Rediscovering Europe in the Netherlands - St Antony's College ...

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strengthening the legitimacy of dutch eu policy: conclusions and recommendations political sensitivities and need not per se fit into a functional subsidiarity test. However, they have a defensive and deterrent character if political clarity is not simultaneously provided regarding what a country is prepared to achieve in partnership with the eu and why (‘green lines’). Therefore, a balance between these red and green lines is crucial. 7.4 improved legitimisation at the eu policy domain level 7.4.1 introduction Political and civil society actors may also contribute to a greater extent than they at present do to the democratic legitimisation of eu policy in the Netherlands on concrete policy issues. Two recommendations from the report which are particularly well suited to that end will be highlighted below, namely the establishment of a prioritisation committee in Parliament and the attempt to generate greater openness with regard to the contributions of (non-conventional) civil society organisations. 7.4.2 prioritisation and parliamentary scrutiny reservation 163 Direct elections provide Members of Parliament with a mandate from the electorate to articulate the desires, concerns, views and expectations of the public with regard to the content and outcome of policies. This also applies to eu policy. Many European policy domains do not, however, lend themselves to extensive political discussion and debate, as they may be virtually without political controversy and/or exceptionally technical in nature. Other eu policy domains may, however, be better suited to this political dialogue because of their political importance and political sensitivity for larger or more specific groups in society. The choice of which category policy issues belong in and, related to this, whether and how parliamentary discussion of such issues should take place, cannot be determined using objective criteria, however. It is a choice which Parliament itself has to make. This is also what prompted the wrr to endorse the call by the National Convention for the establishment of a parliamentary prioritisation committee (or to transform the recently installed Temporary Committee on Subsidiarity Testing for this purpose) to sift through the proposals of the European Commission on the basis of political and legal criteria. Comparable committees are active in other eu member states. This committee could select relevant issues which warrant further discussion in specific parliamentary subcommittees or which are considered to be of such importance that they deserve plenary discussion in Parliament. In this way, the prioritisation committee could contribute to input legitimacy. The
ediscovering europe in the netherlands added value of a prioritisation committee compared to the existing Subsidiarity Committee is that it would not only enable views on the desired level of governance (European or national) to be expressed, but would also create an explicit mandate for the discussion of all other aspects that may be politically relevant. This would add a great deal to the representation or input legitimacy. 164 The wrr recommends that the activities of such a prioritisation committee be linked to a parliamentary scrutiny reserve stipulating that the government may only collaborate on definitive decision making in ‘Brussels’ after Parliament has had an opportunity to express its views. This would explicitly link parliamentary activities to the position taken by Cabinet ministers and would serve as an ex ante accountability mechanism. The wrr prefers such an arrangement to a binding mandate (like in Denmark), as such a mandate is so rigid that it could constrain the Dutch negotiating position. The selection mechanism enables the government to adopt a functional approach in the discussion of non-controversial issues in Brussels. However, in matters which are politically controversial, Parliament may take a stand at an appropriate moment in the decision-making process, without the government putting Parliament under pressure by playing the negotiating card. Moreover, Parliament could also apply the regular ex post accountability mechanisms. This would allow Parliament to be involved more intensively in actual eu policy and to exert an influence on it in a way that is appropriate to a system of multi-level governance. The transformation of the Subsidiarity Committee to a prioritisation committee would require an adaptation of the internal structure and working procedures of Parliament. However, it is an adaptation that could be realised in the relatively short term. 7.4.3 openness to contributions from civil society Civil society cannot offer instant solutions for improving the democratic legitimisation of eu policy in the Netherlands. Civil society organisations are either too fragmented, or the eu simply does not constitute a substantial part of their regular activities, and those organisations which do concern themselves with ‘Europe’ are not involved sufficiently in national politics and the administration. Moreover, the often close links between the Dutch government and the more traditional civil society organisations that are present in the closed policy fora generate few incentives to challenge government. Accordingly, the key lies in changing this closely interwoven relationship and in increasing the involvement of civil society in eu policy.
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