Power versus representation? The making of the European Parliament

The empowerment of the European Parliament bears, from several standpoints, important similarities to the parliaments' development process in their respective national contexts. But it also presents significant differences, which are due in part to the originality of the overall European institutional system, and are responsible for the problems it has to face in order to exercise its representative function. In fact, the negative trend in turnout points to a sort of paradox in the experience of the European Parliament: the increase in its prerogatives seems to be inversely proportional to the interest that European citizens show in it.