The Italian Parliament in the European Union

This important new collection explores the role of the Italian Parliament in the Euro-national parliamentary system as an example of an increased role for national parliaments within the composite European constitutional order. It illustrates how parliamentary interactions within the European Union are highly systematic, with integrated procedures and mutual interdependence between the various institutions and stakeholders. The book argues that this dynamic is vital for both the functioning and the future equilibrium of democracy in the EU. This is significant, particularly given the challenges posed to democracy within the EU institutions and the Member States. Notwithstanding its peculiarities (a symmetrical bicameral system in which both Houses are directly elected, hold the same powers and are linked through a confidence relationship with the government), the Italian Parliament deserves specific attention as a lively active player of the European polity. The grid for its analysis proposed by this collection may also be applied to other national parliaments, so contributing to the development of comparative research in this field. Volume 2 in the series Parliamentary Democracy in Europe Contents Notes on Contributors Foreword: A More Effective, Connected and Democratic EU I. Introduction. The Italian Parliament, Today II. Dual Citizenship, Dual Representation III. A Devil"s Alternative for Parliaments in the EU IV. The Active Contribution of National Parliaments to the Good Functioning of EU Democracy V. The Need for a Pact Among Parliaments, within the New Institutional Framework Introduction: The Italian Parliament and the New Role of National Parliaments in the European Union I. National Parliaments within the "Euro-national Parliamentary System" II. The European Powers of National Parliaments III. The Ambiguities of the Role of National Parliaments in the EU and the Debate on their Perspectives IV. The Need to Analyse each National Parliament Placed within the Euro-national Parliamentary System V. The Italian Parliament VI. The Structure of the Book Part I: Italy Coping with the Process of European Integration 1 The Transformative Role of the Parliament in the Italian Experience I. The First Long Phase of the Italian Parliamentary System II. Reasons for and Context of the 1993 Crisis III. The Incomplete Shift to a Majoritarian Democracy IV. Current Issues in the Political Representation System 2 The Role of the Italian Parliament in the Stipulation of International Treaties: Rise and Decline of the "Authorisation Model" I. Introduction. Parliamentary Authorisation: A Model for a State-based Law-making II. The Functioning of the "Authorisation Model" in a Comparative Perspective III. Authorisation Model: The Italian Way IV. Conclusions: Which Future for the "Authorisation Model"? 3 Formulating and Implementing EU Law and Policies: "Ascending" and "Descending" Phases and Beyond I. An Introduction: The Specificities of Italian Literature within European Constitutional Studies II. Some General Definitions and an Attempt at Periodisation III. The First Period: The Absence of Specific Tools to Organise the Relationships with the European Legal Order IV. The Second Period: The Annual Community Law "Era" (1989-2012) V. The Third Period: Towards a Tighter Connection between the Two Phases? Law No 234/2012 VI. The Perspectives of Reform VII. Towards a Conclusion 4 The Evolution of Italian Representation in the European Parliament: Electoral Laws, Systemic Effects and MPs" Characteristics I. Introduction II. The Electoral Law for the Election of the Italian Members of the European Parliament III. How (Dis)proportional? The Italian Electoral Law in a Comparative Perspective IV. Effects on Political Representation V. Conclusions Part II: The Formation of the National Position in the EU 5 The Function of Scrutiny and Political Direction of the Government, Between Foreign Affairs and European Affairs I. Parliamentary Instruments for Setting and Controlling the Government in the Domain of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs II. The Traditional Parliamentary Tools III. Major Innovations after the Lisbon Treaty IV. How the Italian Parliament Seeks to Influence the EU Policies: The Example of the Migrant Emergency V. Optimising the Participation Capabilities of National Parliaments in a Rapidly Changing Decision-making Environment 6 European Affairs within the Chamber of Deputies I. The Legal Framework II. The EU Scrutiny III. The Subsidiarity Check IV. The Political Dialogue40 V. Consideration of the Government"s and EU Political Planning Documents VI. Consultation of the Regional Assemblies VII. Interparliamentary Cooperation VIII. Conclusions 7 European Affairs within the Senate of the Republic I. The