The European Commission will from next week onwards start to send its proposals for EU laws directly to national parliaments for comment – but it has made clear that it will not review any of its plans if national deputies dislike them.
The commission will on Tuesday (5 September) adopt guidelines detailing the “strengthened partnership with national parliaments” announced by commission president Jose Manuel Barroso in a major policy initiative in May.
The scheme, endorsed by EU leaders in June, means that Brussels will directly email all new proposals and consultation papers to national parliaments, “inviting” them to react at an early stage.
A commission official said the first documents will be transmitted to parliaments as early as next week, with communication commissioner Margot Wallstrom set on Wednesday to symbolically fire off the first email.
Take note, not review
The early warning initiative reflects national MPs’ growing ambitions to play a stronger role in overseeing EU legislation.
