Bullettin n. 1/2011
June 2011
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Porchia Ornella
    La sussidiarietà attraverso il riordino delle competenze? Il Trattato di riforma e la ripartizione delle competenze
    in Studi sull'integrazione europea , Anno V, n. 3, settembre-dicembre ,  2010 ,  631-652
    The present article deals with the issue of the re-organization of the EU competences’ system by the Reform Treaty. To this regard, the Treaty of Lisbon confirms the relevance of the principles of the conferral of competences, proportionality and subsidiarity as cornerstones of the whole structure. However, greater emphasis is put on the first of these principles, so to dispel any doubt on the residual nature of the competences conferred to the EU. Another important element of novelty introduced by the Lisbon Treaty is the distinction between three types of EU competences: exclusive powers, concurrent or shared powers and areas of supporting actions by the EU. This distinction may help to clarify the legal framework, although not always based on perfectly consistent criteria. The article goes on taking into account the subsidiarity and the proportionality principles and seeks to clarify their scope and content. The Protocol annexed to the Lisbon Treaty specifies the obligations stemming from the subsidiarity and proportionality principles for the EU institutions, in particular the Commission, during both the pre-legislative and the legislative phase. As for subsidiarity, such a clarification, especially with regard to the pre-legislative phase, may represent a major breakthrough for the correct application of the principle. To this regard, it must be also observed that the Protocol introduces an ‘early-warning’ mechanism that allows national parliaments to exercise their control on the legislative proposals presented by the Commission, so to assess their conformity with the subsidiarity principle. Lastly, the article shows that the most important innovation brought forward by the Lisbon Treaty is what can be called the ‘increasing proceduralization’ of the subsidiarity principle. This could have a positive impact on the effective implementation of the principle by the law-making institutions, as well help the European Union Court of Justice to exercise a more systematic control (ex post) on the respect of the principle. Furthermore, the article highlights that these mechanisms, by increasing the participation of national actors already during the drafting phase, may contribute to a better and faster implementation of EU acts.
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