Brussels, 10/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - The SWP (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik - Deutsches Institut für Internationale Politik und Sicherheit) in Berlin has published the results of a new survey by Andreas Maurer and Peter Becker entitled "Die Europafähigkeit der nationalen Parlamente - Herausforderung der EU-Verfassungsvertrag für den deutschen Parlamentarismus", devoted to the challenges that the future European Commission will bring for national parliaments and mainly for German parliamentarism. The two authors note that, in Germany, the new provisions introduced by the Constitution, mainly for monitoring subsidiarity by national parliaments, will require adjustment not only at the Bundestag but also at the Bundesrat. In their view, the early warning mechanism which ensures subsidiarity should not be used as an "instrument to hamper European policy". The new provisions will also entail intensification of information and consultation between national parliaments, Messrs Maurer and Becker comment. They recall that the European legislative process does not begin with formal European Commission proposals but with informal consultation between Commission, Member States, European Parliament, NGOs and lobbies, and the Bundestag should be more actively involved in legislative planning work.
Andreas Maurer also recently published for SWP a survey on the powers of the European Parliament, entitled "Die Macht des Europäischen Parlaments - Eine prospektive Analyse auf die kommenden Wahlperiode 2004-2009". (SWP. Ludwigkirchplatz 3-4, 10719 Berlin. http://www.swp-berlin.org swp@swp-berlin.org).