The Early Warning System for the Principle of Subsidiarity

The Treaty of Lisbon introduced several innovations to the European Union’s institutional architecture. One of the most prominent of them was the inclusion of a so-called Early Warning System (EWS) for the principle of subsidiarity. Under this system national parliaments of the EU Member States are entrusted with the task of reviewing EU legislative proposals and of issuing, if they find that a proposal breaches the principle of subsidiarity, a letter called reasoned opinion. This book offers a comprehensive systematic analysis of the European Union’s new subsidiarity early warning system. The book includes both a detailed theoretical analysis of the EWS and an assessment of how under the system, national parliaments have responded to EU legislative proposals in reality.