Misguiding National Parliaments: A Critical Review of the Early Warning System

The Lisbon Treaty introduced the ‘early warning system’ (EWS), with national legislatures assigned the right to monitor whether initiatives for European Union (EU) laws comply with the principle of subsidiarity. But does the mechanism really empower national parliaments in EU politics or will it remain largely unused by domestic MPs? This article leans towards the latter interpretation, arguing that the whole mechanism was mainly introduced in response to legitimacy concerns. It can even guide national parliaments in the wrong direction, leading them to waste resources in a harmless procedure that has at best only marginal impact on the EU’s legislative process. While the EWS makes EU governance appear more democratic and may contribute to better law-making, the incentive structure simply works against parliaments making active use of the instrument.