Coalition formation in the European Parliament

This article analyzes coalition formation within the European Parliament (E P) under the cooperation procedure through the analysis of a random sample of 100 roll call votes. The authors find that generally, coalitions form on the basis of ideology, not nationality, although they are able to identify some national groups that occasionally vote against the majority of their party group. More interestingly, they find that the political initiative wi thin the EP belongs to the Left and that the majorities required at differe nt stages affect not only the outcomes of votes but also the coalitions tha t will form. Finally, a slight variation is found in coalition building dep ending on the subject matter. On the basis of these findings, the authors s uggest an alternative interpretation of the conflicts between the Council a nd EP based on an ideological conflict about more (EP) or less (Council) re gulation, as opposed to more or less integration.