National Parliaments & the EU[fr][de] 

European integration has continued to widen and deepen with successive EU treaties, transferring more powers from national to European level. 

As a result, national parliaments have been left more and more "out of the loop" in EU decision-making. Furthermore, the introduction of direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979 meant that many national parliaments felt increasingly disconnected from European Community policies (in the early days, the European Parliament consisted of national MPs on a "double mandate"). 

A number of steps have therefore been taken to re-engage national parliaments in the EU policy process. 

COSAC (the Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union) came into being in 1989, on the initiative of Laurent Fabius, then speaker for the French Assemblée Nationale. COSAC sought the establishment of an inter-parliamentary body composed of members of national parliaments specialising in European affairs. 

With the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, the European Union acquired competence in areas which had traditionally been a national preserve, such as justice and home affairs. For this reason, the importance of exchanges between national parliaments and the European Parliament was underlined in a declaration on the role of national parliaments in the European Union (source: Europa glossary ). 

The Amsterdam Treaty went a step further, making it obligatory for all Commission consultation documents to be promptly forwarded to national parliaments, who then have a six-week period to discuss a legislative proposal. 

Finally, the Lisbon Treaty - should it come into force - will provide new powers for national parliaments to scrutinise EU legislation, enhancing their role in EU decision-making (EurActiv 5/12/07). 

Relations between the European Parliament and national parliaments 

The European Parliament and national parliaments cooperate in a growing number of ways. Under Rule 24 of the Parliament's Rules of Procedure, the Conference of Presidents is responsible for relations with the member states' national parliaments. More specifically, these activities are carried out under the authority of the Parliament president, currently Hans-Gert Poettering , by two EP vice presidents, currently Edward McMillan-Scott and Martine Roure . 

In theory, the European Parliament's stated intention is "to collaborate with the national parliaments in constructive partnership for the good of our nations and of the whole European Union". 

"Based on the complementary nature of the responsibilities of the European Parliament and the national parliaments, the objective of the European Parliament is to develop overlapping networks in order to promote more parliamentary accountability and transparency and handle efficiently its links with national parliaments." 

In practice, the European Parliament seeks to keep national parliaments fully informed of its activities. Moreover, a number of EP committees regularly invite national MPs to their meetings, to share their knowledge and expertise when discussing policy proposals. 

In a recent innovative move, centre-right MPs from across the EU are to launch the 'Club of the 27', a measure aimed at bringing national parliamentarians closer to the European Parliament's EPP-ED Group and involving them more closely in the elaboration of EU policy (EurActiv 11/07/08). Similar initiatives are likely to emerge, given the EU-wide consensus that the role of national parliaments is constantly increasing. 

Interparliamentary relations 

• Conference of European Community Affairs Committees (COSAC) 

COSAC is a biannual conference, enhancing cooperation between European affairs committees from national parliaments and representatives of the European Parliament. 

At the biannual meetings of COSAC, six members represent each parliament. In addition, the national parliaments from candidate and acceding countries are invited to participate, with each bringing three observers each. COSAC meetings normally take place twice a year, in the capital of the country holding the rotating six-month EU presidency. 

A number of factors led to COSAC's creation, notably a feeling of loss of contact with Community policies in many national parliaments after the introduction of direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979. Indeed, at the time of COSAC's creation, not all national parliaments had specialised European Affairs Committees, strengthening the sense that contact had been lost with EU legislators. 

COSAC was created in May 1989 at a meeting in Madrid, where the speakers of the parliaments of the EU member states agreed to strengthen the role of national parliaments in the EU by bringing together the European Affairs Committees. The first meeting of COSAC took place in Paris in November 1989. 

COSAC was formally recognised in a protocol to the Amsterdam Treaty that was concluded by heads of state or government in June 1997. The protocol came into force on 1 May 1999. 

According to this protocol, COSAC is allowed to address to the EU institutions any "contributions" which it deems necessary. 

• Interparliamentary Information Exchange (IPEX) 

IPEX is a website designed to support interparliamentary cooperation in the EU. This is done by "providing a platform for the electronic exchange of EU-related information between parliaments in the union". 

Basically, IPEX allows national parliaments to publish any relevant documents on a pan-European website, keeping MPs abreast of to key policy issues. 

According to the website, "exchanging EU information among parliaments has become increasingly important during the past decade. In order to facilitate the flow of information, national parliaments - in cooperation with the European Parliament - have created their own database and website". 

IPEX contains a calendar of interparlimentary meetings and also seeks exchanges of views on "subsidiarity control", the notion defined in Article 5 of the EU Treaty whereby decisions are to be taken as closely as possible to the citizen (see below). 

Relations between the European Commission and national parliaments 

The European Commission has long understood, and has often stated publicly in recent decades, that a key strategy to halt the EU's declining legitimacy in the eyes of EU citizens is through greater involvement of national and European parliaments in EU policy-making. 

One important result of this thinking was the emergence of subsidiarity , the principle whereby the Union does not take action unless it is more effective than that taken at national, regional or local level. Specifically, the Europa website describes it as "the principle whereby the Union does not take action (except in the areas which fall within its exclusive competence) unless it is more effective than action taken at national, regional or local level". 

