Powers of the European Parliament - Case Study Example

Powers of the European Parliament Introduction: On October 27, 2004, the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso was forced to withdraw his team and ask for time to nominate new members, who would have to be approved by the European Parliament.1 This incident served to highlight the growing influence of the European Parliament which is confirmed by the fact that most of the members of the European Parliament felt that it was their job to weed out weak Commissioners and that they had served the democratic purpose they were intended to satisfy by confirming the entire body of members of the European Commission. The UK Telegraph summed it up succinctly when it stated; “The paradox of yesterday’s events is that they are a great victory for the European parliament but not for democracy.”2 There can be little doubt that the powers of the European parliament are expanding. When the EC Treaty was first implemented, the EU was visualized as more of a regulatory body that would serve to merely coordinate its various member States, rather than that of ascribing to the European parliament a power that is gradually growing to be on par with that enjoyed by the Parliaments of individual Member States. The principle of subsidiarity that formed the basis of the Constitution of the European union has gradually given way through precedents established in cases such as that of Van Gend3 and Francovich4, there are no areas that may be designated as off limits to the EC and exclusive to the Member States5. Moreover, while the European Commission was intended to be the only body responsible for introducing European legislation, its subordination in ultra vires issues to the ECJ and the European parliament raises the ultimate question of who is the ultimate power in law making? The growing power of the European parliament over the years has ensured that it can no more be dismissed merely as a “talking shop’. The powers of the European parliament under the EC Treaty: Article 192 of the EC Treaty lays out the powers of the European Parliament to request the Commission to submit any proposals that may be considered as Community Acts. However, the power to introduce new legislation in the form of EU regulations is the province of the European Commission. Through the law making principle of co-decision, the Commission is to propose and the Council, is to decide upon a procedure that is to be implemented.6 Thereby the EU Parliament is permitted to propose amendments and also to veto the proposed laws. While the European Commission has the monopoly in proposing all the EU laws, the procedure is to obtain a simple majority among the members of the Commission and a subsequent majority among the members of the European parliament. However the fact that the European parliament has the power to veto the legislation proposed or to propose amendments, and that in the event of a dispute the proposed law will fail, means that the European Parliament has been imbued with the power to legislate for the European Union. In view of the diminishing importance of subsidiarity of the member states, it may be seen that the power of the European parliament is growing steadily and may soon be a match for the powers enjoyed by the Parliaments of the individual member states. The principle of subsidiarity: The core of the principle of subsidiarity is to be found within Article 5 (formerly 3B) of the EC Treaty7, that is intended to effectively define the relevant competencies of both the individual member States as well as the entire European Community of member states. The division of competencies between the Member States and the European Community is not classified by jurisdiction, rather the article states that: “In areas that do not fall within its exclusive competence, the community shall Take action, within the principle of subsidiarity, only if and in so far as the Objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member states.” Therefore, on the basis of subsidiarity, the EC does not enjoy unlimited competence to act, rather it must restrict its activities to those areas that are specified as its province by the EC treaty, while leaving other matters to the authority of the concerned member states, through their respective Parliaments. The purpose of the EC Treaty is not to interfere with the law making powers of individual member states or the exercise of the powers of the duly elected bodies within the member States. The Parliamentary principles: Member states of the European Union like the UK, have subscribed to the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty for a long time, based upon the principle laid out by Oxford Professor Dicey, who stated that “in theory, Parliament has total power, it is sovereign” thereby it is the source of all valid authority.8 Within the UK, the traditional boundaries of separation of powers between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary are rendered unclear through the incorporation of the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty. However the growing relevance and importance of European Community Law in individual countries has become increasingly apparent through the principles of supremacy and direct effect which have developed through the decisions of the European Court of Justice in several cases, notably that of Van Gend9, where the ECJ stated: “The Community