Book Review: The National Parliaments in the European Union — A Critical View on EU Constitution-Building
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X0601300405 |
| Date | 01 December 2006 |
| Published date | 01 December 2006 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
13 MJ 4 (2006) 471
BOOK REVIEWS
Kiiver, Philipp (2006), e National Parliaments in the European Union – A Critical
View on EU Constitution-Building, Kluwer Law International 200 6, xv + 209 pp., hard-
back, €95, ISBN 90- 411-2452-7
e role of national legislatu res in European i ntegration has received much-deserved
attention i n recent ye ars. is i nterest is primari ly explained by t he considerable
empowerment of the European Union (EU) that has taken place si nce the late 1980s,
and by the realization, in line with the ‘deparliamentarization’ thesis that dominates
the literature, that nat ional parliaments were becoming increasi ngly marginaliz ed actors
in European politics. Assigning t he national parlia ments a larger role in the EU polic y
process seemed thus a convenient way to inject both leg itimacy and democracy into
European integ ration.
Indeed, the rst years of the 21st century have seen a number of leading Europea n
politicians – such as Tony Blair and Joschk a Fischer – arguing in favour of reforms that
would have given national legislat ures a stronger role in the Union. ese proposals have
ranged from mak ing national parliaments the guard ians of the principle of subsidiarity
to est ab li sh ing a c ha mb er o f na ti ona l p ar li am ent ar ia ns at t he Eu rop ea n l eve l. Me anw hi le ,
Declaration no. 23 of the Treaty of Nice listed four key quest ions that the next
Intergovernmental Conference should address, one of which wa s “the role of national
parliaments in the European a rchitecture”.1 e Laeken Declaration of Dec ember
2001 set even more precise questions about national parliaments: “Should they be
represented in a new institut ion, alongside the Council and the European Parl iament?
Should they have a role in areas of European action in which the European Parliament
has no competence? Should they focus on the div ision of competence between Union
and Member States, for example through prelimina ry checki ng of compliance with
the principle of subsid iarity? ”.2 Following this, t he Convention established a separate
Working Group on national parliaments, a nd the new Constitutional Treaty includes t he
‘Protocol on the Role of National Parl iaments in the European Union’ and the ‘Protocol
on the Application of the Pri nciples of Subsidiarity a nd Proportional ity’. e former
1 Treaty of Nice, O cial Journal C 80, 10 March 2001.
2 Laeken Declaration – e Fut ure of the Europea n Union, e Laeken Eu ropean Counci l, 14–15
December 2001.
To continue reading
Request your trial