At its next session on 17-18 March, the Convention will discuss subsidiarity and the role of national parliaments in the EU.
The draft Protocol on the role of national parliaments in the EU, which is to replace the current Protocol annexed to the Amsterdam Treaty, makes the following recommendations:
- the Commission is to send all legislative proposals, consultative documents, Annual Policy Strategy and annual legislative and work programmes simultaneously to national parliaments, the European Parliament and the Council;
- the Court of Auditors is to send its annual report simultaneously to national parliaments, the European Parliament and the Council;
- records of Council proceedings are to be sent to national parliaments and the European Parliament at the same time as they are sent to governments.
The draft Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality makes the following proposals:
- the power to activate the early warning system is to be given to each national parliament;
- the threshold is to be set at one third of the national parliaments;
- the Court of Justice is to have jurisdiction to hear and determine actions brought by Member States on grounds of infringement of the principle of subsidiarity;
- the Committee of the Regions is to have the same right as regards legislative acts on which it was consulted.
On EU’s finances, the Convention is expected to discuss all aspects of Union funding, including the own resources system and budgetary principles and procedures. There are proposals to remove the distinction between compulsory and non-compulsory expenditure, which would give the European Parliament the power of co-decision on agricultural expenditure.
On the implementation of the Area of freedom, security and justice, a generalisation of qualified majority voting will be proposed.
