Whom to represent? National parliamentary representation during the eurozone crisis

What is it about?

Normally, we would expect that members of national parliaments (MPs) represent the interests of their national constituencies only because they are elected by these people. But what if we assumed that some constituents may want their representatives to represent citizens' interests outside of the nation state boundaries? This article looks at when and why national MPs from Austria, Germany and Ireland speak not only for their national citizens, but include citizens from other European Union (EU) member states. It does so during a particularly troublesome time, the European debt crisis. While we would probably have expected national interests to be pitted against each other, we do see quite a surprising degree of Europeanized representation especially by (far) left Eurosceptic MPs. They broaden their representative portfolio to include the Greeks and others.

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Why is it important?

It helps us rethink the way we conceive of national parliamentary representation and democracy in a multi-level European Union.