Six Ways to Better Involve National Parliaments in EU Affairs

This research paper argues that there is no single right way to involve national parliaments in European governance, but rather several. The diversity of experiences in the 27 member states makes it possible to identify certain best practices that go beyond a purely passive role of approving treaty changes and validating European secondary legislation. The paper highlights them by presenting a number of case studies that are emblematic in both their legal and political dimensions. The six cases have been selected to cover a variety of parliaments and refer to various aspects of national parliaments’ participation in European affairs: government oversight, direct participation in EU policymaking, interparliamentary cooperation and so on. Each practice has been associated with one or two specific parliamentary assemblies to better understand their rationales and procedures, even though other national parliaments could also have been considered.