The paper analyses the ambivalent role of national parliaments within the system of subsidiarity monitoring. On the one hand, the Lisbon Treaty intends to strengthen the EU legitimacy through the monitoring function of and the deliberation of ideas through National Parliaments (multi-level system (Maurer), multi-level parliamentary field (Crum/Fossum)). On the other hand, some National Parliaments seem to be “natural allies” of “their” governments when it comes to discussions about the re-nationalization of legislative competences (Subsidiarity Report of the Netherlands, Open Europe, Fresh Start, Cameron Speech, etc.). The proposed paper provides a mixed methods analyzis of all reasoned opinions sent to the European Commission (Art. 7 (2) Protocol No 2, Lisbon Treaty).
Alternative: Section 35, 51, 06
