Power plan for national MPs branded toothless

Date: 26/09/02

By Martin Banks

RADICAL proposals which would allow national MPs to challenge laws proposed by the European Commission are toothless, says a senior member of the constitutional Convention.

Klaus Hänsch, who sits on the body's influential praesidium, said he has 'grave doubts' over the plans.

Under the scheme, the Commission would send details of proposed laws to national parliaments to allow them to assess whether the principle of subsidiarity - that laws should be made at the lowest possible level - was being observed.

If at least one third of the national assemblies objected, the Commission would be forced to think again. If agreement could not be reached, the European Court of Justice could be asked to arbitrate.

Spanish MEP Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, chairman of the Convention's working group on subsidiarity which put forward the proposals, says the plan would provide an 'early warning system' to ensure the Commission was not overstepping its remit.

Crucially, though, the proposals, due to be debated at next week's Convention meeting, do not extend to giving national parliaments the right to veto planned EU legislation.

Hänsch, a German Socialist, believes the scheme suggested by his fellow praesidium member will not increase the role of national parliaments in EU decision-making.

He said: 'Under these proposals, the Commission can, if national parliaments object to a particular proposal, withdraw or change it. But it doesn't have to and if it does not, then that will only increase the sense of frustration felt by many national MPs.'

Hänsch added: 'Contrary to what is being claimed, this will not give national parliaments real participation in the decision-making process at all. Rather, it will increase, not diminish, the sense of lack of democratic legitimacy in EU institutions.'

However, UK Socialist MP Gisela Stuart, another praesidium member, has endorsed the plan, saying: 'The really significant breakthrough is that it recognises the distinct and primary role for national parliaments.'

Convention spokesman Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, said: 'At this stage, these are just proposals which still have to be discussed by the Convention's 105 members.'

Radical proposals which would allow national MPs to challenge laws proposed by the European Commission are toothless, says a senior member of the constitutional Convention. Klaus Hänsch, who sits on the body's influential praesidium, said he has 'grave doubts' over the plans.