Subsidiarity: Early Warning Mechanism (EUC Report)

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 5:30 pm on 15 December 2005.

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Photo of Lord Bowness Lord Bowness Conservative 5:30, 15 December 2005

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, not only for introducing these two reports but, as a member of the Select Committee, also for his guidance from the chair of the committee in preparing them. The noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, has given the House a clear explanation of the committee's report and its proposals. I would not seek to better that explanation, or to repeat it.

The role of national parliaments was to have been enhanced under the provisions of the constitutional treaty. Happily, there now seems to be an acceptance of the desirability of subsidiarity and the greater involvement of national parliaments in European affairs. While I regret the loss of the formal and legal process set out in the constitutional treaty, there is no reason that national parliaments should not try to exercise the same role as envisaged in the treaty, even if they must rely on influence rather than a strict treaty provision.

I hope that national parliaments, across the Union, will participate in the COSAC scheme to carry out the check on subsidiarity and proportionality. I certainly hope that opponents of the treaty will not condemn the exercise as an attempt to introduce it through the back door—and, moreover, that treaty supporters will not see it as an attempt to weaken it by cherry-picking a particular provision.

The treaty only gave national parliaments the early warning mechanism, or the "yellow card", in respect of alleged breaches of subsidiarity—although the protocol itself referred to the application of subsidiarity and proportionality. I understand that the COSAC scheme refers to both. That is welcome as I believe that proportionality might, in many instances, prove to be a greater problem in connection with proposals than subsidiarity. Indeed, I have been advised that in a recent analysis of Commission proposals, only 11 out of 600 may have given rise to subsidiarity problems.

We may be in a period of reflection following the French and Dutch rejection of the constitutional treaty but, presumably, that does not mean that we spend our time gazing into the mirror. I suggest that these are not the only elements within the treaty which will, in the fullness of time, need to be addressed. I accept that the treaty itself has little chance of becoming law in the foreseeable future, but we cannot do nothing for the foreseeable future. Changes to the operation of the European Union will have to be made. As national parliamentarians, the area that we are discussing this evening directly affects us and is one on which we can proceed. Yet we cannot reject all such proposals merely because they first saw the light in a treaty that was subsequently not implemented. We must be prepared to use existing treaties to accomplish aims, where a particular proposal is in the interests of the efficient working of the Union and the improvement of the democratic process.

One proposal lost within the treaty was related to the protocol on subsidiarity. It aimed to ensure that decisions were taken at the appropriate level, closest to the people. The protocol referred particularly to the Committee of the Regions. Your Lordships will know that that is the European organisation for local and regional authorities; I had the pleasure of being a member of it for some time. It is consulted on a number of proposals. The draft treaty proposed that the Committee of the Regions would have the right to bring actions in the European Court of Justice against European legislative acts where it considered that they infringed subsidiarity and involved matters where it had to be consulted. From my experience of work on the Committee of the Regions, I do not believe that local and regional authorities are anything other than jealous guardians of subsidiarity and their independence. That is another factor which may cause us to regret that we have not been able to go forward.

Perhaps we should be encouraged by the outcome of the conference held on 17 November in The Hague. The noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, referred to the conclusions. I shall expand on those briefly. The papers state that:

"Member State Parliaments are encouraged . . . to develop their scrutiny role to ensure democratic debate at the EU's multi-annual and annual programmes, consultation documents, road maps . . . to provide the European institutions with an early indication of their perspectives on where Member States should take action; and . . . to participate in the efforts of COSAC".

Perhaps more important:

"The Commission, with the Member States Council and European Parliament, is encouraged . . . to ensure that Member State Parliaments are consulted at an early stage and their views taken into account before bringing forward new legislative proposals or proposals to reduce EU involvement in some areas".

All these are, I believe, a formula for partnership and a recognition by governments and by the European institutions of the legitimate role of national parliaments. It is something in which we as national parliaments can play a positive rather than a carping role in European matters, and ensure that legislation coming from Europe is properly scrutinised.