constitutes a new legal order in international law, for whose benefit the States have limited their sovereign rights, albeit within limited fields.” The provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights have also been introduced into the law making process within the UK, notably in Northern Ireland through a separate Human Rights Commission that has been set up for the express purpose of introducing procedural reforms in the attainment of justice and equity. Its primary function is to examine Westminster and North Ireland assembly legislation and policies, in order to assess whether they are compatible with human rights as spelt out by the European Convention of Human Rights.10 Thus, when the EC Treaty was first formulated, it was the local Governments of individual member states that were to have the supreme power in law making and operation within their own member States. However, the introduction of EC Regulations and Directives have increasingly made inroads into the supremacy of national laws and undermined the sovereignty of the Parliaments of individual member states through conflicts created with the decisions of the EU. The conflict in European Institutions: It may be noted that the role of the European Parliament has evolved from that of a purely regulatory, supervisory role to a much more active one. As compared to the Parliaments of individual member states, especially the UK, the European parliament did not at first enjoy any overriding power. Within the UK, Parliament is sovereign, therefore no person or organization has the power to act in contravention of the expressed will of parliament, except Parliament itself. However in the case of the European parliament, this was not the intent under which its role was spelt out within the EC Treaty. While in the UK, even the judicial authorities are subject to Parliament and the scope of their function is restricted to interpretation of the law of parliament, in the European Community, the European Commission was to be the supreme legislative body. However, as more members are joining the European Union, the European Parliament has become 732 member strong.11 Several steps have been taken in the direction of European legal unity through the development of the EU Charter of Rights and as noted by Heinz Kotz: “….a serious effort must be made to develop a common core of European legal principles and rules, to engage in the construction of a European lingua franca…..and thus to lay the basis for what will be needed when the ripe is ripe to undertake the project of a European Civil Code.”12 Many other experts also believe that a common community is emerging in the European Union and that national legal systems should be converged into the framework of the European Union.13 Therefore the role of the European Union is changing. When the EC Treaty was formulated, the EU was seen to have a regulatory function, however with the principle of supremacy of Community law being established and accepted by most Member States, the supremacy of European law is being established. An early instance of the emergence of the supremacy of the European Parliament occurred in 1998 when there was a conflict between the elected members of Parliament and the appointed members of the European Commission. The European Parliament is the only elected body and considers itself the watchdog of maintenance of democracy within the European Union.14 However, in an instance where there was a conflict between the European parliament and the Commission which has an overriding role since it directs legislation and policy within the European Union, the entire council of 20 Commission members headed by Jacques Santer resigned, so that victory was effectively conceded to the European Parliament in this case. Since the members of the European Parliament also belong to political parties, the role of the European parliament is therefore changing and its function becomes more important in relation to the Commission and the Council. In the recent fiasco that developed within the European Commission involving Jose Manuel Barosso, what was clearly noticeable that the Commission had erred, because it had failed to realize that it required the support of the European Parliament in order to face the council. Thus, there was another loss for the Commission, damaging its credibility among the citizens of the European Union. This institutional uncertainty between the bodies of the European Union such as the Commission, the Council and the Parliament has opened the way for a more comprehensive role for the European parliament in determining the affairs of the European Union. According to Swedish Prime Minister, Goran Persson, the Barosso incident has opened the way for the European Parliament to initiate a procedure of hand picking Commissioner which in turn could lead to the formation of a European state. He states, “I don’t want, between the Commission and the Parliament, a relation that gives the Commission a status of a European Government.”15 Within the original framework of the European Union, it was the Parliaments of the member states that had the supreme power to effect legislation and execute within the borders of individual States. However the growing importance of the Commission and the Parliament has meant that their legislative role has been evolving towards a more comprehensive Governmental framework that could encompass the entire European Union. Since