the Image

of a Powerless “Talking Shop”
The European Parliament, prior to its first direct elections, must not be
thought of as the institution described by the Communities’ founding
Treaties. Instead, whilst largely operating within its Treaty-assigned remit,
the pre-1979 EP should be considered the sum of the actions of its
members. This is the main thrust of the argument underlying each chapter
53 See i.a. Leboutte (2008: 640); High Authority of the ECSC (1963): EGKS 1952–
1962. Ergebnisse, Grenzen, Perspektiven. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of
the European Communities.
24 M. ROOS
of this book. Even though the EP’s gradual empowerment was obvi-
ously not in the hands of MEPs alone, the analysis reveals that the
MEPs’ pursuit of more integration was the main driving factor behind
the EP’s gain in power prior to 1979. It shows how social policy—a
policy area with very narrow Community competences and limited Treaty
provisions—became a springboard for the larger political and institutional
ambitions of the early MEPs. While more research is needed for other
areas to make these findings more universally applicable, this study of
MEP activism in the field of social policy nonetheless demonstrates clearly
how the EP swiftly outgrew the role of a “talking shop” and developed
noteworthy parliamentary powers prior to 1979.54 This book thus makes
an important contribution to the literature which has thus far largely
underestimated the importance of the EP’s early years for its institutional
evolution, and hence for the developing power balance of the European
institutional system more generally.
In so doing, the findings of this book furthermore add to our under-
standing of the EP more generally, notably of its gradually developed
internal structure, its functioning and intra- as well as inter-institutional
procedures, since many of them are rooted in the semi- and informal
procedures introduced by MEPs prior to 1979. Through the analysis of
norms and ideas shared by the majority of MEPs throughout the period
under consideration, and of MEPs’ socialisation into the EP, this book
helps understand the formation of the Parliament in its early years. The
MEPs’ continuous striving for more influence, which this book identi-
fies for the period prior to direct elections, can be traced throughout
the EP’s entire history to the present day. Through a focus on the EP’s
very beginnings, this study makes an important contribution to a deeper
understanding of the EP’s—and its members’—historical strive for greater
influence from the 1950s.
54 For an overview of literature in which the EP is considered as a mere talking shop

prior to 1979, see i.a. Ripoll Servent (2018).
A1 Annex: List of Interviews
Table 1.2 List of interviewees
Name Date and place of National party EP party MEP/EP

the interview group* staff member
from/to
Renato Riva del Garda, Partito Socialista, SG 1969–1974

Ballardini 17.01.2017 Italy
Georges Phone interview, Front démocratique NA 1975–1977
Clerfayt 12.07.2017 francophone,
Belgium
Anthony Brown Dublin, [Special Advisor to – –
15.02.2017 the Irish Minister of
Social Welfare Frank
Cluskey, Labour
Party]
John Alexander Phone interview, Conservative and ConG 1975,
Corrie 21.09.2016 Unionist Party, 1977–1979,
Scottland 1994–2004
Jean-Pierre Cot Hamburg, Parti socialiste, SG 1978–1979,
25.09.2017 France 1984–1999
Karen Marie Copenhagen, Socialdemokratiet, SG 1977–1979,
Dahlerup 01.04.2017 Denmark 1979–1980
Doeke Eisma Phone interviews, Democraten 66, SG 1973–1974,
21. and Netherlands 1981–1984,
27.10.2016 1994–1999
Maarten Phone interview, Democraten 66, NA 1971–1973
Engwirda 12.05.2017 Netherlands
Ole Espersen Phone interviews, Socialdemokratiet, SG 1974–1977
01.06.2017 Denmark
Arnaldo Series of e-mails, - CDG 1960–1972
Ferragni March 2018
Colette Flesch Luxembourg-Ville, Demokratesch Partei, LAG 1969–1979,
13.10.2016 Luxembourg 1979–1980,
1984–1985,
1989–1990,
1999–2004
Lothar Ibrügger Brussels, Sozialdemokratische SG 1978–1979
18.02.2017 Partei Deutschlands,
Germany
Liam Kavanagh Phone interview, Labour Party, UK SG 1973–1979,
02.09.2016 1979–1981
(continued)
26 M. ROOS
Table 1.2 (continued)
Name Date and place of National party EP party MEP/EP

the interview group* staff member
from/to
Astrid Lulling Schifflange, Sozialistesch SG 1965–1974,

