Political Contestation in the Digital Single Market - Exploring Party Politics in the EU's Digital Policy

Abstract

Digital policy is high on the agenda of the European Union. Aiming at the creation of a Digital Single Market, a diverse set of policies are being discussed and legislated on. As co-legislator, the European Parliament is highly involved in the shaping of this Digital Single Market. How do the political groups in the Parliament position themselves in this matter? This study maps the patterns of contestation in three case studies: The General Data Protection Regulation, the Telecom Single Market Regulation and the European Parliament’s Copyright Evaluation Report, three policies representing the variety of issues which are part of the overall Digital Single Market. Reflecting on the draw-backs of established research approaches, the study develops a new methodology for assessing contestation in the European Parliament. It is based not on the voting but on the amendment behaviour of MEPs. The results show that there is no unified pattern of contestation for digital policy so far. Left/right contestation does take place in some cases (data protection, net neutrality) while in others grand coalitions form (copyright). It also happens that the European Parliament takes a consensual, institutional position in opposition to the Council or the European Commission (roaming).