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

politics and administration
tion of policy proposals after the national Parliament had expressed a view
on those proposals deemed politically sensitive by the Prioritisation
Committee. 6
3.3.2 direct link between parliament and european institutions
The emphasis in the foregoing section has been mainly on strengthening
the legitimising function of Parliament via the activation of ministerial
responsibility. However, direct links between mps and European institutions
can also contribute to the legitimisation of eu policy (especially in
the area of representation). Greater attention to these links would reinforce
the image of the eu as a complex, multi level, polycentric and only
partially hierarchical system (Kiiver 2007). This, in turn, would require
that national parliaments not to solely focus on ministerial responsibilities,
but also directly engage with European institutions at the European level
and/or with parliaments in other member states.
The most far-reaching (and most often cited) practical suggestion in this
regard is that delegates should be allowed to combine a mandate for the
national parliament with a mandate for the European Parliament (the ‘dual
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mandate’). The National Convention recently called for the reintroduction
of the dual mandate (Nationale Conventie 2006). This suggestion fits in
with the idea that the many administrative layers of the eu are closely
interrelated, and those interrelationships demand closer attention. Dual
mandates could make national mps more aware of both the European and
the specific national context of specific policy issues. This also offers
opportunities and scope for the broadening of substantive debates and
creating a forum for richer choices, beyond the dichotomous opposition
between the eu and the Netherlands. In this way, the dual mandate could
strengthen the representative legitimacy and increase the scope for
national mps to call the government to account.
However, there are also objections to the dual mandate. In the first place,
there is the issue of the wearing of two hats: a Dutch mp has to serve Dutch
interests, while the duty of an mep is to serve European interests. It is
important that the mandate of the mps concerned should not become
‘infected’ by their role as ‘institutional representatives of the Dutch Parliament
in the European Parliament’ (and vice versa). The workload of the
two positions is such that it is virtually, if not entirely, impossible to
combine the two roles, especially for members of the smaller parties.
These and related considerations resulted in the abandonment of the dual
mandate at both the European and national levels. 7