The gatekeepers of European integration? The functions of the national parliaments in the EU political system

Parliaments have several functions that can be divided into two categories: functions related to governance and functions that focus on linking with citizens.

Analysis of European Convention and COSAC documents shows that when defining a role for the national parliaments in the EU’s political system, domestic MPs emphasize the function of government oversight, with functions relating to citizens receiving little attention. This choice of emphasis is arguably explained by the incentives of political parties and the institutional set‐up of European political architecture.

National parliaments are increasingly seen as gatekeepers between national and EU politics, with the ‘early warning system’ included in the Lisbon Treaty reinforcing this perception of domestic MPs acting as gatekeepers of European integration. In terms of transparency, the main difference between domestic and EU politics concerns the role of the plenary, with European matters only seldom debated by the whole chamber.