EU and Subsidiarity: role of national parliamentsNational Parliaments are playing a role of vigilance in ensuring compliance with the principle of subsidiarity within Community mechanisms and are doing so with growing attention. The role was in fact assigned to the national parliaments of member states by the Lisbon Treaty. The EU Commission has therefore presented a report on the “political dialogue” between EU and parliaments, stressing that 387 opinions on the most varied questions were sent to the Executive by the national parliaments during 2010 (the year to which the document refers). The Treaty prescribes among other things that a draft legislative document must be re-examined if the motivated opinions presented should represent a third of national parliaments. “The latter – says the document – are seizing this opportunity to dedicate themselves at closer hand and in a more than ever constructive way to European issues”. Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President of the Commission, declared: “Ever since the entry into force of the new treaty the number of opinions of national parliaments sent to the European Commission has considerably increased and we can only be delighted by this clear and utterly positive signal”. The national parliaments “want to be more participative. The Commission has pledged to deepen the political dialogue with parliaments and further extend the contacts and exchanges with all 40 chambers of the 27 member states”. In particular “the largest number of opinions with which a possible violation of the subsidiarity principle has been reported to the Commission has regarded the directive on seasonal workers and, more recently, the proposal regarding the common consolidated taxable basis for companies”.Petitions to EU Parliament, guarantee for citizensA total of 1,655 petitions (14% less than the previous year) were sent to the appropriate commission of the European Parliament in 2010. Of these 972 were declared valid. Petitions of this kind are a means at the disposal of citizens to express their grievances and denounce the non-application of EU law, the incorrect reception of EU legislation at the national level, or the violation of Community directives. The largest number of petitions came from Spain, followed by Germany, Italy, Romania and Greece. Luxembourg, Slovenia and Latvia are at the foot of the league table. “The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty – says Erminia Mazzoni, chairperson of the commission – has confirmed the right of sending petitions to the European Parliament as a key element of European citizenship and a fundamental right upheld by the new Treaty. Citizens, confident in finding in Europe responses to the culpable shortcomings of national institutions, can address their petitions to the commission”. Mazzoni adds: “The petitions received continue to be mainly focused on the environment, fundamental rights, internal market and justice. It is on these issues that we claim a greater attention on the part of the European Commission and ask that there should be a more productive dialogue with the governments and regions of member state”. The European Year of Citizenship is due to be celebrated in 2013; so the parliamentary commission for petitions has set itself an objective: to create a special internet portal “that may guarantee interactivity, the speeding up procedures, and the continuous flow of information to prevent confusion between EU and national powers”.Seeking Europe’s Green CapitalThe European Union has launched the procedure to designate the city that will be awarded the title of Green Capital in 2014. Four cities have been selected for the prize so far (in the period 2010-2013): in chronological order, Stockholm, Hamburg, Victoria-Gasteiz and Nantes. “The European Green Capital prize distinguishes and rewards the cities in the vanguard in proposing urban lifestyles that are respectful of the environment and able to become a model to inspire other cities”. The prize was introduced to make European cities “more environmentally friendly and salubrious places, in other words, cities that provide a better living environment for citizens”. Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, declares: “I await with interest the presentation of new candidate cities from throughout Europe, cities which show us how investments in the field of environmental protection can be combined with economic growth and greater wellbeing”. The selection will be made among cities with over 200,000 inhabitants, forming part of the EU, or of candidate countries (Turkey, Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro, Iceland), as well as Norway and Liechtenstein. The prize is intended especially to reward those cities that have achieved significant environmental objectives; encourage cities to devote themselves to ambitious projects for environmental improvement; furnish a model able to inspire other cities and promote best practices in this direction. Applications for the prize can be presented through the website www.europeangreencapital.eu by 14 October 2011.
