Legitimising EU Policymaking: What Role for National Parliaments? EPC Discussion Paper, 28 January 2014

The ‘euro crisis’ has sparked a renewed interest in how national parliaments can help to improve the democratic nature of European decision making. According to various treaties, assemblies in the Member States are now guaranteed a full spectrum of rights including access to information, participation and the ability to object to EU legislation. The authors of this Discussion Paper argue that there is still room to refine and promote a more responsible use of existing instruments. Moreover, the possibility of adding new mechanisms to the available toolkit is part of the discussion on the topic but the authors warn that any proposals must be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis, especially in the context of the European economic governance reform process. Ultimately, according to the authors, the most straightforward and effective way for national parliaments to strengthen their direct involvement in EU policy formulation is to focus on building capacity to perform their two key domestic responsibilities: to hold their own governments to account, also on EU affairs, and to maintain the link with voters, including by communicating and debating ‘Europe’ at ‘home’.

EU Democratic Legitimacy and National Parliaments. CEPS Essay No. 7, 25 November 2013

The role of national parliaments in the EU has been at the centre of a long debate. Since the Maastricht treaty, new powers to the EU level have been accompanied not only by an increasing role of the European Parliament (EP) in the legislative process, but also by a number of declarations and protocols to ensure that national parliaments received the information and documents required to effectively monitor their governments in EU affairs. The Lisbon Treaty extended the guarantees and also included new modes of direct participation. The proper use of the mechanisms in place, namely, the subsidiarity checks, the political dialogue with the Commission and the inter-parliamentary cooperation with the European Parliament, has become of vital importance in view of recent developments in EU economic policy and beyond. The choice for increasing inter-governmentalism in decision-making and the centralisation of the implementing and supervisory powers in the Commission and the Central Bank have raised questions about political accountability and the appropriate involvement of parliaments. However, the extent to which national parliaments should be more involved is also rather controversial. This essay examines the difficulty of defining and addressing the question of the democratic legitimacy in the EU. It examines the role of the national parliaments in the treaties and explores ways in which they can contribute to improving that legitimacy.

The Belgian parliaments and EU affairs: the reasons behind their limited involvement. European Policy Brief No. 28, March 2014

Given their limited involvement in EU affairs, the Belgian parliaments at the different levels of the Belgian federation barely contribute to the legitimation process of the EU’s actions. In order to strengthen their role, not only should governmental communication towards parliaments be improved but parliamentary activities should also adapt to the confederal features of Belgium. The latter poses a unique challenge in Europe.

Information Guide: The role of national parliaments in the European Union

This presentation provides hyperlinks to a selection of sources providing information on the topic of ‘The role of national parliaments in the EU’

Lex parliamentaria, or, A treatise of the law and custom of parliaments : shewing their antiquity, names, kinds, and qualities. With an appendix of a case in Parliament between Sir Francis Goodwyn and Sir John Fortescue, for the knights place for the county of Bucks, I. Jac. I.

Mode of access: Internet.

Political annals of Canada: a condensed record of governments from the time of Samuel de Champlain in 1608 down to the time of Earl Grey in 1905: with appendices containing a copy of the British North America Act, establishing the Dominion in 1867: also a list of the first members of the Dominion and provincial parliaments under confederation, and a table of important Canadian historical events,

Mode of access: Internet.

Journal of the parliaments of the Commonwealth.

Mode of access: Internet.

A complete history, political and personal, of the boroughs of Great Britain; together with the Cinque Ports. To which is now first added The history of the original constitution of parliaments, from the time of the ancient Britons to the present day. With a state of the representation, and an account of contested elections, &c. &c.

Vol. 3 has half-title: History of the original constitution of parliaments.

A history of the Protestant reformation in England and Ireland : showing how that event has impoverished the main body of the people in those countries, and containing a list of the abbeys, priories, nunneries, hospitals, and other religious foundations in England, and Wales, and Ireland, confiscated, seized on, or alienated, by the Prot stant (sic, in v.1 only) "reformation" sovreigns and parliaments /

Includes indexes.

The life of the late John Elwes, esquire : member in three successive parliaments for Berkshire ... /

"First published in the paper of the World."

The parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the present time.

I. Bedfordshire to Nottinghamshire inclusive.--II. Oxfordshire to Wales inclusive.--III. The disfranchised boroughs, Scotland, Ireland, &c.

National finance: a review of the policy of the last two Parliaments, and of the results of modern fiscal legislation.

Errata slip inserted.