MEHANIZAM RANOG UPOZORAVANjA NA POVREDE PRINCIPA SUPSIDIJARNOSTI I PROPORCIONALNOSTI

Novičić Žaklina (Институт за међународну политику и привреду, Београд),

In this paper, the author analyses the Lisbon treaty provisions regarding the role of national Parliaments in the European Union decision-making process. With the Lisbon Treaty amendments, a new early warning mechanism was introduced in the European Treaties. This mechanism enables each national Parliament to send reasoned opinion to Commission stating why it considers that certain legislative draft does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity. An early warning system provides an opportunity for the European institution of blocking a further legislative procedure on the basis of certain number of national Parliaments’ reasoned opinions. Nevertheless, the early warning mechanism (also known as a “yellow and orange cards” system) is soft and open-ended, and finally, its application will be a matter of political judgments and not of an entirely objective assessment.

Keywords: European Union, early warning mechanism, subsidiarity principle, proportionality principle