The “Green Card” Opportunity: Time to Rethink Parliamentary Engagement in EU Affairs
National parliamentarians, together with their European Union counterparts, will gather in Riga at the turn of May and June 2015, to discuss ways in which to strengthen the role of parliaments in EU governance. One of the ideas is the so-called “green card,” enabling national parliaments to make suggestions for EU legislative proposals. Yet, as the climate of distrust between national parliaments and the European Parliament (EP) increases, the project might not get past the debating stage. In such a case, parliaments will either have to re-define their role in the EU, or they will hang as toothless watchdogs in the institutional limbo.
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