Trilogues in EU legislation

This dissertation investigates the legislative process within the European Union (EU), with a particular focus on the emergence and impact of trilogues—an informal negotiation mechanism involving the three main EU institutions: the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, and the European Commission. Unlike other dispute-resolution mechanisms, trilogues occur early in the EU’s Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP) and shape the content of legislative files, despite lacking explicit provisions in governing treaties. The use of trilogues has become the norm in EU legislation, with the institutions meeting for over 75% of legislative files. The ascendancy of trilogues as the standard practice holds significance for the EU, given that trilogues represent a departure from the OLP as established by the EU treaties. However, the use of trilogues relates to deficiencies of the OLP. Due to structural problems in the procedure, the OLP is vulnerable to gridlock. Trilogues serve as a legislative workaround to ensure legislation passes in the early stages of the OLP. In Chapter 2, I identify legislative characteristics correlating with an increased likelihood a trilogue is convened for a given file. Specifically, this chapter demonstrates that trilogues are used to pass complex legislation. Trilogues are needed because complex legislation increases the likelihood of gridlock in the legislative system. Chapters 3 and 4 both explore the consequences of trilogues on EU legislation, specifically focusing on changes made to trilogue and non-trilogue files. Chapter 3 utilizes a minimum edit distance algorithm called DocuToads to analyze legislative amendments, finding that trilogue files do not result in more or fewer changes than non-trilogue legislation. The complexity of a legislation’s text was associated with more legislative changes made, while disagreements between key actors were associated with fewer changes. In contrast, Chapter 4 investigates ideological changes using the WORDFISH scaling algorithm, demonstrating that trilogues limit ideological alterations in legislation, emphasizing their role as a system that restricts ideological changes rather than promoting or inhibiting changes in general. In addition, both complexity and ideological differences between key actors were associated with more ideological changes made. Beyond the EU context, this research contributes to the comparative legislatures literature by highlighting trilogues as a unique form of dispute-resolution mechanism within a bicameral system. The study explores when and why trilogues are used, demonstrating their necessity for handling complex legislation and averting gridlock in the Ordinary Legislative Procedure. The findings underscore the importance of understanding the complexity of legislation in legislative systems, with implications for knowledge acquisition and preference divergence. Additionally, this dissertation contributes to the literature on the EU’s institutional and political context, enhancing theories of the EU by demonstrating the interdependence of institutions and characteristics of the broader political environment. Trilogues alter the behavior of the European Parliament and the Council, prompting the development of a theory explaining the conditions under which trilogues are employed. By shedding light on the how, when, and why of trilogues, this research advances our understanding of their impact on the EU legislative system and its laws.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Pierce, Justin D.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pahre, Robert
• Kourtikakis, Konstaninous
• Gaines, Brain J
• Sin, Gisela

• Trilogues
• European Union
• Legislation
• Comparative Legislatures

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Justin Pierce

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/122006

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F122006