Lords to report on role of national parliaments in the EU

The report will examine how national parliaments in EU Member States can play a more active role in scrutinising European Institutions and European policies.  This will include analysis of the role of Lisbon Treaty innovations such as the Reasoned Opinion procedure under which national parliaments can object to proposals for EU legislation. 

The report comes as interest in national parliament's role in European policy making is increasing. The Eurozone financial crisis has led to greater integration of economic policy in Europe with a bigger role played by institutions such as the European Central Bank in Member States' economic policies. This has led to concern that insufficient democratic accountability exists for those institutions. The report will consider what contribution national parliaments can make to alleviate those concerns. 

Other areas the Committee considered include:

• interaction between the European Parliament and national parliaments;
• the work of European scrutiny in national parliaments;
• effective co-operation between the parliaments of the EU, particularly through the Conference of Parliamentary Committees on EU Afffairs (COSAC)

The report will be published on Monday 24 March. Copies will be available to the media under embargo on Friday 21 March. The report is strictly embargoed until 00:01 on Monday 24 March.

To request an embargoed copy of the report please contact Owen Williams on 020 7219 8659 or email lordspressoffice@parliament.uk