A missed opportunity of supranationalism? : The drafting of European political authority in the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, 1949–51

Abstract

This article examines postwar supranational parliamentarism by focusing on the political role of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe. While the historical significance of the Assembly has been re-investigated, less attention has been given to the political role of the parliamentary body of the Council in the framework of political theorizing of postwar parliamentarism. Neither has the parliamentary role of the Assembly been much discussed in studies about European integration. It is often argued that as the Consultative Assembly was given merely a deliberative role, without legislative or executive powers, it bears less political significance. Contrary to this view, our article shows, how after the founding of the Council of Europe in 1948, the limited powers of the Assembly were renegotiated, and the representatives tried to challenge the ‘consultative’ role of the body particularly in the framework of the drafting of the so-called ‘European political authority’ in 1949–51. By analyzing the minutes of plenary sessions and committee reports, we turn our attention to the views and arguments presented by contemporaries and argue that there was a missed opportunity for the Assembly to become supranational that could have potentially influenced the course of the European integration.