Role of National Parliaments post Lisbon Treaty

The following is the conclusion of a report by Global Vision on the above crucial subject, linked here: Role of National Parliaments § Under the pretext of enhancing the role of national parliaments, this Treaty actually institutionalises their subservience by defining a limited role for national parliaments in the EU institutional structure. They are allowed to scrutinise draft EU legislative acts, but while the Commission is required to review the legislation if a third or more of parliaments object, the Commission can then decide to continue with the legislation unamended – with their decision confirmed by the normal QMV procedures. Ultimately it is the EU itself, through the ECJ, which has final right to arbitrate on claims of subsidiarity infringement. (Article 7 of the Protocol on Subsidiarity and Proportionality) § Commenting on the process for agreeing the IGC Mandate and Reform Treaty, the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee said: o "We again recall that as recently as June of this year the European Council not only emphasized the ‘crucial importance of reinforcing communications with the European citizens...and involving them in permanent dialogue' but also stated that his would be ‘particularly important during the upcoming IGC and ratification processes'." (Paragraph 8) o “Such statements now ring hollow, and we reiterate our earlier comment that the process could not have been better designed to marginalise the role of national parliaments and to curtail public debate, until it has become too late for such debate to have any effect on the agreements which have been reached." (Paragraph 8)4 Commenting finally on whether the Reform Treaty imposes legal duties on national parliaments, the Committee said: · "We are not persuaded that the text of the Reform Treaty has been amended so as to put beyond any doubt the principle that no obligation must be imposed on Parliament." (Paragraph 16) · "In our view, the obvious amendment would have been to use the word ‘may' instead of ‘shall' in Article 8c EU as well as in Article 63 and Article 9 of the Protocol on the role of national parliaments in the Union. The statement ‘National parliaments contribute to the effective functioning of the European Union' is one from which an obligation can readily be inferred." (Paragraph 16) · "Given its constitutional significance, we must emphasise that this is not an area in which any ambiguity is tolerable and we shall look to the Government to ensure that its original undertakings are met in any new text." (Paragraph 16)