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.
