National Parliaments in the Aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty

244 Pages·2014·4.37 MB·English

by  Alexander Strelkov

National parliaments in the aftermath of the Lisbon
Treaty : adaptation to the ‘New Opportunity Structure’
Citation for published version (APA):
Strelkov, A. (2015). National parliaments in the aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty : adaptation to the ‘New
Opportunity Structure’. [Doctoral Thesis, Maastricht University]. Datawyse / Universitaire Pers Maastricht.
https://doi.org/10.26481/dis.20150212as
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Published: 01/01/2015
DOI:
10.26481/dis.20150212as
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Omslag Strelkov 352x240 mm 244p 100Gprint.indd 1 19-12-2014 10:39:19
© Copyright Alexander Strelkov, Maastricht 2015

ISBN 978 94 6159 404 4

Omslag ontworpen door Jean Scheijen
National Parliaments in the
Aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty

Adaptation to the ‘New Opportunity Structure’

PROEFSCHRIFT

ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Maastricht,
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus, Prof dr. L.L.G.Soete,
volgens het besluit van het College van Decanen,
in het openbaar te verdedigen
op donderdag 12 februari 2015 om 16:00 uur

door

Alexander Strelkov

U
P
M
UNIVERSITAIRE
PERSMAASTRICHT
Promotores
Prof.dr. Tannelie Blom
Prof.dr. Christine Neuhold

Beoordelingscommissie
Prof.dr. Sophie Vanhoonacker (voorzitter)
Prof.dr.Thomas Christiansen
Prof.dr. Johannes Pollak, Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna
Prof. Michael Shackleton
Prof.dr. Wolfgang Wessels, University of Cologne
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................ 9
I. Research question ...................................................................................................11
II. Research design ......................................................................................................12
III. Contribution of the thesis .......................................................................................14
IV. Structure of the thesis .............................................................................................15
CHAPTER 1: Review of the literature on parliamentary scrutiny of EU
affairs ....................................................................................................17
1.1 Evolution of the academic literature on the role of national parliaments in
EU integration ........................................................................................................17
1.2 Key strands of the literature on the role of national parliaments in EU
integration...............................................................................................................19
1.3 The shortcomings of the academic literature on the role of national
parliaments and EU integration ..............................................................................25
1.4 Research on national parties and EU integration ....................................................27
1.5 Contribution of the dissertation to the field of EU studies .....................................29
CHAPTER 2: Concepts, theories and methods .........................................................31
2.1 Opportunity structure .............................................................................................31
2.2 Types of actor reactions to the new opportunity structure ......................................33
2.3 The concepts of ‘party cartel’ and ‘EU political cleavage’ ....................................35
2.4 Parliamentary scrutiny, political influence and parliamentary strength .................37
2.5 Expectations about behaviour of parliamentary actors in the new
opportunity structure ..............................................................................................39
2.6 Research design ......................................................................................................43
2.7 Case selection with regard to national parliaments ................................................43
2.8 Case selection with regard to EU proposals ...........................................................47
2.9 Data gathering ........................................................................................................49
2.10 Data interpretation through process-tracing ...........................................................52
2.11 Limitations and challenges of the research design .................................................54
CHAPTER 3: The evolution of the role of national parliaments in the
process of EU integration ....................................................................57
3.1 National parliaments and European EU integration before the Maastricht
Treaty .....................................................................................................................57
5
3.2 National parliaments and EU integration in the aftermath of the Maastricht
Treaty .....................................................................................................................59
3.3 The provisions of the Lisbon Treaty on national parliaments ................................62
CHAPTER 4: National and EU policies in the domains of pension provision
and low-skilled labour migration .......................................................65
4.1 The context of EU involvement in pensions policy ................................................65
4.2 EU legislation in the pensions sector ......................................................................67
4.3 Overview of the Green Paper towards adequate, sustainable and safe
European pension systems ......................................................................................68
4.4 Overview of the White Paper “Agenda for adequate, safe and sustainable
pensions” ................................................................................................................70
4.5 Pension policy in Sweden .......................................................................................71
4.6 Pension policy in the Czech Republic ....................................................................74
4.7 Pension policy in Romania .....................................................................................78
4.8 The evolution of EU competences in the field of low-skilled labour
migration ................................................................................................................80
4.9 Overview of the Proposal for a directive on seasonal labour migrants ..................82
4.10 Labour migration policies in Sweden .....................................................................88
4.11 Labour migration policies in the Czech Republic ..................................................92
4.12 Labour migration policies in Romania ...................................................................93
CHAPTER 5: Parliamentary scrutiny of EU affairs in the Swedish Riksdag ........95
5.1 Evaluation of EU proposals on pensions and labour migration policies in
the Swedish Riksdag ..............................................................................................95
5.2 Domestic rules of procedure, material and temporal constraints ............................97
5.3 Role of parliamentary administrators ...................................................................101
5.4 Role of parliamentary committees ........................................................................106
5.5 Role of political parties ........................................................................................108
5.6 Evaluation of Swedish parliamentary practice .....................................................114
CHAPTER 6: Parliamentary scrutiny of EU affairs in the Czech Parliament .....119
6.1 Evaluation of EU proposals on pensions and labour migration policies in
the Czech Parliament ............................................................................................119
6.2 Domestic rules of procedure, material and temporal constraints ..........................124
6.3 Role of parliamentary administrators ...................................................................131
6.4 Role of parliamentary committees ........................................................................136
6.5 Role of political parties ........................................................................................139
6.6 Evaluation of the Czech parliamentary practice ...................................................146
6
CHAPTER 7: Parliamentary scrutiny of EU affairs in the Romanian
Parliament ..........................................................................................149
7.1 Evaluation of EU proposals on pensions and labour migration policies in
the Romanian parliament ......................................................................................149
7.2 Domestic rules of procedure, material and temporal constraints ..........................151
7.3 Role of parliamentary administrators ...................................................................158
7.4 Role of parliamentary committees ........................................................................162
7.5 Role of political parties ........................................................................................164
7.6 Evaluation of Romanian parliamentary practice ..................................................167
CHAPTER 8: Analysis of the adaptation of national parliaments to the
Lisbon Treaty .....................................................................................171
8.1 Domestic rules of procedure, material and temporal constraints ..........................173
8.2 Parliamentary administrators ................................................................................176
8.3 Parliamentary committees ....................................................................................178
8.4 Political parties .....................................................................................................179
8.5 Reactions of parliamentary actors to the new opportunity structure ....................183
8.6 Explaining the behaviour of political parties through party cartel thesis and
cleavage theory .....................................................................................................185
Conclusion .............................................................................................................193
I. Factors affecting the use of the new opportunity structure ...................................193
II. Expectations about the behaviour of parliamentary actors in the new
opportunity structure ............................................................................................194
III. Typology of reactions by parliamentary actors to the new opportunity
structure ................................................................................................................197
IV. Expectations about the causes of neglect of the content of EU proposals by
political parties .....................................................................................................198
V. New definition of parliamentary strength .............................................................200
VI. An agenda for further research .............................................................................202
Bibliography .............................................................................................................207
Primary sources.............................................................................................................207
Literature references .....................................................................................................208