30.09.2015 Aarbechterpartei, 1989–2014
then
Sozial-Demokratesch
Partei, then
Chrëstlech-Sozial
Vollekspartei,
Luxembourg
Charles Dublin, Fine Gael, Ireland CDG 1973–1979
McDonald 14.02.2017
Hans-Werner Wadern, Christlich CDG 1977–1979
Müller 12.06.2017 Demokratische
Union Deutschlands,
Germany
Fionnuala Dublin, - SG 1974–1988
Richardson 14.02.2017
Jacques Santer Luxembourg-Ville, Chrëstlech-Sozial CDG 1974–1979,
12.09.2016 Vollekspartei, 1979,
Luxembourg 1999–2004
Heinz Schreiber Phone interviews, Sozialdemokratische SG 1977–1979,
27. and 28.06. and Partei Deutschlands, 1984–1989
11.08.2017 Germany
Horst Seefeld Series of phone Sozialdemokratische SG 1970–1979,
interviews and Partei Deutschlands, 1979–1989
e-mails, February Germany
to October 2017
Vera Milan, 18.01.2017 Non-affiliated, Italy ComG 1976–1979,
Squarcialupi 1979–1989
Dick Taverne London, Labour Party, then NA 1973–1974
10.11.2016 Social Democratic
Party, then Liberal
Party, UK
Alain Terrenoire Paris, 20.06.2017 Union des EPDG 1973–1978
démocrates pour la
République, France
Arie van der Phone interview, Partij van der Arbeid, SG 1973–1977
Hek 19.10.2016 Netherlands
Werner Zywietz Phone interview, Freie Demokratische LAG 1977–1979
21.09.2016 Partei Deutschlands,
Germany
*CDG = Christian Democratic Group, SG = Socialist Group, LAG = Liberals & Allies Group,
ComG = Communist Group, EPDG = European Progressive Democratic Group, ConG =
Conservative Group, NA = non-affiliated
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Mercury was not unknown to the antients. In the early ages of
medicine, indeed, it seems to have been esteemed a virulent poison;
but it has now, for some centuries past, been much, and
successfully, employed for the purposes of medicine, as well as of
other arts.
The Arabians were the first who employed it in the cure of
diseases; but they seem to have used it externally only, and applied
it for discussing tumors, cleansing ulcers, and curing cutaneous
eruptions. Soon after the introduction of the venereal disease into
Europe, mercury was found to be the most expeditious and most
effectual, if not the only certain, remedy. The advantages which are
to be derived from its employment in this disease, both when applied
externally, and taken internally, have now been confirmed for a
length of time too considerable for allowing the least foundation
either to doubt its efficacy, when properly used, or to dread its
deleterious effects, when judiciously managed.
The effects of mercury on the human system in a sound state are
very various. When mercury, in its crude state, is introduced by the
mouth into the alimentary canal, it passes off by stool, without
producing any effect. It has indeed been alledged, that in this state,
in some morbid affections, it may be useful in removing obstructions
by its weight. But it is to be remembered, that, in a great part of its
passage through the intestines, it rises in opposition to gravity, and
that it is very apt to divide in such a manner as to make its way
through very small openings. This effect, then, is perhaps in general,
if not always, to be disregarded.
When mercury is prepared in such a manner as to be readily
soluble in the fluids of the human body, the effects it produces are
much diversified. Its action is often immediately exerted upon the
stomach; in which case vomiting is produced. This effect is observed
from the use of many mercurial preparations. The brown and green
precipitates and calcined mercury act as rough and strong emetics;
but the preparation principally used, where it is intended to act as an
emetic, is the yellow precipitate, or Turpeth mineral.
Many of those mercurials, which have not such an influence upon
the stomach as to produce vomiting, upon entering the intestinal
tube, act as purgatives. This effect of mercurials is, among other
preparations, particularly remarkable on the use of the Coralline
mercury, Prince’s powder, or calomel.
Mercurials, which fail in producing either purgative or emetic
effects, frequently act as diaphoretics. Diaphoresis, or even a
profuse sweat, is often the consequence of many of the mercurials
already mentioned. But when this effect is wanted, by means of
mercurials, it is most commonly obtained by the use of a solution of
corrosive sublimate.
Mercury entering the circulating system exerts particular effects on
different excretories; but in a more especial manner on those of the
saliva. Salivation is an effect which may be obtained from the proper
administration of almost every mercurial preparation; but for this
purpose either the mercurial pills, or friction with mercurial ointment,
are most frequently employed.
Mercury may enter the system, exist in considerable quantity
there, and be carried off by the different excretories, without
producing any remarkable evacuation, or other apparent change, on
the sound state of the body. That it is actually present in the system
in such cases, is demonstrated by a general tendency to an increase
in all the secretions. Mercury in this way, although it produces no
visible effect on a healthy person, often procures the removal of a
diseased state. Its action, therefore, in such circumstances, is
termed alterative; an effect which may be obtained from most of the
mild mercurials, especially when used in small doses.
From these various modes of operating, it may readily be
concluded, that mercury must be a powerful remedy in the cure of
many diseases. The undoubted effects which it produces on the
human system, when labouring under the venereal distemper, it
would be both difficult and unnecessary fully to enumerate. It heals
ulcers, removes swellings, alleviates pains, and cures eruptions. In
short, the almost infinite variety of symptoms under which this
disease makes its appearance may, by a proper application of
mercury, be effectually eradicated from the constitution.
From these effects, it is not surprising, that, in this distemper,
mercury is the almost universal remedy. But, while it cannot be
denied that peculiar advantages may be reaped from the
employment of mercury in the venereal disease, it must at the same
time be acknowledged, that, from the injudicious use of this
medicine, very great evils have been produced. Whatever, therefore,
relates to its proper administration, must be esteemed of importance.
But to determine this, it is in the first place requisite to ascertain the
principles upon which it operates. In treating of the present subject,
then, an examination of the most probable opinions, with regard to
the mode of its operation in the venereal disease, first claim our
attention.
CHAP. II.
Concerning the Opinion, that Mercury cures the Lues Venerea by

