Lectures 1-5 European and National Constitutional Law
1. Multi-layered Legal Orders and Comparative Constitutional Legal Systems
2. Inter-parliamentary Cooperation between the European Parliament and National Parliaments
3. Monetary Union and the Banking Union: experiments in multi-layered governance
4. The new economic governance after the crisis: Fiscal compact, Two pack, Six pack, and ESM
explained
5. The dialogue among European and National Constitutional Courts
Lecture 1 European and national constitutional law
Focus of the course: Connection between European integration and national constitutional law.
• Balances of powers between national organs and the EU
• Role of national institutions on EU level
• Prescription about the rule of law → Eastern Europe
• Fiscal policy of the EU
Examples of EU powers
- National Parliaments → have been given a role in the Treaties
• Making/holding ministers accountable for what they do at European level
• Parliaments receive all documents (before, parliament needed to ask the government to disclose
them)
• Role in the Early Warning System (EWS), object on the basis of subsidiarity, but necessity to
cooperate with other parliaments in Europe to make this succeed.
• Role in the economic and political dialogue, they can raise their concerns on a European project.
They may simply communicate with the Commission. The government plays a role in the
European Council, but the national parliaments can only communicate.
+ National powers in EU affairs
- Transfer of powers to EU
- Executives (ministers/governments)
• They were always represented on EU levels (European Council (of Ministers)), they already
have a head start before it even reaches the national government/ parliament.
• They execute EU policies (closely connected)
• Brexit: compromise between EU Council and the UK, to give them more powers (like a red card
mechanism for example) to prevent a Brexit, and then the Commissions had to execute these
compromises. This is peculiar since the traditional order in the Treaties, is that the Commission
firstly decides something which then goes to the national governments (UK), while in this case
the Council of Ministers first decided.
- Transfer of powers (Qualified Majority Voting): Member States can be easily overruled.
- Independent agencies (data protection/ competition): The executives on national level cannot
overrule the independent EU agencies.
- Judiciary
• Has benefitted the most, they have been given lots of tools in the Treaties, to invoke and rely
upon when they are confronted with legal issues regarding compatibility between national and
EU law. Examples are preliminary procedures.
,EU and national constitutional law
• art. 7 TEU: deadlock Poland
• art. 50 TEU: Exit according to constitution of the Member States (Brexit)
• Protocols 1 and 2 (role of NP’s and subsidiarity)
EU impact on domestic constitutional law
• Constitutional law relevant issues are decided and executed on a multi-level in cooperation. For
example tasks which were part of national banks have been elevated to EU level in the Banking
Union.
Increasing scope of EU?
• From EEC to EU (Maastricht), Amsterdam, Nice, failure of Constitutional Treaty and finally
the Lisbon Treaties (TEU/TFEU)
Enabling clauses
• Clauses to enable the country to be part of the EU in the constitution.
• We do not have such clauses in the Dutch constitution.
New: fiscal compact
• European Stability Mechanism was introduced. National parliaments asked, how is this
compatible with our constitutional law. How can we allow these mechanisms to be set up.
• See the BVerfG ESM Judgement: Not compatible with German constitutional law.
Consequence: German parliament needs to be consulted. It needed to be made compatible with
German constitution law, by interpreting it as compatible with the German constitution by the
German Courts.
EU developments copy states’ parliamentarism
• It cannot be stated that the European Parliament kind of copies national parliamentarism. They
can veto the composition of the Commission (like a government).
• The Commission is thus more or less politically set up.
Questions
• How do NP’s implement their EU roles, if they do… (scrutiny reserve/ mandates/ plenary/
committees)?
• Is there a structured dialogue with the own government?
• Must NP’s have that role?
• Is the EU a transparent democracy?
• Do national elections still matter?
• Do EP elections matter?
, Lecture 2 The role of national parliaments in the EU
Role of national parliaments in general
• Very informal influence → except the Early Warning System (EWS)
Why interparliamentary cooperation
• EP has adopted a series of resolutions, in these you’ll find the reasons for interparliamentary
cooperation
• Resolution 2014 the EP and national parliaments “in their respective spheres, the pillars of the
Union’s twofold democratic legitimacy”, the former where “EU citizens are directly
represented” and the latter “the national institutions to which the governments represented in
the Council are directly.”
