National Parliaments In An Integrated Europe An Anglo German Perspective

The acquisition of increased powers by the European Parliament has raised the spectre of a `competition legislature' for national parliaments, and even the threat of a democratic deficit at the national level. At this critical moment it is vital to recognise and reinforce the ways in which the institutions of the European Union are politically accountable to member States. In this profound and revealing analysis of the participation by domestic legislatures in policymaking and legislative processes at the European level, Adam Jan Cygan focuses on the evolving means by which the legislatures of Germany and the United Kingdom are responding to the increased competence of the European Union. This technique allows him to highlight such factors as the following: the procedures of European scrutiny committees in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament and the German Bundestag; the accountability of national ministers for decisions taken in the European Council of Ministers; the role of sub-national governments, as revealed in both the formal federal system of Germany and the devolved administrations of the United Kingdom, in European affairs; and the continuing impact of Treaty provisions and informal cooperation between member States. National Parliaments in an Integrated Europe clearly demonstrates that, contrary to some prevailing beliefs, national parliaments are not necessarily destined to become mere administrative institutions. In fact, the national initiatives and procedures analysed here reveal a firm commitment to compel the attention of the European Commission and the European Parliament toward national and even sub-national accountability.

It was a great pleasure to find such a rich analysis of the role of national parliaments in the EU. What I particularly like - and what proves to be particularly fruitful is the combination of perspectives; the EU law and national constitutional perspective including a comparative dimension, the perspective that explains the role of national parliaments in the EU from past to present (and even near future) and last but not least, the perspective of the interaction between the legal frameworks and the political reality. There is every reason to congratulate Adam Cygan wholeheartedly on this book. Ton Van Den Brink, Europa Instituut Utrecht, The Netherlands One of the most outstanding specialists on the role of national parliaments in the EU has produced another impressive book about this dynamic topic. It provides an illuminating overview of current practices, it sharply analyses the legal status quo, and it brings theoretical depth to the topic in multiple perspectives. Olaf Tans, Amsterdam University College, The Netherlands This accessible and detailed book takes an interdisciplinary approach in exploring the position of national parliaments in the EU polity and in particular their position within the EU governance framework. Adam Cygan analyses the impact of subsidiarity monitoring upon national parliaments and to what extent this provides new opportunities for national parliaments to be engaged in, and exert influence over, the EU legislative process. While the post-Lisbon position of national parliaments may have improved, this book questions whether national parliaments can really be considered as central actors in EU affairs. The author also queries whether subsidiarity monitoring has the capacity to create a collective bloc of horizontal actors which exert effective accountability over the EU legislative process. Accountability, Parliamentarism and Transparency in the EU will strongly appeal to academics, parliamentarians/parliamentary officials working in EU affairs, as well as EU civil servants.

This book deals with the role of national parliaments in the perspective of European Integration. It examines the relationship between national parliaments and the European Parliament. In order to find a solution to the problem of the democratic deficit in the EU, Smith concludes that it is vital for European Integration to create an efficient decision making process which is best served by centralisation and majority voting. However, this runs counter to democratic legitimation, which is dependent on institutions at the national level. The book is unique in that the description of national models for parliamentary influence is used as an example for a similar model at the European level. It is largely based on a conference which was held at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, Norway in June 1995.

This book engages in the vivid debate about the role of nationalparliaments in the future European democracy. These parliaments are widely regarded to be essential in reducing the European Union's democratic deficit, but it remains unclear how their function should be organized. The purpose of this volume is to contribute to such a regime on the basis of a comparative analysis of scrutiny systems, as they exist today.

This book presents a wide range of perspectives on the role of national parliaments in EU politics and policy-making, looking at efforts to address perceived democratic and information ‘deficits.’

In this book, Katarzyna Granat analyses and evaluates Europe's experience with the Early Warning System (EWS) which allows national parliaments to review draft legislative acts of the European Union for their compatibility with the subsidiarity principle. The EWS was introduced in response to the perceived 'democratic deficit' of the EU and its 'creeping' competences, and represented one of the landmark reforms of the Lisbon Treaty. The purpose of this book is to present and critically analyse the functioning of the new mechanism of subsidiarity review and the role that national parliaments have played within this system. Compared to the existing leading publications on the Europeanisation of national parliaments and contributions on the EU principle of subsidiarity, this book offers – for the first time – a profound legal analysis of the procedure enriched by a comprehensive empirical analysis of the activities of national parliaments. It is directed at scholars of EU law and policy, European and national officials, and legal practitioners working in and with the national legislatures.

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 how national parliaments have adapted to their new roles and looks at how the new system has impacted on relations between the EU legislative bodies and national parliaments. A team of experts from across Europe explore the effect of the EWM on the national constitutional orders; analyse the regional impact of EWM and evaluate the new system of scrutiny.

The present collection of essays offers the reader a broad range of original perspectives on democracy and the rule of law in the European Union, approaching the existing policy area from new points of view. Leading experts from different countries and backgrounds focus on how democracy and the rule of law are related to topics like security, pension rights, judicial cooperation and human rights protection. Their expert views are based on a combination of theory and knowledge acquired in their practice as academics or practitioners in the field of European integration.. The issue of the rule of law and democracy is close to the heart of Professor Jaap de Zwaan, a true European, building bridges between countries and peoples. He has written extensively on the subject of European integration. Therefore, this collection of expert views is not only an original and valuable contribution to the literature and discussion on the development and enlargement of the European Union, but at the same time it is a tribute to Jaap de Zwaan, whose academic and diplomatic career can be characterized as always serving “an ever closer Union”. Flora Goudappel is Jean Monnet Professor of EU Trade Law in the Overseas Territories at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and a consultant on European Union law Ernst Hirsch Ballin is Professor of Dutch and European Constitutional Law at Tilburg University and Professor of Human Rights Law at the University of Amsterdam.