With a majority comprising the Christian Democrat, Conservative and far-right groups (337 votes in favour, 245 against, 12 abstentions), on Thursday 27 November the European Parliament adopted in its entirety the draft resolution by Marieke Ehlers (PfE, Dutch) reaffirming the importance of the principle of subsidiarity in the political and legislative action of the European Union (see EUROPE 13746/25).
“The EU should only legislate in cases where action at European level adds real value. The report calls for strengthening the role of national parliaments, demanding earlier consultation, greater transparency, and more effective tools to hold EU institutions accountable”, said Ms Ehlers in a press release.
In particular, MEPs are in favour of adapting, by means of a subsequent amendment to the Treaties, the mechanism of the early warning system, which allows national parliaments to react to European legislative initiatives by means of ‘yellow’ or ‘orange’ cards. They recommend extending to twelve weeks the response time for a national parliament under this system.
The Parliament is also putting forward the idea of creating a ‘green card’ that would enable national parliaments to suggest legislative initiatives to be taken at European level.
Link to the European Parliament resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/jp4
In the vote, MEPs rejected an alternative motion for a resolution tabled by the S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left groups.
This text supported the creation of a ‘green card’ through which “one third” of national parliaments could ask the Commission or the European Parliament to present initiatives. It also called for a reform of the Treaties so that the EU Court of Justice would be empowered to ensure that legislation complied with the principle of subsidiarity.
Link to the alternative resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/jp5 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)