National parliaments are natural allies in European public debates

Fidesz MEP László Trócsányi presented his proposal for the participation of national and regional parliaments in EU decision-making and in the Conference on the Future of Europe at the meeting of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO). In his speech, he pointed out that national parliaments should not be seen as brakes slowing down European debates, but rather as engines, partners in establishing the real European political space.

The role of national parliaments is crucial in Europe in several respects, as they are closer to the citizens and have significant resources. The effective involvement of more than 8,500 members of parliament in the lower and upper houses would strengthen the Conference on the Future of Europe, further its success and its legitimacy. This way the distance between citizens and EU decision-making could also be reduced. It is therefore clear that national parliaments must be invited to the dialogue in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

As EPP Group Rapporteur, MEP Trócsányi suggested that a joint exchange of views on the Future of Europe could take place in the form of national parliamentary agoras, using a method based on committee and network-based cooperation, in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe. The key to a successful conference is the participation of national parliaments as true, equal partners. The adoption of the working document can be a good message not only for the Member States, citizens, national parliaments, but also for democracy in general.

In his proposal, László Trócsányi explains that although the Treaty of Lisbon is often referred to as the treaty of parliaments because of the new powers of national parliaments, national and regional parliaments still play a marginal role in European public life. Existing instruments, especially interparliamentary conferences do not allow for a real dialogue between national parliaments and European decision-makers. Subsidiarity control mechanisms such as the yellow-card procedure do not work in practice, and the idea of ​​formalizing the green-card procedure is only present in theoretical debates. The Conference on the Future of Europe is an opportunity to hear the views of national parliaments through the establishment of national parliamentary agoras, which, if successful, could further strengthen the involvement of national parliaments in EU decision-making.

Background: In 2020, the coordinators of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs decided to draw up proposals in the form of working documents at a Conference on the Future of Europe. Each working document intended to represent the majority of AFCO’s position on a given topic, contributing to the preparations for the Conference, as a kind of recommendation to the decision-making bodies to be set up later.