Constitutional Framework II. The Powers of National Chambers in the EU Legislative Process: The Scrutiny of the Government"s Activities in the Council III. The Role of the Parliamentary Bodies of the Senate IV. The Political Dialogue V. The Subsidiarity Check VI. The Involvement of Regional Legislative Assemblies VII. The Follow-up of the Senate"s Resolutions VIII. The Senate and Interparliamentary Cooperation IX. The Participation in the "European Semester" Process and the Economic Governance Cycle X. Conclusions 8 The Coordination with the Regional Councils I. An Unsatisfactory Status Quo: The Historical Lack of Coordination Between the Italian Parliament and Regional Councils II. The Treaty of Lisbon"s Upgrade of Regional Parliaments" Position III. Law No 234/2012 as a Tool of Coordination between the Italian Parliament and Regional Councils IV. The Coordination in the Case of the EU Second Legislative Package on Circular Economy V. The Participation of Regional Councils in the EWS and the Political Dialogue as a Step Forward for the Reform of the Senate? The Legacy of the Failed Constitutional Reform Part III: The Italian Parliament in the ‘Euro-national’ Parliamentary System 9 Procedures vis-\xe0-vis the Commission: The Subsidiarity Scrutiny as a Way to "Reconnect" EU Democracy I. Introduction: National Parliaments and the European Commission, at the Opposite Extremes of EU Democracy II. Early Warning System and Political Dialogue: Their Complementary and Ancillary Role in the Function of Scrutiny and Direction on EU Affairs III. A Senate More Active in EU Affairs, and Especially in the EWS IV. The Interpretation of the EWS as a Mainly Political Instrument V. The Implementation of Law No 234/2012: A Stronger Link with the Government, but Still to be Improved and Fully Proceduralised 10 Procedures vis-\xe0-vis the European Council and the Council: Approval, Delay and Veto Powers I. The Parliamentary Powers Concerned II. The Belated Implementation in Italy of Parliamentary Powers Requiring a Coordination between the Two Houses III. Powers to "Approve" Decisions by the Council and the European Council: The National Part of the Euro-national Decision-making IV. Delay Powers: The "Emergency Brake" V. Veto Powers on Passerelle Clauses and Family Law VI. Conclusions: The "Mild" Italian Parliamentary Model of Participation in the EU 11 Procedures vis-\xe0-vis the European Parliament and the Other National Parliaments: Interparliamentary Cooperation I. The Italian Parliament Facing Interparliamentary Relations in the EU Framework: Ongoing Trends II. A Symmetric Bicameralism with Divergent Approaches to Interparliamentary Cooperation in the EU III. Interparliamentary Cooperation from the Italian Perspective: An Issue Mostly Disregarded by the Two Houses" Rules of Procedure IV. Representing the Italian Parliament in the Interparliamentary Cooperation at EU Level V. Other Divergences in the Italian Houses" "Macro" Approach to Interparliamentary Cooperation in the EU VI. Conclusions. The "Europeanisation" of the Italian Symmetrical Bicameralism as a Leading Challenge for the Participation in Interparliamentary Relations 12 Procedures vis-\xe0-vis the Court of Justice of the European Union: Ex Post Subsidiarity Scrutiny I. Introduction II. Subsidiarity and Article 5(3) TEU III. National Parliaments and the Early Warning System IV. Maximising Scrutiny: Alignment of the Different Mechanisms V. Conclusion 13 Procedures vis-\xe0-vis the Institutions of the New Economic Governance I. The Evolution of the Role of the Italian Parliament under EU Constraints, from the European Monetary System to the "Fiscal Compact" II. The Italian Budgetary Policy as a Process: The European Semester and the National Semester III. The Italian Way to Solve the Asymmetrical Information Problem between the Executive and the Legislative Branches IV. The Italian Parliament and the European Central Bank in the Context of Monetary Policy and the Banking Union V. Inter-parliamentary Cooperation as a Basis for a Euro-national Budgetary Process VI. Conclusions 14 Procedures vis-\xe0-vis the "Masters of the Treaties": The Parliamentary Role in the Revision of the Treaties I. Introduction II. The Power of Revision of the Treaties between International Law and Constitutional Law III. The New Revision Procedure Introduced by the Lisbon Treaty IV. The Italian Parliament and the First EU Treaties Revision after the Entry into Force of the Lisbon Treaty V. The Choice of the Italian Legislator to Safeguard the National Parliament in the Treaty Amendment Process: Articles 11 and 5 of Law No 234 of 2012 VI. The Delegates of the Italian Parliament within the European Convention VII. Concluding Remarks Part IV: The Italian Future in a European Perspective 15 Understanding the Impact of the Autonomy of National Legislatures on the EU Policy Process I. Introduction II. Comparing Legislative Influence III. Origin and Changes in Institutional and Partisan Autonomy in Italy IV. The Influence of the Chamber of Deputies on EU Policy-making V. Correlation or Causation? 