Lequiller: Subsidiarity means a better Europe

Pierre Lequiller, President of the French Assemblée Nationale delegation to the EU looked into the question "Is there still a future for national parliamentarians in Europe?" In his opinion there is more of a future than ever for national members of Parliament but this had to be designed jointly and without competition.

Subsidiarity was not a one-way street, Mr Lequiller remarked, and at any rate did not signify less Europe but a better Europe. He considered it to be an important instrument to give the subsidiarity principle life and welcomed the possibility of the early warning mechanism in the EU Constitutional Treaty. Even without this Treaty, the national parliaments were already making an effort towards more efficient control of EU legislation, using the legislative programme or COSAC, for example. Now it was a question of translating words into actions and national members of Parliament had particular demands on them here. They had to contribute to building Europe and their ability to do so was proven by their work in the EU Convention where, along with members of the European Parliament, they had contributed important ideas towards the Charter of Fundamental Rights.