The usefulness of early warning in the legislative procedure of the European Union. A reflection based on the recent Spanish experience

Authors

  • Elviro Aranda Álvarez

Keywords:

Early warning, subsidiarity and proportionality, Assent, Opinion, Joint Committee for the European Union, European Parliament

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse how the Early Warning procedure is being applied in Spain, including the rules that Parliament has introduced for its implementation. The Spanish parliament passed Law 24/2009, of 22 December, extending the competence of the Joint Committee on the European Union in this area. For the purposes of developing this law, a Resolution by the offices of the Congress of People’s Deputies and the Senate of 27 May, 2010 established the procedure for examining and, where appropriate, issuing an Opinion on, how a legislative initiative by the European Union may affect subsidiarity. Although the accumulated experience is still limited, there are already sufficient examples to suggest that the inclusion of this procedure does generate a delay in the legislative activity of the European Parliament, while not providing contributions of any particular importance from the national parliaments.

Issue

Section

STUDIES