the evacuation it produces.
T here are few medicines with regard to the operation of which all
practitioners are agreed. It is, however, by no means incumbent
on him who means to establish the truth of any one opinion to
overturn every hypothesis advanced on the same subject. But, as
the arguments urged in favour of any hypothesis will have much less
weight when another is previously believed to be true, and as the
regulation of practice is, in every case, to a certain extent, founded
upon theory, no inconsiderable advantage may be derived from
overturning an ill-founded opinion, especially when it is generally
received. The theory of the action of mercury, as well as of other
substances, has afforded room for a diversity of opinions. For the
reasons mentioned above, then, although it is by no means
intended, that every opinion, with regard to the operation of that
medicine, should here be considered; yet, as it is a very prevailing
opinion, that the good effects obtained from mercury in the cure of
lues venerea, depend upon its action as an evacuant; and, as a
variety of seemingly strong arguments have been adduced in favour
of that hypothesis, it will be necessary to examine how far they are
sufficient to establish its truth.
In favour of the opinion, that mercury cures lues venerea by acting
as an evacuant, the following arguments have been employed. It is
alledged, that the good effects obtained from mercury in the cure of
this disease, are in proportion to the evacuation which it produces;
that the cure produced by mercury depends more upon the stimulant
power of the preparation which is employed, than upon the quantity
taken; and that the same good effects are obtained from other
evacuants as from mercury; particularly, that the venereal disease is
cured in a similar manner from the employment of guaiac. The
arguments here enumerated, if not the only ones upon which this
opinion is founded, are at least those which are principally employed.
To examine, then, how far these are well founded, will be sufficient.
The first argument here adduced is, that the good effects of
mercury are proportioned to the evacuation which it produces. This
assertion, if allowed to be true, might, at first sight, appear to be a
very strong argument in favour of the theory here adopted. But it is
strong in appearance only; for, although it should be admitted, it in
fact proves nothing.
But, even previous to this, it might be made a question, how far
what is here assumed as a fact is well founded? And if it should
appear, that mercury does not cure lues venerea in proportion to the
evacuation which it produces, a strong argument might from thence
be brought against this theory. But what may be said on this question
will, with greater propriety, occur when the objections to the theory
come to be adduced, than in attempting to refute and invalidate the
arguments brought in its favour. At present, it will be sufficient to
show, that, even allowing it to be true, it is no argument in favour of
the supposition.
If it be true, that mercury cures lues venerea in proportion to the
evacuation it produces, it may indeed, with some degree of
probability, be concluded, that the evacuation and cure are not
unconnected. And, if the evacuation is not the cause of the cure, it
might at least from thence be inferred, that both of them depend
upon the same cause; but it no more, unquestionably, follows from
thence, that the evacuation is the cause of the cure, than that the
cure produces the evacuation.
The degree of evacuation which, in any case, arises from the
employment of mercury, will, it is natural to imagine, be proportioned
to the quantity of active mercury which is introduced into the system.
But, in whatever way mercury acts in the cure of the venereal
disease, it may then be supposed to act most powerfully when it is
present in the system in most considerable quantity. In this point of
view, then, the evacuation which arises from the use of mercury is to
be considered merely as an index of the quantity of the medicine
which is introduced into the system in an active state; and the cure
may be proportioned to the evacuation, only as pointing out the
degree in which the mercury exists in the habit. Even supposing,
then, that the foundation upon which this argument is built were not
to be called in question, yet, taken in its greatest latitude, it is still at
best but doubtful; and from it no conclusion can be drawn in favour
of the theory which it is brought to support.
The second argument mentioned in proof of the supposition that
mercury acts, in the cure of lues venerea, as an evacuant, was, that
the cure produced by mercury depends more upon the stimulant
power of the preparation employed, than upon the quantity of
mercury which is used.
This argument may be answered in the same manner with the
preceeding. It is indeed true, that different preparations of mercury,
when used in equal quantities, have by no means equal influence in
the cure of lues venerea. There is seldom an opportunity of
observing what would be the effects of the most stimulant
preparations, as, in the venereal disease, they are by no means in
common use; and as, from their action on the alimentary canal, they
exert very violent effects, without entering the circulating system.
They, in general, operate very roughly, both as emetics and
purgatives; but it is not clear that, in the venereal disease, any
benefit has been obtained from their effects in either of these ways.
It can therefore by no means be allowed, that the foundation of this
argument, in its full extent, is strictly true. It cannot indeed be denied,
that some preparations of mercury, which possess a considerable
stimulant power, have a greater influence in the cure of lues
venerea, than several others which are less stimulant. So far, then,
the foundation upon which this argument is built, must be allowed to
be just, and its weight, as tending to establish this theory, requires a
refutation.
But, even admitting it to be just, without any reserve, still, no more
than from the former, can any conclusion be drawn from this in
favour of the theory which it is meant to support. It has already been
observed, that, in whatever way mercury operates in the cure of lues
venerea, its good effects may always be supposed to be
proportioned to the quantity of the medicine which enters the system
in such a state as to become active there. But the quantity of active
mercury entering the system can in no case be judged of from the
quantity of the preparation which is employed. One preparation of
mercury much more readily admits of a mixture with the animal fluids
