The Principle of Subsidiarity and Institutional Predispositions : Do the European Parliament, the German Bundestag, and the Bavarian Landtag Define Subsidiarity Differently?

Abstract

The goal of this working paper is to organize and to clarify the multiple definitions currently being used to describe the principle of subsidiarity within the European context while at the same time highlighting the significance in variations between the “positive” and the “negative” interpretations of the term. To gain insights into how politicians define the principle of subsidiarity, a survey was distributed to members of the European Parliament, the German Bundestag, and the Bavarian Landtag. The results of this project are collected and analyzed in the following paper and show that many of the “crude assumptions” regarding institutional predispositions towards defining the principle of subsidiarity prevail among many of the surveyed politicians