Executive-legislative (Im)balance in the European Union


Book Description

Ten years after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, has executive predominance in EU-related matters disappeared? How have executive-legislative relations in the EU evolved over a crisis-ridden decade, from the financial and migration crises, to Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic? The Lisbon Treaty could be expected to lead to the re-balancing of powers in favour of parliaments, for it significantly enhanced the roles of both the European Parliament and national parliaments. A decade later the contributions to this edited volume examine – for the first time in such an extensive breadth and from a multi-level and cross-policy perspective – whether this has actually materialised. They highlight that diverging tendencies may be observed, and that important variations over time have occurred, depending particularly on the occurrence of crises. As stated in the fascinating epilogue by Peter Lindseth (University of Connecticut School of Law), this is an 'admirably coherent collective volume, whose contributions provide an excellent overview of key aspects of executive-legislative relations in the European system since the Treaty of Lisbon'. This edited volume will hence be of interest to both academics and practitioners interested in future reforms designed at the European and national levels to improve the EU's democratic quality.




Executive-legislative (Im)balance in the European Union


Book Description

Introduction : executive-legislative (im)balance in the European Union / Diane Fromage and Anna Herranz-Surrallés -- Recalibration of executive -- legislative relations in the European Union : strategies inspired by the trilemma of democracy, sovereignty and integration / Peter Bursens -- The anticipation function of interinstitutional agreements : a smooth mechanism to recalibrate executive-legislative relations / Marco Urban -- Divided accountability of the council and the European council : the challenge of collective parliamentary oversight / Elena Griglio -- Executive-legislative relations and delegated powers in the European Union : continuous recalibration? / Thomas Christiansen and Sabina Lange -- The implementation of EU law in member states and its impact on the relationship between parliaments and governments / Diane Fromage -- National strategies of EU law transposition : does the distinction between legislative and executive measures matter in practice? / Robert Zbíral and Jan Grinc -- Failed constitutional reforms and silent constitutional transformations in executive-legislative relations : the case of Italy / Nicola Lupo -- Short-lived reparliamentarisation? A year of eff orts to 'take back control' from the executive in the Brexit House of Commons / Kathryn Wright -- How the debates on trade policy helped rebalance the executive-legislative relationship in favour of the European Parliament / Péter Márton -- A temporary recalibration of executive-legislative relations on EU trade agreements? The case of national and regional parliaments on CETA and TTIP / Cristina Fasone and Maria Romaniello -- Exploring interaction between national parliaments and the European Parliament in EU trade policy / Katharina L Meissner and Guri Rosén -- The European Parliament's role in the operation of trade agreements : parliamentary control and executive -- legislative balance in external action / Wolfgang Weiss -- Representative democracy in financial crisis governance : new challenges in the EU multi-level system / Claudia Wiesner -- Towards the 'normalisation' of security ? Executive -- legislative relations in an expanding EU security and defence policy / Anna Herranz-Surrallés -- The balance of powers and the EU's common foreign and security policy / Graham Butler -- All buzz, no bite : the parliamentarisation of the area of freedom, security and justice / Angela Tacea -- Epilogue : executives, legislatures and the semantics of EU Public Law : a pandemic-inflected perspective / Peter L Lindseth.




The European Parliament and Delegated Legislation


Book Description

This book revisits the Treaty of Lisbon's promise to further parliamentarize the EU's functioning by looking into the Treaty-law framework governing the delegation of legislative power in the EU. In this field, the Lisbon Treaty formally greatly strengthened the position of the European Parliament vis-à-vis both the European Commission and the Council. The book explores whether Parliament's formally reinforced role is reflected in the actual balance of powers in the area of delegated legislation and executive rule-making. It does so by assessing how both the law and practice of decision-making at the legislative level, looking at specific case studies, and the sub-legislative level, examining the scrutiny over delegated legislation, has crystallized in the ten years following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. This rigorous study gives a fascinating insight into one of the most significant developments in European parliamentary law-making, which EU constitutional lawyers will find required reading.




Research Handbook on Post-Pandemic EU Economic Governance and NGEU Law


Book Description

This Research Handbook provides a comprehensive analysis of post-pandemic EU economic governance and Next Generation EU (NGEU) law. It explores the profound impact of Covid-19 on the architecture of EU economic governance, focusing on the establishment and implications of the NGEU Recovery Fund.




The Tangled Complexity of the EU Constitutional Process


Book Description

Offering a fresh view on the EU constitutionalisation process, the new edition of The Tangled Complexity of the EU Constitutional Process presents three main points: the idea of constitutional complexity, the tension between constitutional evolutionism and constitutional constructivism in the process of European integration, and the functional nature of conflicts in the evolution of the EU. Because of its prodigiousness, European law produces consternation among constitutionalists accustomed to traditional patterns of power. This book argues that while constitutional conflicts have frequently been depicted as elements of disturbance along the path towards legal coherence, they are physiological and might even be functional to the development of the European legal order, which should not be understood in a deterministic manner. The new edition will be of particular interest to academics and students in the disciplines of law, international relations, and political science.




EU Law


Book Description

The Court of Justice of the European Union is the busiest court in the world. The second edition of this textbook explores why this is. It examines in detail the interactions between European Union and national institutions, instruments, laws and concepts that make up this unique legal order. It explains the core constitutional and substantive principles that underpin the European Union legal order, and introduces EU law in a detailed, comprehensive way which is both enjoyable and clear to read. It offers an up-to-date and accessible analysis of EU law and avoids technical jargon, providing informed insights on an exciting but challenging subject. Combining a historical perspective with up-to-date examples, it aims to help students appreciate how EU law developed and its continued significance in day-to-day life. This updated edition features new coverage on free movement, online resources plus additional chapters on Article 50 and EU law in the UK after Brexit.




Parliamentary Oversight of the Executives


Book Description

Oversight of executives has always been a key function of parliaments and one that is central to developing the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government. However, in reality governments are taking a more pronounced role in controlling legislation, diluting the influence of parliament. This book plots this trend in parliaments across Europe, to illustrate points of convergence and divergence. In so doing, it suggest tools and methods that parliaments can develop to bolster their crucial oversight role.




Parliamentarism and Encyclopaedism


Book Description

This book explores a specific aspect of modern parliamentarism: its ability to produce and organise political knowledge. The book argues that the very meaning of modern parliamentarism cannot properly be understood without considering the cognitive value which is inherent in the representative function discharged by parliaments, vis-a-vis the political community. It does so by studying the 'encyclopaedic patterns' underlying modern parliamentarism. Exploring the concept from ancient times to modernity, it addresses the fundamental question of the relationship between knowledge and democratic decision-making. This is a truly innovative book; challenging, provocative and asking crucial questions of how parliaments work and legislate.







The EU Political System After the 2019 European Elections


Book Description

This book assesses the impact of the May 2019 European elections as well as the Covid-19 pandemic on the EU’s politics, institutions, and policies. Special attention is paid to the impact of these events on the different political forces as well as on the Union’s institutional balance, its priorities and the reform of its budget and policies. Because of the many post-electoral uncertainties, the book also takes into account how the relations between the Parliament, the European Council and the new Commission have developed. Furthermore, it analyses the capacity of the von der Leyen Commission to implement an ambitious programme, especially in the context of an unfolding pandemic. The objective of this book is to study the 2019 electoral sequence (parliamentary elections, appointment of EU institutions leaders, investiture of the Commission, new legislative programme) and determine its influence on the main institutional and political challenges for the 2019-2024 legislature. In other words, the volume deals with the question of who holds the EU’s leadership after the 2019 elections and how it handles the 2020-2021 pandemic.