Subsidiarity[1]

On 23 March 2011, Law nº 11/2005 on the process of Italian participation in the EU legislative process included the novelties introduced by the Early Warning system (EWS)[2]. According to this reform, both chambers of the central Parliament shall implement the EWS by way of a reform of their respective Rules of Procedure[3]. The Senate already amended its Rules of Procedure; nonetheless, it did not establish a specific procedure insofar as the subsidiarity scrutiny is included within the broader scrutiny of EU acts. On the contrary, the Chamber of Deputies amended its Rules of Procedure and established a specific procedure with regard to the EWS which needs confirmation by way of regulation[4].

The Senate transfers all EU draft legislative acts to the Regions, without filtering them. Cooperation between the national Parliament and the Regions is defined in the Protocol of 21 July 2009 on the agreement between the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and the Conference of Presidents of regional Parliaments (Protocollo d’intesa del 21 luglio 2009 tra il Senato, la Camera e la Conferenza dei Presidenti delle Assemblee legislative regionali)[5] [6].

Where a parliamentary committee so requests, the Government undertakes reservation for a specified period not to express an opinion in the Council of the EU as long as the Parliament has not adopted a position[7].
 
Sardinia (Regional Law 13/2010), Emilia Romagna (Regional Law 16/2008 and resolution n. 512/2010), Calabria (Regional Law n.3/2007), Sicily (Regional Law 10/2010), Abruzzo (Regional Law 22/2009), Tuscany (Regional Law 26/2009), Marche (Regional Law. 14/2006) have established subsidiarity procedures[8].

With the reform of Law nº11/2005, the participation of the Regions, the Autonomous Provinces and the Local Governments in the EU decision-making is reinforced, providing the Presidents of the regional and autonomous provincial Parliaments with the possibility to present their observations relating to the principle of subsidiarity[9].



[1] Committee of the Regions, Report on ‘Subsidiarity in the multilevel Framework of the Lisbon Treaty’, Committee of the Regions, drafted by EIPA, 2011. Not published.

[2]Italian Chamber of Deputies, La riforma della legge 11 del 2005; Italian Chamber of Deputies, Partecipazione dell'Italia al processo normativo dell'Unione europea - A.C. 2854 e abb.-A - Elementi per l'esame in Assemblea (22/03/2011)

[3] Amended law 11/2005, Article 6.

[4] Committee of the Regions, Report on ‘Subsidiarity in the Multilevel framework of the Lisbon Treaty’, drafted by EIPA, 2011. Not published yet.

[5] Protocollo d’intesa fra il Senato della Repubblica, la Camera dei deputati  e la Conferenza dei Presidenti delle Assemblee legislative delle Regioni e delle Province autonome

[6] Report on ‘Subsidiarity in the Multilevel framework of the Lisbon Treaty’, Committee of the Regions, drafted by EIPA, 2011. Not published yet.

[7]Ibid.

[8] Committee of the Regions, Report on the Role of regional Parliaments in the process of subsidiarity analysis within the Early warning System of the Lisbon Treaty, Committee of the Regions, drafted by EIPA (Vara, Arribas G. & Bourdin D.), 2010..

[9] Amended law 11/2005. ​