• Benefit: National parliaments hold to account the Union’s Council (they are thus not a third
chamber!)
• Aims (in para/article 13):
a. foster the exchange of information and best practice
b. ensure that parliaments are fully able to exercise their powers in respect of EU matters
c. foster the emergence of a genuinely European parliamentary and political culture.
The different forums
EU Speakers Conference
• When communities were founded in the ’50 there was no need for interparliamentary
cooperation. Only the national members of parliament were in an assembly of ‘EU parliament’
type (parliamentary assembly, thus a dual mandate). The communities also did not have that
many powers. In ’73, there were meetings with the speakers, ministers of national parliaments.
There was no wish to have a structure however. Since 1999, they wanted a fixed event in order
to discuss substantive issues in the field of interparliamentary cooperation. The agenda is fixed
by the speakers and the secretariat general, so they have a meeting in advance to determine this.
• They talk about
1. Parliamentary cooperation
2. Substantive discussion (the future of Europe/ new Green deal EU/ framework Malta)
COSAC (Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union (French acronym)
• EU parliament together with the EU affairs committees of the EU. These are no specialised
committees, but there are debates on more general issues like interparliamentary cooperation.
They meet twice a year. This year they will talk about labour mobility (important for eastern
EU countries), EU budget. These are similar topics as the framework of Malta, so the same
topics return on different levels. Keep in mind that it has NO binding power. However, it may
give contributions to Parliament, Commission and Council. This is based on consent. They are
sent to the institutions for a reply.
Interparliamentary Committee meetings (EP → national parliaments)
• More of informal discussion. Every member of national parliament or EP may come if they
wish to. For example; international committee for women’s’ right. Organised by the EU (EP)
to get in touch with national parliaments.
Parliamentary dimension meetings
• This is organised by national parliaments in case they want to talk to other national parliaments
or the EP.
European Parliamentary week
1. Multi-layered Legal Orders and Comparative Constitutional Legal Systems
2. Inter-parliamentary Cooperation between the European Parliament and National Parliaments
3. Monetary Union and the Banking Union: experiments in multi-layered governance
4. The new economic governance after the crisis: Fiscal compact, Two pack, Six pack, and ESM
explained
5. The dialogue among European and National Constitutional Courts
Lecture 1 European and national constitutional law
Focus of the course: Connection between European integration and national constitutional law.
• Balances of powers between national organs and the EU
• Role of national institutions on EU level
• Prescription about the rule of law → Eastern Europe
• Fiscal policy of the EU
Examples of EU powers
- National Parliaments → have been given a role in the Treaties
• Making/holding ministers accountable for what they do at European level
• Parliaments receive all documents (before, parliament needed to ask the government to disclose
them)
• Role in the Early Warning System (EWS), object on the basis of subsidiarity, but necessity to
cooperate with other parliaments in Europe to make this succeed.
• Role in the economic and political dialogue, they can raise their concerns on a European project.
They may simply communicate with the Commission. The government plays a role in the
European Council, but the national parliaments can only communicate.
+ National powers in EU affairs
- Transfer of powers to EU
- Executives (ministers/governments)
• They were always represented on EU levels (European Council (of Ministers)), they already
have a head start before it even reaches the national government/ parliament.
• They execute EU policies (closely connected)
• Brexit: compromise between EU Council and the UK, to give them more powers (like a red card
mechanism for example) to prevent a Brexit, and then the Commissions had to execute these
compromises. This is peculiar since the traditional order in the Treaties, is that the Commission
firstly decides something which then goes to the national governments (UK), while in this case
the Council of Ministers first decided.
- Transfer of powers (Qualified Majority Voting): Member States can be easily overruled.
- Independent agencies (data protection/ competition): The executives on national level cannot
overrule the independent EU agencies.
- Judiciary
• Has benefitted the most, they have been given lots of tools in the Treaties, to invoke and rely
upon when they are confronted with legal issues regarding compatibility between national and
EU law. Examples are preliminary procedures.