Since the start of discussions on a European Constitution and the subsequent Lisbon Treaty, the Commission has taken the initiative of consulting national parliamentarians when reflecting on new directives. However, national parliaments are still a long way from being involved in all discussions. 

In recent years, the European Commission has employed the 'Barroso initiative', whereby legislative proposals are systematically sent to national parliaments for inspection at the same time as they are submitted to the EU institutions. Indeed, President Barroso noted in a March 2007 speech that "since we decided in September last year [2006] to send Commission legislative initiatives to national parliaments for screening, the Commission has received 76 opinions! The Commission welcomes this engagement by national legislatures and is committed to respond". 

From October 2006 to December 2007, the Commission received 168 opinions from 27 legislative assemblies in 17 member states, concerning 82 Commission texts (legislation and consultation papers). Some parliaments have been more active than others, 135 of these 168 opinions were issued by seven assemblies:

• France (Sénat) - 40
• Germany (Bundesrat) - 21
• UK (House of Lords) - 18
• Portugal (Assembleia da Republica) - 19
• Sweden (Riksdag) - 17
• Denmark (Folketing) - 12
• Czech Republic (Senát) - 11

Lisbon Treaty: National Parliaments grow even stronger 

The Lisbon Treaty - if and when it comes into force - is intended to strengthen and expand further the role of national parliaments. 

Most notably, they would have the right to raise objections to Commission proposals via the so-called "yellow and orange card" procedure (EurActiv 09/05/08). This is essentially a means for national parliaments to enforce more stringently the principle of subsidiarity. Here is how it works: 

• If one third of national parliaments agree that an EU legislative proposal (usually from the Commission) breaches the subsidiarity principle, the EU executive is then obliged to reconsider it. This is known as the 'yellow card'.
• If the Commission maintains its proposal but a simple majority of national parliaments continue to object, the Commission refers the objection to the Council and Parliament, who will then decide the matter. This is known as the 'orange card'. 

However, it should be noted that opinions are divided as to whether this constitutes a real additional power: national parliaments cannot ultimately veto a new proposal, merely express their disapproval. 

The Lisbon Treaty also:

• Gives national parliaments an enhanced right to information.
• Gives national parliaments new powers to scrutinise policy in the areas of freedom, justice and security, with powers for one or more national parliaments to veto proposals.
• Increases the time allowed for national parliaments to scrutinise draft law from six to eight weeks. If a parliament objects within that timeframe, it is then invited to send "a reasoned opinion stating why it considers that the draft in question does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity".
• Includes a new clause describing all the formal functions of national parliaments in relation to EU affairs. 

Speaking at a joint meeting of members of the European Parliament and of the 27 EU national parliaments, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering said: "National parliaments and the European Parliament are not in competition, but share the same objective: to strengthen European democracy." 

He stressed that there will always be discussions about which level of administration - European, national or local - should be the appropriate to deal with a specific issue. Therefore, "cooperation is necessary to make the Union work," he concluded. 

In an interview with EurActiv, European Commission Vice President Margot Wallström, responsibile for institutional relations and communication strategy, explained that "we will never be able to explain this whole project of European Union better unless it is anchored within the national and even regional political traditions and party systems. If they don't feel that this is a concern of theirs, that this is something that matters to them, I don't think that we will ever succeed". 

She went to say that "it has to trickle down in the party systems and the local political traditions of every member state. That is where the national parliaments come in. They are very important and they also have to change the way they work on EU matters. Now there is often a European affairs committee that engages in EU issues and none of the others committees take an interest". 

Highlighting the EU's commitment to improving relations with national parliaments, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso explained that two protocols attached to the now defunct Constitutional Treaty sought to "create a direct political relationship between national parliaments and European institutions, including of course the Commission". 

He went on to note that despite the Constitution's failure, "it is a sign of the Commission's commitment to developing relations with national parliaments that we nevertheless went ahead with measures in the spirit of the Constitutional Treaty, to better associate national parliaments [...] in May 2006, I announced the intention of the Commission to transmit its new proposals and consultation papers to the national parliaments, inviting them to react so as to improve the process of policy formulation". 

Praising these new measures, Barroso said "our contacts with national parliaments suggest that they have found it useful in three ways: providing an opportunity for national parliaments to take a more pro-active attitude about European issues; the right of information; and leaving national parliaments better placed to scrutinise their own governments. The interest of national parliaments in using this new mechanism is also a proof of your commitment to the European Union". 

However, Sebastian Kurpas, a research fellow at Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, claimed that the new powers of the national parliaments under the Lisbon Treaty are "not providing national parliaments with a very proactive role". 

Comparing these provisions to "an emergency brake," Kurpas described them as "an inherently defensive instrument". 

According to Kurpas, most parliaments lack the capacity to follow everything the EU does and will find themselves overwhelmed by the complex task of forging a sufficiently broad alliance with other parliaments to block EU legislation. 

"If they get their act together, they could trigger a procedure to stop a legislative initiative of the Commission," says Kurpas. But he says they will have to be quick: parliaments only have eight weeks to find the votes necessary to block a proposal. Moreover, Kurpas adds, "in order to effectively block a Commission proposal, you would still have to lobby the European Parliament or the Council".