THE INVOLVEMENT OF NATIONAL AND REGIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN EU POLICY-MAKING
In general terms, EU policies have tended to strengthen the executive vis-à-vis the parliament. Moreover, owing to the technical nature of EU directives, parliaments have seen their competences restricted by European legislation.
In other words, political integration has tended to strengthen the central governments in federal and devolved Member States by disempowering legislative regions in their role as “policy shapers” within the EU system. Indeed, regional parliaments have often been excluded from formulating a regional position in important negotiations (e.g., the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP). For this reason, they have asked for more participation in policy-making concerning European affairs, in reaction to the abuse of power by the European legislator.Recently, the Lisbon Treaty has emphasized national parliaments (Protocol on the Role of National Parliaments) and improved the application of the principle of subsidiarity (Protocol on the Application of the Principle of Subsidiarity), establishing an “early warning system.” The early warning system in the Lisbon Treaty empowers national parliaments to take action against EU infringements of the subsidiarity principle. In theory, this mechanism might serve in two ways to open up the decision-making process to the regional parliaments as well. Indeed, the second chambers of some national parliaments are chambers of the constituent State regions (e.g., Austria and Germany), and the early warning system applies to both the first and the second chamber. Moreover, national parliaments may also decide to include regional assemblies in the early warning process, according to Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Protocol on the Application of the Principle of Subsidiarity and Proportionality. In other words, most of the RegLeg regions will have access to the early warning system in one way or another.
Some Member States have put the Subsidiarity Protocol into practice, granting not only the State but also regional parliaments the right to protest against European policy initiatives (e.g., Belgium, Germany, and Austria). The Commission also encouraged the Member States to adopt this mechanism, even before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.33 The Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of the Parliament of the European Union34 (COSAC) has decided to conduct at least two “subsidiarity and proportionality checks” per year. However, there are many criticisms of the early warning system. It is generally held that it will not be able to improve regional participation in EU policy-making because of the complexity of the procedure, even though some important political effects can be foreseen. Moreover, if we also consider the right given to the CoR to act before the European Court of justice in case of violation of the principle of subsidiarity, it can be argued that ex post judicial control remains more important than ex ante political control by the parliaments.
Furthermore, other mechanisms that can ensure regional participation in EU policy-making are worth discussing in more detail. In the Italian system, the first mechanism concerns the enhancement of the flow of information between the executive and the legislative power. Indeed, the Italian law adopted in 2005 aims to strengthen information flows between the government and Parliament, and it also provides for an annual report. Moreover, the State-Region Conference may express opinions (although they are not binding), such as opinions and observations formulated by Parliament.35 Recently, Italy has also adopted the mechanism of “reservation.” The government, on request of Parliament and/or of the regions, could formulate a reservation within the EU Council of Ministers. However, the interinstitutional agreement necessary to implement the rule in favour of the regions has not yet been reached. In short, it is difficult to achieve regional participation, and we do not yet have sufficient information to evaluate the impact of European integration on the regional assemblies, since the national reform process continues unabated.