Role of national parliaments

Ensuring subsidiarity

The new role for national parliaments is set out in a Protocol to the Treaty of Lisbon. Protocols have the same legal status as the text of the Treaty. The process will operate as follows:

• The national parliaments must be provided with all relevant policy and legislative documents (for example, green papers, white papers, proposals for directives and regulations).
• The parliaments have 8 weeks to consider the proposals.
• The parliaments may send a “reasoned opinion” to the European Union (EU) institutions on whether draft legislation complies with the principle of subsidiarity. There is also a Protocol on subsidiarity which requires that draft legislative proposals are justified on the basis of subsidiarity and proportionality.
• If enough national parliaments vote to send a reasoned opinion the draft legislation must be reviewed.
• Each national parliament has 2 votes. The Dáil and Seanad have one vote each. In general, one-third of the available votes (18 at present) are required to ensure a review; one-quarter of the votes (14 at present) is enough in the case of draft legislation in the areas of judicial co-operation in criminal matters and police co-operation.
• The review does not mean that the proposal must be withdrawn. If the proposer (usually, the Commission) wished to continue with the proposal, it must set out a reasoned opinion on why it considers that the principle of subsidiarity has not been breached. 

Changing the treaties

The Treaty also provides that national parliaments have a role in approving or rejecting proposals by the Council to make amendments to the treaties.