16 The Italian Symmetrical Bicameral System in EU Affairs I. Introduction II. The Constitutional Setting of the Italian Symmetrical Bicameral System III. The Lisbon Treaty and Implications for Bicameral Parliamentary Systems IV. The Italian Slow Process of Adaptation to the EU V. Participation in the EU Decision-making Process and the Assessment of the Principle of Subsidiarity VI. Conclusions 17 The 2016 Attempted Reform of the Italian Senate in a European Perspective I. The Italian Constitutional Revision Bill: Still a Symmetrical Bicameralism in the Management of EU Affairs? II. The Symmetrical Bicameralism for the Approval of Laws Authorising the Ratification of European Treaties III. The Bicameral Law on the Italian Participation in the EU IV. The Potential Role of the Revised Senate in the Transposition of EU Law into Italian Law Conclusion: "Silent" Constitutional Transformations: The Italian Way of Adapting to the European Union I. The Composite Nature of the European Constitution II. The Wide Scope and the Stability of the "European Clause" Embedded in Article 11 of the Italian Constitution III. The Italian Parliament in the "Silent" Evolution of the Composite Constitution Afterword: European Democracy and National Parliaments (Through the Prism of Matteo Renzi)1 I. The Power-Legitimacy Disconnect and the Limits of EU "Democratisation" II. Democratic Legitimacy and the Elusive Search for "Large-scale Solidarity" in Europe III. European Technocracy and "Building Europe Without Europeans" IV. National Parliaments as Repositories of Demos-legitimacy V. A National "Riserva di Legge" in European Integration? VI. Leadership, Technocracy and Tradition Index "The Lisbon Treaty states that national Parliaments shall contribute to a better functioning of the EU. Can they really do it and therefore enrich the European democracy? How far can they extend their original sovereignty without distorting political responsibilities that should be geared upon the European Parliament? The authors analyze the experience of the Italian Parliament under the light of these crucial questions and their exhaustive answers are greatly helpful to the readers of all over Europe." Giuliano Amato, Judge of the Italian Constitutional Court. This important new collection explores the role of the Italian Parliament in the Euro-national parliamentary system as an example of an increased role for national parliaments within the composite European constitutional order. It illustrates how parliamentary interactions within the European Union are highly systematic, with integrated procedures and mutual interdependence between the various institutions and stakeholders. The book argues that this dynamic is vital for both the functioning and the future equilibrium of democracy in the EU. This is significant, particularly given the challenges posed to democracy within the EU institutions and the Member States. Notwithstanding its peculiarities (a symmetrical bicameral system in which both Houses are directly elected, hold the same powers and are linked through a confidence relationship with the government), the Italian Parliament deserves specific attention as a lively active player of the European polity. The grid for its analysis proposed by this collection may also be applied to other national parliaments, so contributing to the development of comparative research in this field. Présentation de l'éditeur : "This important new collection explores the role of the Italian Parliament in the Euro-national parliamentary system as an example of an increased role for national parliaments within the composite European constitutional order. It illustrates how parliamentary interactions within the European Union are highly systematic, with integrated procedures and mutual interdependence between the various institutions and stakeholders. The book argues that this dynamic is vital for both the functioning and the future equilibrium of democracy in the EU. This is significant, particularly given the challenges posed to democracy within the EU institutions and the Member States. Notwithstanding its peculiarities (a symmetrical bicameral system in which both Houses are directly elected, hold the same powers and are linked through a confidence relationship with the government), the Italian Parliament deserves specific attention as a lively active player of the European polity. The grid for its analysis proposed by this collection may also be applied to other national parliaments, so contributing to the development of comparative research in this field."