The European Commission has received the first ‘yellow card’ from national Parliaments  since the introduction of this new procedure in the Lisbon Treaty. National Parliaments have expressed subsidiarity-related  concerns regarding the Commission's Proposal for a Council regulation on the exercise of the right to take collective action within the context of the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services, COM (2012) 130 ("Monti II-regulation").

 

 

On 30 May, the College of Commissioners confirmed that  the reasoned opinions  received from 12 national parliaments/chambers (of Belgium, Denmark,  France, Finland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta Poland, Portugal, Sweden the United Kingdom and the Netherlands) on the proposal’s non-compliance with the subsidiarity principle  amounted to 19 votes, i.e.  one third of the votes allocated to national Parliaments (54 )  which is the threshold needed for the "yellow card"  to be raised.

 

Under the Protocol No 2 on the application of the subsidiarity and proportionality principles, the Commission is now obliged to review its proposal and to decide whether to maintain, amend or withdraw it, giving reasons for its decision.