This contribution discusses the new delegation system of the Treaty of Lisbon (Articles 290 and 2... more This contribution discusses the new delegation system of the Treaty of Lisbon (Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)) and the current debate between the EU institutions on the control over delegated legislation and on the future of comitology. The European Parliament (EP) opposes the strategy of the European Commission to involve the Council in some way or in some respect in delegated legislation other than via the mechanism that the Lisbon Treaty provides. Parliament wants comitology to end once and for all, or so it seems. Whether or not they are able to make the Commission and Council change course remains to be seen. By way of a preliminary conclusion, the contribution argues that - whatever the outcome of the current debate - delegation relies and needs to rely on confidence between the delegating authority and the delegate.
By the end of 2009, Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Poland finally ratified the Treaty of Lisbon... more By the end of 2009, Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Poland finally ratified the Treaty of Lisbon. This marked the end of a turbulent period that had seen the Laeken Declaration, a controversial and rejected proposal for a Constitution for Europe (in 2005), and the hard fight over the compromise of the Treaty of Lisbon. The Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009. All involved parties did their utmost to play down the importance of the Lisbon Treaty in attempt to prevent the re-ignition of earlier debates. In fact, the Treaty of Lisbon was widely presented as a step backward compared to the overly ambitious constitutional treaty. This 'cover-up', however, cannot hide that the institutional changes brought about by Lisbon are quite significant. In particular, the changes to the legislative procedure and legal instruments of the Union are significant and major. This contribution takes a look at these changes and the new and more powerful position of the European Parliament in the ordinary legislative procedure. The overaching question the contributions addresses is whether the new Lisbon legislative procedure constitutes a true 'legislature' in the classical sense.
The idea of the separation of powers has been subjected to criticism and competition ever since i... more The idea of the separation of powers has been subjected to criticism and competition ever since it first came to be during the upheaval of the English Civil War. In recent years the case has once again been stated that the idea of the separation of powers has lost its significance in a globalised world, with a power constellation in which the distinctions between different types of ‘powers’ have blurred and even so-called constituted power holders have become more and more diffuse. Yet even its fiercest opponents cannot deny that the idea of the separation of powers as a theory of government has, in the words of M.J.C. Vile, ‘in modern times, been the most significant, both intellectually and in terms of its influence upon institutional structures’. The idea of the separation of powers reached its zenith in the United States and France in the late 19th century. In the two centuries that separate us from this zenith, the doctrine has suffered almost endless criticism, but endured non...
This contribution discusses the new delegation system of the Treaty of Lisbon (Articles 290 and 2... more This contribution discusses the new delegation system of the Treaty of Lisbon (Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)) and the current debate between the EU institutions on the control over delegated legislation and on the future of comitology. The European Parliament (EP) opposes the strategy of the European Commission to involve the Council in some way or in some respect in delegated legislation other than via the mechanism that the Lisbon Treaty provides. Parliament wants comitology to end once and for all, or so it seems. Whether or not they are able to make the Commission and Council change course remains to be seen. By way of a preliminary conclusion, the contribution argues that - whatever the outcome of the current debate - delegation relies and needs to rely on confidence between the delegating authority and the delegate.
By the end of 2009, Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Poland finally ratified the Treaty of Lisbon... more By the end of 2009, Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Poland finally ratified the Treaty of Lisbon. This marked the end of a turbulent period that had seen the Laeken Declaration, a controversial and rejected proposal for a Constitution for Europe (in 2005), and the hard fight over the compromise of the Treaty of Lisbon. The Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009. All involved parties did their utmost to play down the importance of the Lisbon Treaty in attempt to prevent the re-ignition of earlier debates. In fact, the Treaty of Lisbon was widely presented as a step backward compared to the overly ambitious constitutional treaty. This 'cover-up', however, cannot hide that the institutional changes brought about by Lisbon are quite significant. In particular, the changes to the legislative procedure and legal instruments of the Union are significant and major. This contribution takes a look at these changes and the new and more powerful position of the European Parliament in the ordinary legislative procedure. The overaching question the contributions addresses is whether the new Lisbon legislative procedure constitutes a true 'legislature' in the classical sense.
The idea of the separation of powers has been subjected to criticism and competition ever since i... more The idea of the separation of powers has been subjected to criticism and competition ever since it first came to be during the upheaval of the English Civil War. In recent years the case has once again been stated that the idea of the separation of powers has lost its significance in a globalised world, with a power constellation in which the distinctions between different types of ‘powers’ have blurred and even so-called constituted power holders have become more and more diffuse. Yet even its fiercest opponents cannot deny that the idea of the separation of powers as a theory of government has, in the words of M.J.C. Vile, ‘in modern times, been the most significant, both intellectually and in terms of its influence upon institutional structures’. The idea of the separation of powers reached its zenith in the United States and France in the late 19th century. In the two centuries that separate us from this zenith, the doctrine has suffered almost endless criticism, but endured non...
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