Regions and Subsidiarity after Lisbon: Overcoming the "Regional Blindness"?

Abstract

The Treaty of Lisbon has strengthened the territorial dimension of the European Union by calling for respect of the regional and local self-government and by recognizing, for the first time, the role of regional parliaments in the subsidiarity control mechanism. Regional chambers with legislative competences have been given the possibility to participate in the so called ‘early warning system’ (EWS) in which national parliaments scrutinize EU legislative proposals in terms of their compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. This article takes stock of the recent experience of regional parliaments under the EWS in order to determine to what extent, if at all, the new subsidiarity provisions have enhanced the regional involvement in EU policy-making. It analyzes two opportunity structures through which regions can participate in EU policy-control, i.e. the national parliamentary channel and the Subsidiarity Monitoring Network of the Committee of the Regions. The findings reveal that regional participation in the EWS is considerably limited and disproportionate both between and within the Member States, thus bringing to light new challenges for the implementation of a multilevel inter-parliamentary cooperation in European affairs.The Treaty of Lisbon has strengthened the territorial dimension of the European Union by calling for respect of the regional and local self-government and by recognizing, for the first time, the role of regional parliaments in the subsidiarity control mechanism. Regional chambers with legislative competences have been given the possibility to participate in the so called ‘early warning system’ (EWS) in which national parliaments scrutinize EU legislative proposals in terms of their compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. This article takes stock of the recent experience of regional parliaments under the EWS in order to determine to what extent, if at all, the new subsidiarity provisions have enhanced the regional involvement in EU policy-making. It analyzes two opportunity structures through which regions can participate in EU policy-control, i.e. the national parliamentary channel and the Subsidiarity Monitoring Network of the Committee of the Regions. The findings reveal that regional participation in the EWS is considerably limited and disproportionate both between and within the Member States, thus bringing to light new challenges for the implementation of a multilevel inter-parliamentary cooperation in European affairs.Refereed Working Papers / of international relevanc