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ABSTRACT
Scrutinising governments lies at the heart of parliamentary activities in EU affairs. This applies to national as well as to regional parliaments, most of which possess a toolbox of scrutiny instruments, including the power to mandate, allowing for the strongest form of scrutiny vis-à-vis governments. The article investigates the existence of mandating tools in the 70 regional parliaments equipped with legislative competences in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, whose role in EU affairs has been strengthened by stipulations in the Lisbon Treaty. It is argued that mandating tools are, first, not widely used; second, they are more commonly applied in cases where national parliaments act as ‘policy shapers’ – enabling policy transfer – and if meso-level factors involving territorial politics create further incentives. In sum, the regional parliaments in six member states are still trying to find a place in the maturing EU multi-level parliamentary system.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Gabriele Abels is Jean Monnet Chair and professor of comparative politics and European integration at the Institute of Political Science, University of Tübingen. She is director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence PRRIDE (Positioning Regions and Regionalism in a Democratic Europe). Her research focuses on the parliaments in EU affairs, and democratisation and regionalisation, regulatory politics, theories of European integration, and gender studies. Recent publications include: Abels, G., & Eppler, A. (Eds.). (2015). Subnational Parliaments in the EU Multi-level Parliamentary System: Taking Stock of the Post-Lisbon Era. Innsbruck: Studienverlag; Abels, G., & MacRae, H. (Eds.). (2016). Gendering European Integration Theory: Engaging New Dialogues. Opladen: Barbara Budrich. Email: [email protected]
Notes
1. Regional parliaments have long been neglected in the literature, yet, lately they have attracted some attention (see Abels & Eppler, Citation2015; Borońska-Hryniewiecka, Citation2017; Vara Arribas & Högenauer, Citation2015; see also Committee of the Regions, Citation2013).
2. Regionalist political parties are strong in some member states, especially in Belgium (Delmartino, Citation2016), Spain (Nagel, Citation2016) and the UK (Dietzel, Citation2016), but also in Italy (Klotz, Citation2016). For some parties the EU works as a bulwark against the nation-state and even creates incentives for separatist ambitions (see Jolly, Citation2015).
3. Schneider, Rittberger, and Wonka (Citation2014) attest to behavioural changes as well.