1 Table of contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................................... 2 RESEARCH TEAM .............................................................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 5 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.1. KEY FINDINGS .............................................................................................................................................. 6 1.2. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 7 2. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 9 2.1. AIM OF THE STUDY ....................................................................................................................................... 9 2. 2. SCOPE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................................................10 2.3. METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................................................................................11 3. THE NEW SHARING OF POWER WITHIN THE EU: ANY IMPACT ON MULTI-LEVEL GOVERNANCE IN THE NETHERLANDS? ...................................................................................................12 3.1. A CLEARER DISTRIBUTION OF POWER AT THE EU LEVEL : THE PRINCIPLE OF CONFERRAL AS THE CORNERSTONE FOR DELIMITATING COMPETENCES ..........................................................................................12 3.2. MULTI -LEVEL GOVERNANCE IN THE NETHERLANDS ...................................................................................14 4. NOVELTIES REGARDING EU INSTITUTIONS AND THE NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN THE EU LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: SOME POTENTIALS FOR REGIONAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES ....22 4.1. A MORE OPEN EUROPEAN COMMISSION ....................................................................................................22 4.2. THE REINFORCED ROLE OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN THE SUBSIDIARITY CHECK ...................................24 4.3. THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BECOMES A CO -LEGISLATOR WITH THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS .............29 4.4. THE NEW QUALIFIED MAJORITY VOTING IN THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS ..................................................32 4.5. NEW RIGHT TO GO TO THE COURT AND OTHER NOVELTIES FOR THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS .......34 4.6. THE END OF THE EU PILLAR STRUCTURE : AN EXTENDED COMPETENCE FOR THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION .......................................................................................................................................37 5. A NEW TYPOLOGY OF EU ACTS AND ITS IMPACTS ON THE POSSIBLE INVOLVEMENT OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES IN THE EU DECISION-MAKING PROCESS .......................39 5.1. ADOPTION OF EU LEGISLATIVE ACTS : THE ORDINARY LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE AND THE SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURES ................................................................................................................................40 5.2. ADOPTION OF EU NON -LEGISLATIVE ACTS : THE DELEGATED ACTS AND THE IMPLEMENTING ACTS ........42 5.3. RESTRICTION OF COMITOLOGY ’S SCOPE AND IMPACT ON THE POSSIBLE INVOLVEMENT OF REGIONAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES ...........................................................................................................................................47 5.4. INFRINGEMENT OF EU LAW / NON -LEGALITY OF AN EU ACT : WHAT ROLE FOR REGIONAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES ? ....................................................................................................................................................48 6. A STRENGTHENED RECOGNITION OF THE ROLE OF THE REGIONAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES WITHIN THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS....................................................53 6.1. THE RECOGNITION OF THE REGIONAL AND LOCAL DIMENSIONS OF THE SUBSIDIARITY PRINCIPLE ...........53 6.2. RESPECT FOR REGIONAL AND LOCAL SELF -GOVERNMENT & CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY .......54 6.3. INSERTION OF ‘TERRITORIAL COHESION ’ IN THE EU OBJECTIVES ..............................................................55 6.4. IMPROVEMENTS REGARDING THE EU OUTERMOST REGIONS ’ STATUS ......................................................57 7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .........................................................................................59 7.1. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................................59 7.2. RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................................................60 ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................................................64 ANNEX 1: TABLE ON THE MAIN CHANGES BROUGHT BY THE LISBON TREATY INTO THE EUROPEAN TREATIES ............................................................................................................................................................................64 2 ANNEX 2: THE DIVISION OF COMPETENCES IN THE NETHERLANDS ................................................................70 ANNEX 3: EU POLICY IN THE NETHERLANDS : INVOLVING PROVINCES AND MUNICIPALITIES ..........................74 ANNEX 4: SUBSIDIARITY CHECK IN THE NETHERLANDS ..................................................................................77 ANNEX 5: THE NEW QUALIFIED MAJORITY VOTING IN THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS .......................................80 ANNEX 6: EIPA QUESTIONNAIRE SENT IN APRIL 2010 ...................................................................................83 ANNEX 7: PERSONS TO WHOM THE EIPA QUESTIONNAIRE WAS SENT IN APRIL 2010 ..................................86 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................................87 OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS AND OTHERS ..................................................................................................................87 ACADEMIC ARTICLES /RESOURCES .....................................................................................................................90 PRESS ARTICLES ................................................................................................................................................91 USEFUL LINKS .....................................................................................................................................................91 3 Research team Gracia Vara Arribas (ES), Director of the Study , Expert EIPA-ECR, BARCELONA Delphine Bourdin (FR), External expert, BRUSSELS Bert Immerzeel (NL), External translator and research assistant, BARCELONA Martin Unfried (DE), Expert EIPA, MAASTRICHT Advisor at the Dutch provincial level: Paul Baeten (NL), Representative from the Province of Limburg, Head of the Strategy Department and Member of the Provincial team of Directors, MAASTRICHT 4 List of abbreviations In correct alphabetical order AER: Assembly of European Regions BNC : Dutch Working Group for the Assessment of New Commission Proposals BZK : Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations CAP: Common Agricultural Policy CEMR : Committee of European Municipalities and Regions CFSP: Common Foreign and Security Policy CIVEX: CoR Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs CJEU : Court of Justice of the European Union CLRAE: Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in Europe (Council of Europe) CoCo : Coordination Committee for European Integration and Association Studies CoR : Committee of the Regions COSAC : Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union EABB: European Agenda Binnenlands Bestuur EC : European Commission ECB: European Central Bank ECJ: European Court of Justice ECSC : European Coal and Steel Community EESC : European Economic and Social Committee EGTC : European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation ENVE: CoR Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy EOBB: Europa Overleg Binnenlands Bestuur EP : European Parliament EU : European Union EURATOM: European Community for Atomic Energy EWS : Early Warning System HNP : House of the Dutch Provinces IPO : Dutch Interprovincial Assembly (Interprovinciaal Overleg) LNV: “Landbouw, Natuur, Voedselkwaliteit”, Dutch Ministry of Agriculture MEP : Member of the European Parliament MS : Member States NL : The Netherlands QM : Qualified Majority QMV : Qualified Majority Voting RLAs : Regional and Local Authorities RPS : Regulatory Procedure with Scrutiny SMN : Subsidiarity Monitoring Network (CoR) TEC: Treaty on the European Communities TEU : Treaty on the European Union TFEU : Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union VNG : Association of the Netherlands’ Municipalities (Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten) VROM : Dutch Ministry of the Environment 5 1. Executive Summary 1.1. Key