Scrutinising European Union legislation in light of subsidiarity: the Maltese Parliament

ABSTRACT

One of the main objectives of the Lisbon Treaty was to increase the democratic legitimacy of the European Union (EU). Member state parliaments were, therefore, equipped with new tools for monitoring compliance of EU draft laws with the principle of subsidiarity. The aim of this article is to shed some light on the unicameral Maltese Parliament’s ex ante subsidiarity scrutiny of European legislation. Based on the island’s historical and cultural background, the Kamra tad-Deputati confers great importance to the application of subsidiarity, although it is still in its learning curve over the rapid and effective implementation of such procedures.

KEYWORDS:

• subsidiarity
• early warning mechanism
• yellow card
• Maltese Parliament

Acknowledgement

I wish to thank the officials of the Kamra tad-Deputati who patiently answered my numerous questions and kindly provided me with invaluable updated information.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.