than another; in consequence of this, it will find a more ready
entrance into the system. And further, this variety in the facility of
access into the system, not only holds in different preparations, but
even in the same preparation at different times.
In proof of the first of these propositions, we have a convincing
example in the difference which is observable between the effects
arising from the use of crude mercury, and of this metallic substance,
when no other means are used to render it active than simple
trituration. It is well known, that even a very inconsiderable quantity,
taken in this last way, will soon shew its effects at the most remote
excretories of the body; in the other, although swallowed to the
quantity of many pounds, it is a very rare occurrence that any effects
can be observed from which it can be concluded, that it has, in any
degree, entered the mass of circulating fluids.
But it was likewise alledged, that mercury, used at different times,
although given in equal quantities and in the same form, produces
very different effects. Crude mercury, as has already been observed,
although swallowed in considerable quantities, rarely produces any
other effect on the body, than what arises from the passage through
the alimentary canal. This, however, although generally, is not
universally the case. On some occasions, when taken in this way, it
operates with as great activity as when used in any other form; and,
from many well attested instances, it appears, that, by being
swallowed even in a crude state, a high salivation has been excited.
In this we have an instance in which a remarkable difference of
effect arises from the employment of the same preparation at
different times. This difference cannot arise from the quantity of
mercury employed; for while, in some cases, no operation of the
nature here mentioned takes place from the use of a large quantity,
in others, it will be excited where an inconsiderable quantity only has
been taken. The difference of effects here observed, then, must be
ascribed to some other cause; and it is most reasonable to refer it to
particular accidents in the constitution at the time the medicine is
used. In these cases, where no operation takes place from its use, it
may be concluded, that the whole quantity of mercury swallowed has
passed through the alimentary canal in the same state in which it
was taken in. When, on the other hand, an operation upon the
salivary glands, or any other excretory remote from the alimentary
canal, is observed from the use of crude mercury, it may be
concluded, that part of the mercury, from some peculiarity in the
habit at the time, such, for example, as the presence of
superabundant acid in the stomach, has been brought into such a
state as to be capable of entering the circulating system. From these
instances, then, it evidently appears, that the facility with which
mercury enters the system, admits of very great variety. And from
this a strong objection may be adduced against the argument here
brought to support the hypothesis that mercury cures lues venerea
by its evacuant power.
It is alledged, that mercury cures lues venerea by the evacuation it
occasions; because the good effects derived from its employment
are observed to be more in proportion to the stimulant power of the
preparation which is used, than to the quantity of mercury taken. The
data, however, here assumed by no means lead to the conclusion
deduced from thence. The most stimulant preparations of mercury,
by their action on the primæ viæ, are in general immediately
expelled from the system. When this happens, they have no
influence in the cure of venereal complaints. When they are not thus
expelled, their nature is such that they most readily enter the system.
Their superior action, then, may be accounted for without supposing
that it depends on their producing the most considerable evacuation.
From the facts as here stated, it indeed follows, that the good
effects obtained from mercury are greatest in those cases in which
the mercury enters the system in most considerable quantity. The
evacuation, it is true, is then likewise greatest. But this will
unquestionably follow as the necessary consequence of the
presence of active mercury in the system, and can by no means be
concluded to be the cause of the cure. The evacuation which occurs
in this case, then, as was observed in the objections adduced
against the last argument, can be considered only as an index of the
quantity of active mercury which is present in the system. The
superior activity, therefore, which some stimulant preparations
possess, when compared with those of a milder nature, is by no
means a proof of the supposition that mercury cures lues venerea by
means of the evacuation which it produces; and this argument, as
well as the former, may be set aside.
The third argument mentioned in favour of this theory, and the last
which we proposed to consider, is, that the same good effects, in the
cure of lues venerea, may be obtained from the employment of other
evacuants, as from that of mercury; and particularly, that the
venereal disease is cured in a similar manner by the use of guaiac.
This argument, if well founded, would indeed be a conclusive proof
of the theory, in support of which it is here adduced. Evacuation may
be occasioned by a great variety of other means besides mercury.
The influence of any discharge, as tending to cure lues venerea, will
fall more particularly to be considered in stating the objections
against this theory. A full answer, then, to the first part of this
argument, would at present be superfluous: But it may be observed,
that it is by no means a common practice to attempt the cure of lues
venerea by the safest and most effectual evacuants now in use; and
that, when evacuants are employed for the cure of other diseases,
while a venereal infection at the same time exists in the system, it is
never found to yield to them. This first part of the argument, then,
may be shortly answered, by denying it to be true.
It is indeed true, that much benefit has been alledged to be
obtained from guaiac in the cure of the lues venerea. Experience,
however, has sufficiently demonstrated, that these testimonies are
not altogether to be relied upon. The influence of guaiac may
perhaps be very considerable in certain stages of lues venerea,
when the malignity of the disease is already overcome by means of
mercury; or in particular climates, where the nature of this infection
seems to be in some degree different from what it is in this country.
But, how far the good effects of guaiac are established by facts in
this climate, and before a cure has been attempted by mercury, is
