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.
- National Parliaments in the European Union
- The Application of the Principle of Subsidiarity in the European Union
- Cooperation between National Parliaments of the Member States--The Conference of European Affairs Committees (COSAC
- European Legislation Before the House of Commons
- The House of Lords and European Union Affairs
- European Affairs in the German Bundestag--Legal and Constitutional Basis
- Structure, Organisation and Role of the Committee on Affairs of the European Union in the German Bundestag
- Participation by Sub-National Government in European Union Policy and Decision Making
- Participation by the Länder in European Union Affairs
- Devolved Government and the European Union--Scottish and Welsh Arrangements for Participating in European Union Affairs
- Concluding Remarks: Where Next National Parliaments?