Annual report 2016 on relations between the European Commission and national parliaments

In 2014, when President Juncker presented the Political Guidelines that would set the framework for the Commission's work under his leadership, he stressed the importance of the relationship with national Parliaments, particularly in ensuring respect for the principle of subsidiarity. In its second full year in office, the Commission continued its efforts to deepen these important relations with national Parliaments with the aim of bringing the European Union closer to its citizens.

The importance attached by the Commission to its relations with national Parliaments was underlined by President Juncker in the mission letters he addressed to all Members of the Commission and further highlighted in his State of the Union address to the European Parliament on 14 September 2016. President Juncker highlighted the number of meetings between Members of the Commission and national Parliaments since the beginning of the mandate that have served to bring Europe closer to its citizens and their national representatives. He also announced that the Commission intended to re-energise further this relationship by having Commissioners present the State of the Union to national Parliaments. As a result, the State of the Union has since been presented and discussed in almost all national Parliaments.

In addition to these direct contacts between Members of the Commission and national Parliaments, the Commission maintained an active written exchange with national Parliaments through the political dialogue and subsidiarity control mechanism.

This report, now in its twelfth year, focuses on the Commission's political dialogue with national Parliaments which was initiated in 2006 with the aim of promoting the involvement of national Parliaments in the shaping and implementation of EU policy. The subsidiarity control mechanism, which gives national Parliaments the right to assess whether legislative proposals in areas that do not fall within the exclusive competence of the European Union comply with the principle of subsidiarity, is addressed in the Commission's Annual report 2016 on subsidiarity and proportionality. That report, published in parallel, should be seen as complementary to this report.