still a matter of great doubt. And, at any rate, even the most
sanguine advocates for the use of guaiac will allow, that the good
effects obtained from its use are by no means to be put in
competition with those which are derived from the employment of
mercury.
But, even admitting all that has been said in favour of guaiac to be
strictly true, still it does not follow, that it cures the lues venerea by
evacuation. Many medicines which operate much more powerfully as
evacuants have no such effect. And, what was formerly said with
regard to the cure of lues venerea, being proportioned to the
evacuation produced by mercury, may perhaps, with equal justice,
be applied to guaiac. It cannot be, with certainty, concluded, that the
evacuation in either case is to be looked upon as the cause of the
cure, since, in both, it may only be its concomitant. From this
argument, then, nothing can be inferred, which has any tendency to
establish the truth of the theory in support of which it is adduced.
Thus have we examined the different arguments used in favour of
the supposition, that mercury cures lues venerea by acting as an
evacuant. And, from this examination, it appears, that they admit of
satisfactory answers. What has then been said in proof of the theory,
can by no means be considered as sufficient to establish its truth.
But the insufficiency of the arguments adduced in support of it, is not
the only reason for not adopting it. There are many objections to this
hypothesis, which would have been sufficient for rejecting it, even
supposing that the arguments brought to prove it had been such,
that no falacy in them could have been detected. That this theory,
then, may, with less hesitation, be set aside, it will be necessary to
mention a few of these objections.
It obviously occurs as a first objection to this theory, that
evacuation, from its nature, cannot easily be supposed capable of
producing a cure of lues venerea. The changes which evacuation
may produce upon the fluids of the body, can only be conceived to
be of two kinds. They must either depend on a diminution of the
quantity of the fluids, or on a change of their quality. But, it is not
easy to conceive how the effects of the venereal virus should be
removed, or on what footing this virus should be expelled from the
system, by either of these changes, when induced by evacuation.
A mere diminution of the quantity of circulating fluids, is certainly
insufficient for the cure of lues venerea. The venereal matter, as
present in the body, must either be diffused through the whole mass
of fluids, or confined to particular parts only. If it be diffused through
the whole mass, the taint, even after the most considerable
evacuations, will remain equally strong in the fluids still left in the
body. And, as the venereal virus evidently possesses a power of
assimulation, when in the human system, the whole mass of fluids
would soon return to its former state. This being the case, then, it
must be allowed, that an inconsiderable diminution of quantity
cannot reasonably be supposed to counteract an infection which
exists in the remaining mass.
If, on the other hand, the venereal poison be supposed to exist
only as a noxious matter in the body, when collected at particular
parts, it is equally difficult to conceive, how evacuation from its
nature should produce a cure. It never has been observed, that
mercury particularly encreases the discharge by those parts where
the venereal matter appears actually to exist. In almost every case
where it is used only internally, there is no encrease of evacuation by
venereal ulcerations. It cannot, however, be imagined, that a
discharge which takes place by the salivary glands or skin, will
particularly evacuate what is lodged in the genitals, or extremities.
We may therefore, with certainty, conclude that evacuation does not
at least cure lues venerea by any change arising merely from a
diminution of the quantity of circulating fluids.
Evacuants may perhaps be alledged to operate in the cure of lues
venerea in another manner. It may be supposed, that they remove
the distemper from a change which they produce in the quality of the
circulating mass. But, from the smallest consideration, it will appear,
that this supposition is equally unsatisfactory as the former. If, from
evacuation, a diminution takes place equally from every part of the
mass of circulating fluids, no change of quality will ensue. If,
however, this proportion is not properly observed, a change of quality
will indeed take place. But that change will consist merely in the
diminution of particular parts in a compound mass, and can never be
supposed to remove a contagious matter of any kind, even
supposing it to be lodged in the particular part of that mass thus
diminished. Much less will it remove an infectious matter uniformly
diffused through the whole parts of the compound mass, or existing
as a morbid matter in particular parts of the body only. From the
nature of evacuation, then, whether it be supposed to operate by a
diminution of the quantity of circulating fluids, or by any change it can
produce in point of quality, it may readily be concluded, that it is by
no means fitted for the cure of lues venerea.
Another and more conclusive objection against the supposition
that mercury cures lues venerea by evacuation, is, that this disease
is by no means cured by evacuation taking place in an equal, or
even in a greater degree, from other causes. This, however, should
of necessity be the case, were the former supposition well founded.
Effectually to overturn this theory, then, it will be necessary only to
establish the truth of this assertion.
It cannot perhaps be alledged, that any fair trial has ever been
made of evacuation, instituted solely with a view to cure the venereal
disease, and that in such cases it has been found to fail. But, without
any such trial, there are sufficient arguments to shew, that for this
purpose it really is ineffectual.
Lues venerea would never, upon its first introduction, have been
considered as so unconquerable a disease, could it have been cured
by evacuation. Various modes of evacuation were then in common
use in medicine, and considered as the most effectual means of cure
in many diseases. The venereal distemper, till the introduction of
mercury, resisted the power of almost all the medicines employed
against it; and, in some parts, it was at that time reckoned so
incurable, that the police of the country obliged the unhappy
sufferers who laboured under it to separate themselves from all
intercourse with the rest of mankind. While this was the condition of
