Why score rapporteurs?
The rapporteur is the MEP responsible for steering a legislative file through committee and plenary. In practice, rapporteurs wield enormous discretion: they draft the initial report, negotiate with the Council in trilogue, and often determine which amendments survive to a final vote.
Yet no systematic measure of rapporteur influence exists. Our score is a first attempt — composite across four dimensions: dossier complexity (by amendment count), trilogue duration, final vote margin (closer = more contested = harder to pass), and post-adoption implementation speed.
What predicts influence?
The strongest predictor is seniority — MEPs in their third term or beyond score 0.71 higher on average than first-termers, controlling for committee. This tracks intuition: experienced MEPs attract more consequential dossiers and navigate trilogue more efficiently.
Committee assignment matters enormously. ENVI, ECON, and ITRE rapporteurs score three times higher on average than CULT or PETI rapporteurs — a reflection of legislative volume and political salience, not individual skill.