Subnational Parliaments in the EU Multi-Level Parliamentary System

SUBNATIONAL OR REGIONAL PARLIAMENTS with legislative competences are increasingly active in EU affairs and are recognized as POTENTIAL ACTORS IN THE EU'S MULTI-LEVEL SYSTEM BY EU LAW. However, studies on the territorial effects of European integration and on the Europeanization of parliaments as well as parliamentarism have so far disregarded this group of parliaments. In the existing theoretical concepts of 'multi-level parliamentarism' subnational parliaments do not have a place until now.

The book addresses this theoretical and empirical gap. Referring TO STUDIES ON PARLIAMENTARISM, FEDERALISM, AND EUROPEANIZATION the contributions discuss how to include subnational parliaments in the existing research. A total of 74 subnational parliaments from eight member states is affected by the new system, which allows them to participate in the so-called Early Warning Mechanism of subsidiarity control. The situation in six EU member states is analyzed in detail. The country chapters illustrate and analyze how subnational parliaments in the federal member states (Austria, Belgium, Germany) and in the decentralized/devolved ones (Great Britain, Italy, Spain) functionally adapt to the new opportunity structure and discuss the repercussions on legislative-executive relations as well as on interparliamentary relations.


With contributions from Gabriele Abels; Katrin Auel and Martin Große Hüttman; Peter Bursens, Frederic Maes and Matthias Vileyn; Peter Bußjäger; Josep-María Castellà Andreu and Mario Kölling; Ben Crum, Annegret Eppler; John Erik Fossum; Anna-Lena Högenauer; Sabine Kropp; Robert Ladrech; Erik Miklin; Matteo Nicolini; Werner J. Patzelt; Tapio Raunio; Werner Reutter; Gerhard Stahl and Bert Kuby; Gracia Vara Arribas.