Friday

29th Mar 2024

British Lords want more power over EU laws

  • National MPs should be able to review or reject EU laws - according to the UK House of Lords (Photo: parliament.uk)

National parliaments should be able to initiate reviews of existing EU law, according to a report by the UK parliament.

The paper, published on Monday (24 March), by the House of Lords' EU committee, says domestic lawmakers should have more power in the EU legislative process.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"There should be a way for a group of like-minded national parliaments to make constructive suggestions for EU policy initiatives," it notes.

"We would envisage a ‘Green Card’ as recognising a right for a number of national parliaments working together to make constructive policy or legislative suggestions, including for the review or repeal of existing legislation, not creating a (legally more problematic) formal right for national parliaments to initiate legislation."

The Lisbon treaty introduced a regime allowing national lawmakers to formally object to a proposed EU law.

If objections to a proposal are submitted by at least a third of the bloc's national assemblies, a so-called "yellow card" is triggered, and the European Commission is expected to review the proposal.

In the four years since the Lisbon treaty came into force, the yellow card has only been used twice, however.

A number of national parliaments have also accused the commission of ignoring their objections.

Frustration with the system reached a head last autumn when the commission ignored a yellow card by 18 parliaments on plans to establish a European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The proposal, which would establish an EU-level body with the exclusive power to investigate and prosecute criminal offences relating to the EU's financial interests, is now being negotiated by MEPs and ministers.

The second yellow card was issued against a draft law affecting the right to strike, which the commission abandoned in 2012 citing opposition from governments.

"Technical deficiencies have meant that the [yellow card] procedure has not been as effective as hoped," said the Lords' report.

It added that when a yellow card is created, the EU executive should be required to "either drop the proposal in question, or substantially amend it in order to meet the concerns expressed".

Peers also want to increase the deadline for national chambers to issue an opinion on a legislative proposal, from 8 weeks to 16 weeks.

Giving national parliaments the power to block unwanted European legislation is one of the reforms demanded by UK prime minister David Cameron as he seeks to re-write the UK membership terms of the bloc. The plan has also been backed by a handful of other governments.

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us