The Scrutiny of the Principle of Subsidiarity in the Procedures and Reasoned Opinions of the Italian Chamber and Senate
11 The Scrutiny of the Principle of Subsidiarity in the Procedures and Reasoned Opinions of the Italian Chamber and Senate NICOLA LUPO I. Introduction National parliaments are generally institutions with a long history, strong proce- dural traditions and differing dynamics both externally (with their national gov- ernment as well as EU institutions, and of course with the other House, in the case of bicameral systems) and internally (ie between majority and opposition and between plenary and committees). Hence, a new procedure, like the scrutiny of the principle of subsidiarity, introduced at the EU level, does not fall on a blank page. On the contrary, it is inevitably embedded in the life of each parliament, being transformed and adapted to comply — as does naturally happen in a ‘ compos- ite ’ Constitution 1 — not only with EU requirements but also with the constraints established by each national Constitution. That is why the way in which the EWM develops in each national parliament depends on a series of elements that are typical of each constitutional system, such as the form of government, the political and institutional culture, the approach towards European integration, the confi guration of parliamentary groups and standing committees, and sometimes even the role of parliamentary bureaucracy. 2 1 For this expression and for its meaning see L Besselink , A Composite European Constitution ( Groningen , Europa Law Publishing , 2007 ) . 2 N Lupo , ‘ National Parliaments in the European integration process: re-aligning politics and poli- cies ’ in M Cartabia , N Lupo and A Simoncini (eds), Democracy and subsidiarity in the EU. National parliaments, regions and civil society in the decision-making process ( B o l o g n a , I l m u l i n o , 2 0 1 3 ) 1 0 7 – 3 2 , spec 130 (arguing that these elements could be deemed as part of the constitutional identity of each Member State).
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