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THE
HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES,
WISHING to ensure that decisions are taken as closely as
possible to the citizens of the Union;
RESOLVED to establish the conditions for the application of
the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, as laid
down in Article I-11 of the Constitution, and to establish a
system for monitoring the application of those principles,
HAVE AGREED UPON the following provisions, which shall be
annexed to the Treaty establishing a Constitution for
Europe:
ARTICLE 1
Each institution shall ensure constant respect for the
principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, as laid down
in Article I-11 of the Constitution.
ARTICLE
2
Before proposing European legislative acts, the Commission
shall consult widely. Such consultations shall, where
appropriate, take into account the regional and local
dimension of the action envisaged. In cases of exceptional
urgency, the Commission shall not conduct such
consultations. It shall give reasons for its decision in its
proposal.
ARTICLE
3
For the purposes of this Protocol, "draft European
legislative acts" shall mean proposals from the Commission,
initiatives from a group of Member States, initiatives from
the European Parliament, requests from the Court of Justice,
recommendations from the European Central Bank and requests
from the European Investment Bank for the adoption of a
European legislative act.
ARTICLE 4
The Commission shall forward its draft European legislative
acts and its amended drafts to national Parliaments at the
same time as to the Union legislator.
The
European Parliament shall forward its draft European
legislative acts and its amended drafts to national
Parliaments.
The Council shall forward draft European legislative acts
originating from a group of Member States, the Court of
Justice, the European Central Bank or the European
Investment Bank and amended drafts to national Parliaments.
Upon
adoption, legislative resolutions of the European Parliament
and positions of the Council shall be forwarded by them to
national Parliaments.
ARTICLE
5
Draft European legislative acts shall be justified with
regard to the principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality. Any draft European legislative act should
contain a detailed statement making it possible to appraise
compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality.
This
statement should contain some assessment of the proposal's
financial impact and, in the case of a European framework
law, of its implications for the rules to be put in place by
Member States, including, where necessary, the regional
legislation. The reasons for concluding that a Union
objective can be better achieved at Union level shall be
substantiated by qualitative and, wherever possible,
quantitative indicators. Draft European legislative acts
shall take account of the need for any burden, whether
financial or administrative, falling upon the Union,
national governments, regional or local authorities,
economic operators and citizens, to be minimised and
commensurate with the objective to be achieved.
ARTICLE
6
Any national Parliament or any chamber of a national
Parliament may, within six weeks from the date of
transmission of a draft European legislative act, send to
the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and
the Commission a reasoned opinion stating why it considers
that the draft in question does not comply with the
principle of subsidiarity. It will be for each national
Parliament or each chamber of a national Parliament to
consult, where appropriate, regional parliaments with
legislative powers.
If the draft European legislative act originates from a
group of Member States, the President of the Council shall
forward the opinion to the governments of those Member
States.
If the
draft European legislative act originates from the Court of
Justice, the European Central Bank or the European
Investment Bank, the President of the Council shall forward
the opinion to the institution or body concerned.
ARTICLE 7
The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission,
and, where appropriate, the group of Member States, the
Court of Justice, the European Central Bank or the European
Investment Bank, if the draft legislative act originates
from them, shall take account of the reasoned opinions
issued by national Parliaments or by a chamber of a national
Parliament.
Each national Parliament shall have two votes, shared out on
the basis of the national Parliamentary system. In the case
of a bicameral Parliamentary system, each of the two
chambers shall have one vote.
Where reasoned opinions on a draft European legislative
act's non-compliance with the principle of subsidiarity
represent at least one third of all the votes allocated to
the national Parliaments in accordance with the second
paragraph, the draft must be reviewed. This threshold shall
be a quarter in the case of a draft European legislative act
submitted on the basis of Article III-264 of the
Constitution on the area of freedom, security and justice.
After
such review, the Commission or, where appropriate, the group
of Member States, the European Parliament, the Court of
Justice, the European Central Bank or the European
Investment Bank, if the draft European legislative act
originates from them, may decide to maintain, amend or
withdraw the draft. Reasons must be given for this decision.
ARTICLE
8
The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have
jurisdiction in actions on grounds of infringement of the
principle of subsidiarity by a European legislative act,
brought in accordance with the rules laid down in Article
III-365 of the Constitution by Member States, or notified by
them in accordance with their legal order on behalf of their
national Parliament or a chamber of it.
In accordance with the rules laid down in the said Article,
the Committee of the Regions may also bring such actions
against European legislative acts for the adoption of which
the Constitution provides that it be consulted.
ARTICLE
9
The Commission shall submit each year to the European
Council, the European Parliament, the Council and national
Parliaments a report on the application of Article I-11 of
the Constitution.
This annual report shall also be forwarded to the Committee
of the Regions and to the Economic and Social Committee.
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