The European Parliament: On the Politics of Naming

In this article, I discuss the early history of the expression of the European Parliament and analyse the political points of its different rhetorical nuances and connotations. I shall use as the background a wider discussion on the politics of naming, indebted to the rhetorical work of Quentin Skin...

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Main Author: Kari Palonen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cogitatio 2025-04-01
Series:Politics and Governance
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Online Access:https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9652
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author Kari Palonen
author_facet Kari Palonen
author_sort Kari Palonen
collection DOAJ
description In this article, I discuss the early history of the expression of the European Parliament and analyse the political points of its different rhetorical nuances and connotations. I shall use as the background a wider discussion on the politics of naming, indebted to the rhetorical work of Quentin Skinner as well as to the historical repertoire of alternative titles for parliamentary assemblies. The expression “European Parliament” had already been in use in the post-war years, first among the pro-federalist wing of the European movement. In the initial sitting of the ECSC Common Assembly on 13 September 1952, Théodore Lefevre spoke of the Assembly as “la première à mériter le nom de ‘Parlement européen’” in the sense of both describing and legitimising the political novelty of that Assembly. In the Ad Hoc Assembly’s debates on the constitutional draft for the European Political Community in 1952/1953, which proposed a supranational parliamentary government, the expression—first in French and then in English—became a colloquial title for the two chambers of the Parliament of the European Political Community. The European Parliamentary Assembly of the EEC changed its name to the European Parliament on 30 March 1962. The title European Parliament has been used both for an existing assembly with a low “parliamentarity” and for a future assembly with full parliamentary powers.
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spelling doaj-art-d001ec61a91f4d5895aff60efa4e716f2025-08-21T09:23:08ZengCogitatioPolitics and Governance2183-24632025-04-0113010.17645/pag.96524112The European Parliament: On the Politics of NamingKari Palonen0Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, FinlandIn this article, I discuss the early history of the expression of the European Parliament and analyse the political points of its different rhetorical nuances and connotations. I shall use as the background a wider discussion on the politics of naming, indebted to the rhetorical work of Quentin Skinner as well as to the historical repertoire of alternative titles for parliamentary assemblies. The expression “European Parliament” had already been in use in the post-war years, first among the pro-federalist wing of the European movement. In the initial sitting of the ECSC Common Assembly on 13 September 1952, Théodore Lefevre spoke of the Assembly as “la première à mériter le nom de ‘Parlement européen’” in the sense of both describing and legitimising the political novelty of that Assembly. In the Ad Hoc Assembly’s debates on the constitutional draft for the European Political Community in 1952/1953, which proposed a supranational parliamentary government, the expression—first in French and then in English—became a colloquial title for the two chambers of the Parliament of the European Political Community. The European Parliamentary Assembly of the EEC changed its name to the European Parliament on 30 March 1962. The title European Parliament has been used both for an existing assembly with a low “parliamentarity” and for a future assembly with full parliamentary powers.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9652ad hoc assemblyeuropean parliamentpolitics and rhetoric of namingsupranational parliamentarism
spellingShingle Kari Palonen
The European Parliament: On the Politics of Naming
Politics and Governance
ad hoc assembly
european parliament
politics and rhetoric of naming
supranational parliamentarism
title The European Parliament: On the Politics of Naming
title_full The European Parliament: On the Politics of Naming
title_fullStr The European Parliament: On the Politics of Naming
title_full_unstemmed The European Parliament: On the Politics of Naming
title_short The European Parliament: On the Politics of Naming
title_sort european parliament on the politics of naming
topic ad hoc assembly
european parliament
politics and rhetoric of naming
supranational parliamentarism
url https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/9652
work_keys_str_mv AT karipalonen theeuropeanparliamentonthepoliticsofnaming
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