National and Regional Parliaments in the EU-Legislative Procedure Post-Lisbon: The Impact of the Early Warning Mechanism

✍ Scribed by Anna Jonsson Cornell; Marco Goldoni (editors)

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Year: 2017
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 381
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Much has changed in European constitutional law after the Lisbon Treaty, not least the efforts to increase democratic legitimacy by engaging national legislatures and introducing a stricter subsidiary review process, namely the Early Warning Mechanism (EWM). This collection looks at the how national parliaments have adapted to their new roles and at how the new system has impacted on relations between the EU legislative bodies and these national parliaments. A team of experts from across Europe explores the effect of the EWM on the national constitutional orders, analyses the regional impact of EWM and evaluates the new system of scrutiny.

✦ Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Contributors
1
Introduction
Part I:
Subsidiarity Review—Goals Achieved and Future Challenges
2
Is the Early Warning Mechanism a Legal or a Political Procedure? Three Questions and a Typology
I. Introduction: Legal or Political? A Highly Instructive Question
II. Are Subsidiarity and the EWM Best Studied by Legal Scholars or Political Scientists?
III. Should Subsidiarity and the EWM be Implemented by Legal or Political Institutions?
IV. Should Subsidiarity and the EWM Entail a Political or Legal Mode of Reasoning?
V. Three Approaches to the EWM: Legal Rule-Following, Political Bargaining, and Policy Arguing
VI. Conclusion: It Takes Two to Tango
3
Reconstructing the EWM?
I. Introduction
II. The Nature of The Present System
III. Cards in the Hands of National Parliaments
IV. How "Legal" Should the Political Control Be?
V. Should National Parliaments Have the Same Impact in All Areas?
VI. How Limited in Scope Should the Subsidiarity Review Be?
VII. Should the National Parliaments Have a Collective Right of Initiative?
VIII. Bring the Court in Earlier?
IX. Conclusions
4
Mapping out the Procedural Requirements for the Early Warning Mechanism
I. Introduction
II. The Evolving Participation of National Parliaments in EU Affairs
III. Rights of National Parliaments
IV. Rights of National Parliaments Reflected in the Duties of EU Institutions
V. What is the View of the Court of Justice on Procedural Subsidiarity Review?
VI. Looking Ahead-How is the EWM Best Protected?
VII. Final Remarks
5
Interparliamentary Cooperation between National Parliaments
I. Introduction
II. Interparliamentary Cooperation-A Conceptual and Systemic Approach
III. The Matrix of Interparliamentary Cooperation and the Influence of National Parliaments
IV. The Present and the Future of Interparliamentary Cooperation Between National Parliaments-Trends and Proposals
V. Concluding Remarks
Part II:
Regional Parliaments
6
Regional Parliaments and the Early Warning System: An Assessment and Some Suggestions for Reform
I. Introduction
II. The Participation of Regional Parliaments with Legislative Competences in the Early Warning System
III. Is a Systematic Regional Participation in the EWS Desirable in the Current Context?
IV. The Role of Regions in the EU and a Need for Reform
7
A New Player in the "Multi-Level Parliamentary Field". Cooperation and Communication of Regional Parliaments in the Post-Lisbon Scenario
I. Introduction
II. Regional Parliaments in the Post-Lisbon Scenario
III. Types of Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Their Contextual Factors
IV. Cross-Country Overview
V. Conclusions
8
Italian Regional Councils and the Positive Externalities of the Early Warning Mechanism for National Constitutional Law
I. The Effects of a "European" Procedure on National Constitutional Law
II. The Constitutional Prohibition on Calling Regional Councils "Parliaments"
III. The (Weak) Position of Regional Councils in the Italian Constitutional Context
IV. The Positive Externalities of the Early Warning Mechanism for the Italian Regional Councils
V. Case Studies. The Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Reform of the Cohesion Policy
VI. Conclusion
9
Belgian Parliaments and the Early Warning System
I. Introduction
II. Subsidiarity Scrutiny and the Belgian Federal System
III. The Institutional Set-Up: The Differing Parliamentary Procedures and the Perspectives on EU Subsidiarity
IV. Perspective(s) on Subsidiarity
V. An Analysis of the Reasoned Opinions
VI. Conclusions
Part III:
The Early Warning Mechanism in National Constitutional Orders
10
Similar but Different-Comparing the Scrutiny of the Principle of Subsidiarity within the EWM in Denmark, Finland and Sweden
I. The Constitutional Context of the Scrutiny of the Subsidiarity Principle by National Parliaments
II. Scrutiny of the Principle of Subsidiarity within the EWM-Procedural Aspects
III. The Scope of the Review-Different Understandings of the Principle of Subsidiarity
IV. Similar but Different-Concluding Analysis
11
The Scrutiny of the Principle of Subsidiarity in the Procedures and Reasoned Opinions of the Italian Chamber and Senate
I. Introduction
II. The Italian Parliament: A Symmetric Bicameralism, Currently Under Revision
III. The Principle of Subsidiarity in the Italian Constitution
IV. EU Affairs in the Italian Parliament
V. The Different Implementation of the EwM in the Two Houses
VI. The Reasoned Opinions Submitted
VII. Four Examples of Reasoned Opinions
VIII. Some Trends from the Italian Experience
IX. Conclusion: Towards a more Formalised and Homogeneous Procedure?
12
Speaking with One Voice? The French Parliament"s Use of the EWM
I. The French Parliament and The Early Warning Mechanism: A Politicised Use of A Legal Instrument
II. The Control of Subsidiarity within The National Constitutional System: Similar Formal Competences, Differentiated Use Between The Two Houses
III. The EWM: An Instrument Reversing the Fusion of Powers in Parliamentary Systems?
Iv. Cooperation with other National Legislatures In Subsidiarity Review: More Consideration Than Cooperation
V. Conclusions
13
Parliamentary Scrutiny of EU Affairs by the UK Parliament: The Primacy of Ministerial Accountability
I. Introduction
II. The Political, Legal and Constitutional Context of Scrutiny
III. The Work of The EU Scrutiny Committee
IV. The House of Lords EU Select Committee
V. UK Parliamentary Scrutiny as a Form of Substitute Sovereignty?
VI. The Provision of Information and Scrutiny Reserves
VII. Concluding Remarks-The Impact of EU Scrutiny within The UK Parliament
14
Able and Willing? Early Warning System and Political Dialogue in the Bundestag and the Nationalrat
I. The Challenges: Getting It Right In Time
II. Is it all Worth the Effort? MPs as Rational Actors30
III. The Role of Norms and Values67
IV. Conclusion
15
Like Two Peas in a Pod? The Functioning of the Early Warning Mechanism in the Czech Republic and Poland
I. Introduction
II. Position of Parliament In The Constitutional System of Poland and The Czech Republic
III. EWM Procedures
IV. Reasoned Opinions
V. Debates and Votes under The EWM
VI. Assessment
VII. Conclusion
16
The Trajectory of the Early Warning Mechanism
I. Introduction
II. The Nature of the Early Warning Mechanism
III. The Style and Content of Reasoned Opinions
IV. The EWM"s Internal and External Impact
V. The Role of Regional Parliaments
VI. The Future of the EWM
VII. Conclusions
Index