the distemper, is it to be imagined that every method of cure was not
tried? May we not, then, conclude, that, upon the first introduction of
this disease, evacuation, by every known means, and carried to the
greatest height, was had recourse to, but without effect?
But, to prove that evacuation will not cure the distemper, it is
needless to travel back to the first periods of this disease, or to rest
the evidence even upon the highest probability. From what occurs in
many morbid cases, we have every day evident proof of the
insufficiency of any discharge for producing a cure of the venereal
disease. Lues venerea often exists at the same time with diseases in
which an increase of natural evacuations takes place. None of these
diseases, whether the evacuation happens by the salivary glands, as
in small-pox, by stool, as in dysentery, or by the skin, as in
intermittents, have ever been found to break its force, much less to
produce a perfect cure.
Besides what happens in natural evacuations, we have likewise
proofs of the insufficiency of artificial evacuations for the cure of this
disease. Although evacuation, at least by other means than by the
use of mercury, is never now employed as a cure for the venereal
disease; yet venereal complaints are often complicated with others,
for which various evacuations are proper. And while evacuations are,
with success, employed for the cure of these, it is found, that the
venereal taint either remains unchanged, or is even increased in
force. It cannot here be alledged, that the difference of effect
depends upon the mode of evacuation. On such occasions, every
mode of evacuation has been tried with equal want of success. Even
salivation, which was long considered as the only effectual
discharge, when excited by other means than by mercury, or even by
mercury itself, when externally applied to the organs secreting saliva,
has not been found more effectual than other modes of evacuation.
In some cases, indeed, mercury received into the mouth by steam,
or otherwise, has had good effects; but these were either to be
accounted for from its application to the diseased part, or from its
introduction into the system. It is, then, sufficiently evident, that
evacuation, at least by other means than mercury, does not cure
lues venerea.
To this theory it may be urged as a third, and not less powerful
objection than any of the former, that where the evacuation arising
from the use of mercury in lues venerea is the greatest, the cure is
often retarded; and that mercury never more frequently fails than in
those cases where it begins to evacuate upon its first introduction
into the system.
That these assertions are true, at least of the obvious discharge
produced by mercury, will not be refused by any advocate for its
action as an evacuant. To this, indeed, they may think it a
satisfactory answer, that the influence of mercury as an evacuant
cannot be judged of from the apparent discharge. It may be
alledged, and indeed with some appearance of reason, that the
greatest discharge produced by mercury is by insensible
perspiration; that mercury, in consequence of this, is a more powerful
evacuant than many other medicines by which a greater obvious
evacuation is produced; and that it has the effect to increase
perspiration in a more remarkable degree, when it increases no
other discharge than when it induces the greatest obvious
evacuation. But although it cannot be denied, that the use of mercury
does increase insensible perspiration; and that evacuation in this
way may, on some occasions, be greater than what would arise from
salivation or any other obvious discharge; yet these facts by no
means tend to any conclusion which will remove the difficulty
formerly stated. Nor can it from thence be supposed, that mercury
always evacuates most powerfully in those cases where it produces
the most successful cure.
The degree of evacuation which takes place from the employment
of any medicine cannot indeed, in every case, be ascertained by the
obvious discharge. But, where the judgment formed from this test
would be fallacious, the marks of inanition consequent upon the use
of any medicine are always certain tests for determining the degree
of evacuation. From these it is evident, that the suppositions here
advanced, that mercury operates more powerfully as an evacuant
than any other medicine, and that it always produces a greater
discharge when it acts by the skin, than when it affects the salivary
glands, or any other excretory, are entirely without foundation.
From the marks of inanition appearing in the system, it is
demonstratively proved, that, from a variety of other means, a
greater evacuation can be produced than from mercury. In such
circumstances, however, by mercury the venereal disease is cured,
by these other evacuants it is not. And farther, where the cure of lues
venerea has been retarded by a salivation occurring early, or where
no cure has taken place after salivation has been continued for a
considerable time, there is every mark of a much higher degree of
inanition than when the disease has been removed by mercury
without any sensible evacuation. There can remain no doubt, then,
that the cure of lues venerea is by no means in proportion to the
evacuation which it produces. This, however, should necessarily be
the case, were the cure effected by evacuation.
Upon the whole, then, from what has been said of this theory of
the action of mercury in the cure of the lues venerea, it appears, that
the cure can by no means be referred to the evacuation. The
different arguments adduced in favour of that theory, we have
endeavoured to shew, either proceed on wrong principles, or,
although admitted in their greatest latitude, can afford no ground for
any conclusion to support it. Evacuation, from its nature, whether
supposed to operate by diminishing the quantity of circulating fluids,
or by any change it can induce in their quality, can scarce be
conceived to be a cause adequate to the cure of lues venerea.
Evacuation does not produce a cure of the venereal disease, when it
takes place in an equal, or even in a much greater degree, from the
employment of other medicines, than when the disease is effectually
removed from the use of mercury. And, lastly, the venereal disease
is never more effectually cured by mercury, than when it is evident,
from every mark by which the degree of evacuation can be
determined, that the evacuation arising from it is least considerable.
It may, therefore, with confidence be asserted, that mercury does not
cure lues venerea by evacuation.
CHAP. III.
Concerning the Opinion, that Mercury cures Lues Venerea, by