,EU and national constitutional law
• art. 7 TEU: deadlock Poland
• art. 50 TEU: Exit according to constitution of the Member States (Brexit)
• Protocols 1 and 2 (role of NP’s and subsidiarity)
EU impact on domestic constitutional law
• Constitutional law relevant issues are decided and executed on a multi-level in cooperation. For
example tasks which were part of national banks have been elevated to EU level in the Banking
Union.
Increasing scope of EU?
• From EEC to EU (Maastricht), Amsterdam, Nice, failure of Constitutional Treaty and finally
the Lisbon Treaties (TEU/TFEU)
Enabling clauses
• Clauses to enable the country to be part of the EU in the constitution.
• We do not have such clauses in the Dutch constitution.
New: fiscal compact
• European Stability Mechanism was introduced. National parliaments asked, how is this
compatible with our constitutional law. How can we allow these mechanisms to be set up.
• See the BVerfG ESM Judgement: Not compatible with German constitutional law.
Consequence: German parliament needs to be consulted. It needed to be made compatible with
German constitution law, by interpreting it as compatible with the German constitution by the
German Courts.
EU developments copy states’ parliamentarism
• It cannot be stated that the European Parliament kind of copies national parliamentarism. They
can veto the composition of the Commission (like a government).
• The Commission is thus more or less politically set up.
Questions
• How do NP’s implement their EU roles, if they do… (scrutiny reserve/ mandates/ plenary/
committees)?
• Is there a structured dialogue with the own government?
• Must NP’s have that role?
• Is the EU a transparent democracy?
• Do national elections still matter?
• Do EP elections matter?
, Lecture 2 The role of national parliaments in the EU
Role of national parliaments in general
• Very informal influence → except the Early Warning System (EWS)
Why interparliamentary cooperation
• EP has adopted a series of resolutions, in these you’ll find the reasons for interparliamentary
cooperation
• Resolution 2014 the EP and national parliaments “in their respective spheres, the pillars of the
Union’s twofold democratic legitimacy”, the former where “EU citizens are directly
represented” and the latter “the national institutions to which the governments represented in
the Council are directly.”
• Benefit: National parliaments hold to account the Union’s Council (they are thus not a third
chamber!)
• Aims (in para/article 13):
a. foster the exchange of information and best practice
b. ensure that parliaments are fully able to exercise their powers in respect of EU matters
c. foster the emergence of a genuinely European parliamentary and political culture.
The different forums
EU Speakers Conference
• When communities were founded in the ’50 there was no need for interparliamentary
cooperation. Only the national members of parliament were in an assembly of ‘EU parliament’
type (parliamentary assembly, thus a dual mandate). The communities also did not have that
many powers. In ’73, there were meetings with the speakers, ministers of national parliaments.
There was no wish to have a structure however. Since 1999, they wanted a fixed event in order
to discuss substantive issues in the field of interparliamentary cooperation. The agenda is fixed
by the speakers and the secretariat general, so they have a meeting in advance to determine this.
• They talk about
1. Parliamentary cooperation
2. Substantive discussion (the future of Europe/ new Green deal EU/ framework Malta)
COSAC (Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union (French acronym)
• EU parliament together with the EU affairs committees of the EU. These are no specialised
committees, but there are debates on more general issues like interparliamentary cooperation.
They meet twice a year. This year they will talk about labour mobility (important for eastern
EU countries), EU budget. These are similar topics as the framework of Malta, so the same
topics return on different levels. Keep in mind that it has NO binding power. However, it may
give contributions to Parliament, Commission and Council. This is based on consent. They are
sent to the institutions for a reply.
Interparliamentary Committee meetings (EP → national parliaments)
• More of informal discussion. Every member of national parliament or EP may come if they
wish to. For example; international committee for women’s’ right. Organised by the EU (EP)
to get in touch with national parliaments.
Parliamentary dimension meetings
• This is organised by national parliaments in case they want to talk to other national parliaments
or the EP.
European Parliamentary week
