Abstract

As the only directly elected EU institution, the European Parliament has a potentially important role for the legitimacy of the Europe 2020 strategy. The aim of this chapter is to examine how the Europe 2020 strategy has been debated in the European Parliament and to identify elements of political entrepreneurship in the European Parliament in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy. The analysis, based on plenary debates, resolutions and reports, concludes that the debate included both a Left–Right and an EU-integration conflict, but also contextual issues like the Greek crisis, the relation between the Parliament and the European Council. There was also some discontent that the Parliament was too little involved in the process around the strategy. There are elements of political entrepreneurship in the European Parliament regarding the strategy, both at the individual and institutional level, but its tools are limited due to its limited formal influence regarding the Europe 2020 strategy.