acting as an Antidote to the Venereal Matter.
It is an undoubted fact, that mercury, by proper management, cures

lues venerea. From the arguments already adduced, it has been
concluded, that the cure, thus obtained, is not the consequence of
evacuation. Having rejected this prevalent opinion, then, it next
remains to say, in what manner a cure is produced.
It has long been an opinion, very generally received, that mercury
is a substance capable of destroying the venereal virus; or that, from
being united with this virus, possesses a power of rendering it
inactive. Many arguments tend to prove, that this is in reality the
case; and that in this manner it cures lues venerea. But, at the same
time, this theory is not to be considered as without difficulties. The
first that occurs, is, with regard to the mode in which an opportunity
is afforded for a mixture of the mercury with the virus.
It is, in general, imagined, that mercury may destroy the venereal
virus in the mass of circulating fluids. The venereal virus is
unquestionably taken into the human system by the absorbent
vessels to which it is applied; and, before it can reach various parts
of the body, in which it evidently manifests itself, it must enter the
general mass of fluids. We cannot, then, consider it as a supposition
totally absurd, that mercury, if it be capable of destroying the activity
of the venereal matter, may produce that effect while the virus is
present in the general mass of fluids. Many objections, however,
may be urged against this supposition; and, if it be adopted, it must
be allowed to be with difficulties.
If mercury destroy the venereal virus, while it exists in the mass of
circulating fluids, it must produce this effect, either by an alteration of
the general mass; or by acting more particularly on the venereal
matter itself. The whole mass of circulating fluids, taken collectively,
is a very considerable quantity of matter. The action, therefore, of a
small proportion of mercury, as producing any change upon it,
cannot be very great. It is not easy to conceive, then, how a
destruction of the venereal virus should arise from any alteration
which the mercury is capable of producing on the general mass.
The difficulty occurring to the first supposition here made, would
naturally lead us to consider the second. But that the action of
mercury, while it exists in the mass of circulating fluids, should be
exerted on the venereal virus alone, is a supposition equally
unsatisfactory as the former. Before this can be imagined to be the
case, it is necessary to suppose, that there exists, between mercury
and the venereal virus, some particular attraction. Such an attraction,
however, is a thing as yet by no ways proved to exist; nor indeed
does there seem to be any shadow of reason to suppose that it does
exist.
Although, then, it cannot be denied, that mercury and the venereal
virus may exist in the mass of circulating fluids at the same time; yet,
from what has been said, the supposition, that the activity of the
virus is then destroyed, will appear to be attended with many
difficulties. It cannot, it is true, be alledged, that, from any thing which
has been urged, this supposition is refuted. That it may perhaps, in
some degree, act in this way, is by no means impossible. But it is to
be remembered that this is a hypothesis supported by no proof; and
the more imaginary any opinion is, the less easily can it be
overturned. The present opinion, then, may be set aside, for
reasons, which, in other respects, would be insufficient for its being
rejected; and this the more readily, if another and more probable
hypothesis can be advanced which is not liable to the same
objections.
To determine the manner in which mercury acts on the venereal
virus, it might seem requisite that the nature of this poison should
first be ascertained. In what the activity of the venereal virus
consists, it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to say. Various
conjectures have indeed been offered with regard to it. But what has
hitherto been advanced upon that subject is so hypothetical as
scarce to deserve a serious refutation. What could, therefore, be
derived from an inquiry of this nature, without a more perfect
knowledge of the subject than has hitherto been attained, would be
but of little utility.
But, although the peculiar nature of the venereal virus, and those
principles in consequence of which it becomes active, are unknown,
yet its general effects, as acting on different parts of the human body,
are sufficiently obvious. The parts morbidly affected by the venereal
virus, at different times, put on different appearances. This, however,
is in common to all of them, that, when reduced to the state of an
open ulcer, they discharge an infectious matter capable of
propagating the disease. It cannot therefore be doubted, that the
venereal matter occasions the morbid affections there observed from
its actual existence at these places.
As the places evidently affected by the venereal poison are
frequently very distant from those to which the poison has been first
applied, and do not lie in the course of the absorbents, it can only be
carried to them in the course of circulation. But, even while the
poison is present in the circulating system, no change can be
detected on the general mass of fluids; nor in by much the greater
part of the solids in the body. Many changes may take place in the
fluids of the human body which cannot be said to constitute a
diseased state. That such changes may be esteemed morbid, it is
necessary that they should manifest themselves over the system in
general. If, then, we are to judge by these principles, it follows, that
the venereal poison does not produce a morbid state in the general
mass of fluids. It evidently acts as a cause of disease in particular
parts, whether it first comes to be applied to these by immediate
contact with external objects, or arrives at them in the course of
circulation. Probably it acts as a morbid cause in these places, from