7
ANNEX 1: List of respondents ...................................................................................227
Brussels .........................................................................................................................227
Sweden ..........................................................................................................................228
Czech Republic .............................................................................................................229
Romania ........................................................................................................................230
ANNEX 2: Questionnaire templates ..........................................................................231
Samenvatting .............................................................................................................235
Valorization addendum ..............................................................................................237
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................241
Curriculum vitae .........................................................................................................243

8
Introduction
The Lisbon Treaty marks a nodal point in the history of European Union (EU) integra-
tion. New structures have been created, such as the posts of the President of the Europe-
an Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy. The competences of EU institutions have been enhanced, as in the case of the
European Parliament, which can now play an even greater role in EU policy-making
due to the extension of the Ordinary Legislative Procedure (OLP). All these changes
have been carried out in order to achieve the goals of the so-called Laeken Declaration
by the EU Heads of State and Government (European Council 2001, pp.18-26), to make
the EU more transparent, democratic and efficient.
At the same time, however, the evolution of the European Union cannot be reduced
to Treaty change and the development of EU institutions. European integration pro-
foundly influences the functioning of domestic political structures, such as national
executives, constitutional courts and diplomatic services. National parliaments have also
been affected by the EU, although this process has contributed to what Andersen and
Eliassen (1996) call ‘systematic erosion’ of the role of national parliaments1. Several
factors - the spread of qualified-majority voting (QMV), direct elections to the Europe-
an Parliament and the growing complexity of negotiations within the EU - mean that
national parliaments have found it increasingly difficult to scrutinize and control the
policies of their respective governments in the EU political arena. This has led a number
of academics (Moravcsik 1994, Maurer and Wessels 2001) to conclude that national
parliaments are largely incapable of effectively adapting to the challenges of European
integration.
Nonetheless, both EU officials2 and experts (Bausili 2002, p.16; Jans and Piedrafita
2009, pp.19-20; Christiansen, Högenauer and Neuhold 2014) believe that the latest
constitutional reform in the EU by way of the Lisbon Treaty can turn national parlia-
ments into active participants in the EU policymaking process. For the first time in the
history of European integration national parliaments can have a direct impact on policy-
making at the EU level. In fact, one of the new procedures, the Early Warning System
(EWS), which allows national parliaments to block EU legislation on the grounds of

1 For an excellent overview of the debate on the ‘decline of parliaments’ see Costa, Kerrouche and Magnette
(2004); and Blondel (1974). For counter arguments to the ‘parliamentary decline’ thesis see Elgie and Staple-
ton (2006), Kelso (2007), Flinders and Kelso (2011).
2 See, for example, the speech by J. Buzek at the University of Strasbourg, 8 March 2011 (http://www.-
sitepres.europarl.europa.eu/president/en/press/speeches/sp-2011/sp-2011-March/speeches-2011-March-
4.html); Buzek (2011); Interview of M. Wallström in Euractiv, 9 September 2009 (http://www.-
euractiv.com/priorities/wallstroem-mulls-exit-strategy-e-news-222527); Speech by Maros Sefcovic of 22
October 2010 on the role of national parliaments after the Lisbon Treaty (http://europa.eu/rapid/press-
release_SPEECH-10-584_en.htm).
9