the legislative and judicial role of the European Union has been evolving so that it is increasingly superseding those of member states, this additionally raises the possibility of a common European State that is an amalgamation of the varying systems of the constituent states so that a uniform overall legal policy is implemented that will be valid and applicable across all the member states. In the event of the emergence of a common European State, this raises the prospect of the European Parliament assuming many of the functions that are now carried out by the member states and together with this legislative function, the concept of assumption of Parliamentary sovereignty is also another aspect that must be considered. If there is to be a Government that is in charge of administering the affairs of a common European State that elects its members to the European Parliament, with this body being comprised of political parties, then the hitherto sporadic conflicts between the Parliament and the Commission could result in a system of Government for the European Union which could compromise the interests of the individual member states, as laid out initially through the principle of subsidiarity. However, there is still a significant limitation that exists in the full fledged power of the European Parliament. Although it is the only elected body among the European institutions, it is still the appointed Commission of 20 member strength that is endowed with the power to propose legislation and to put forward possible policies for the European Union, therefore it is likely to be the European Commission that will determine the future course of the European Union. Hence the European Parliament has not yet achieved the level of power enjoyed by the parliaments of individual member states, in that it only has veto powers and the power to propose amendments to policy already put forward by the European Commission. Conclusion: The role of the European Parliament has been changing since the inception of the European Community and the formulation of the principles governing the functioning of the European Union, which are laid out in the EC Treaty. While its initial significance was relatively unimportant, especially since the Commission was endowed with the power to propose legislation and the ECJ with the power to adjudicate disputes, this is not the case in the present. The two instances where the European Parliament has clashed with the European Commission and has emerged the victor have heightened its increasing strength within the European Union. Moreover, membership in the European Parliament has been growing with more and more members joining the European Union, hence its power is likely to grow as compared to the 20 member appointed Commission or the Council. No legal system of any state can be autonomous and exist outside the system of governance. With the supremacy of Community law increasingly overriding national laws, or requiring that it be implemented within the national law, it is the European Community that is acquiring more importance with the member states accepting the supremacy of Community law in the interest of the growth of the European Community as a whole and to avoid conflicts within the commonwealth. The prospect of a united Europe is emerging as a distinct possibility, in which case the new Europe will need a Government. There are only two bodies that can effectively comprise a combined European Government and that is the Commission and the parliament. The question of which body will emerge supreme remains to be seen, however as of now, it is the Parliament that has functioned as the check on the Commission, although it is restricted in the sense that it cannot formulate policy. However in view of the fact that members of Parliament are elected and could be said to represent the will of the people and especially in view of the fact hat they comprise political parties, there is every likelihood that the growing power of Parliament will emerge on par with those of member states. Bibliography * Andrea Francovich et al v the Italian Republic; Joined cases C 6/90 and 9/90 (1991) ECR I – 5357. * Article 251 of TEC * Dicey, A/.V. (1885) “Law of the Constitution” 10th edition, 1914. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp 470-471Europe’s power struggle: Commission v Parliament BBC News report. March 16, 1999 * Kotz, Heinz, 1998. "Towards a European Civil Code", in P. Cane and J. Stapleton (eds) The Law of Obligations, Essays in Celebration of John Fleming, Clarendon, pp. 243-4. * Press review: Strong criticism of Barosso Europe’s world. [Online] Available at: http://www.euractiv.com/Article?tcmuri=tcm:29-131602-16&type=News; accessed 2/16/2006 * Roxburgh, Angus, 2004. Analysis: EU Commission in turmoil. BBC. [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/02/99/e-cyclopedia/297559.stm ; accessed 2/18/2006. * Van gend en Loos (1963) ECR 1 “Consolidated version of the EC Treaty” [Online] Available at: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/treaties/dat/C_2002325EN.003301.html; accessed 2/17/2006 * Van Gerven,W, 1995. "Bridging the Gap Between Community and National Laws: Towards a Principle of Homogeneity in the Field of Legal Remedies?" (1995) 32 CML Rev 679 Section 69(6) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 * Weatherill, Stephen, Better Competence Monitoring, European law review, 30(1), 2005, pp 23-41 Read More