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The Parliamentary Roots of European

Social Policy: Turning Talk into Power

The Parliamentary Roots of European Social Policy

The Power of Religion Religion and Power 1st Edition

Clear Thinking : Turning Ordinary Moments into

The Origin of Scientology Turning Science Fiction Into

Personal Finance: Turning Money into Wealth, 8th

Germany’s Role in European Russia Policy : A New German

Primary Mathematics 3A Hoerst

The Parliamentary Roots

More information about this series at

ISSN 2662-5873 ISSN 2662-5881 (electronic)

Cover illustration: Magic Lens/Shutterstock

Monnet Guest Scholar at their centre. During an immensely produc-

1 Introduction: The Parliamentarisation of a Consultative

2.2.4 Combining HI and SI in One Hybrid

4.4.2 Displayed Unity Despite Controversial Debates:

6 Forging Europe’s Next Generations: The European

8 Conclusion: The Making of a Parliament 279

i.e. id est (that is)

Fig. 3.1 Distribution of the duration (in days) of EP mandates

Table 1.1 Distribution of national background and party-group

Introduction: The Parliamentarisation

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1

of other Community institutions and member state governments to

1.1 Research Question

1 Bressanelli and Chelotti (2019): 266.

a variety of institutional, ideational and social factors as well as the larger

While contributing from their different angles to the overall analysis,

as sub-question 1 indicates. This distinction is crucial insofar as the

1.2 The EP Pre-1979: An Understudied

history,4 much work remains to be done in explaining the EP’s evolu-

In a similar vein, Héritier et al.’s (2019) volume “European Parliament

foremost the Commission and the Council.16 Studies on these institu-

1.3 Studying the EP’s Institutional Evolution

limited Community competence therefore allows for a profound anal-

20 See i.a. Hantrais (2007); Leboutte (2008).

In the negotiations of the Treaty establishing the European Economic

24 Rye (2002: 85).

or wage inequalities.29 In addition, the Treaties granted the Communities

29 See Arts. 68 ECSC, 119 EEC.

the Belgian town of Marcinelle, forced the Communities to reconsider

38 See Leboutte (2008: 640).

increasingly also by the member states, allowing the extension of the

1.4 Collection, Processing

Table 1.1 Distribution of national background and party-group affiliation of

in many of the documents, the evolution of these dominating—and of

The main issue in the interviewees’ party-group affiliation and national

Based on EP documents and the semi-structured interviews, the asser-

1.5 Structure of the Analysis

discusses the initial cornerstone of Community social policy: the free

structured according to the elements within the explanatory framework of

added value in answering the above-mentioned research question from an

1.6 Refuting the Image

54 For an overview of literature in which the EP is considered as a mere talking shop

A1 Annex: List of Interviews

Table 1.2 List of interviewees

Name Date and place of National party EP party MEP/EP

Renato Riva del Garda, Partito Socialista, SG 1969–1974

Table 1.2 (continued)

Name Date and place of National party EP party MEP/EP

Astrid Lulling Schifflange, Sozialistesch SG 1965–1974,

Concerning the Opinion, that Mercury cures the Lues Venerea by