National Assembly of Serbia and European Parliament: A constitutional-law comparison

Abstract

For better understanding of the two parallel processes - EU integration and the rapprochement of the Republic of Serbia to the Union, a comparison of National Assembly of Serbia and European Parliament could be used. There are two legislative bodies in matter, which despite some similarities have numerous differences. The key difference is that National Assembly is a 'full' legislative body, and European Parliament is a part of the Union's legislation, such as one of the Parliament's houses. Perhaps the most important cause of this difference is the fact that National Assembly is a power body of the State, and the European Parliament is an institution of a political and economic community which is not (yet) a state. It is to be assumed that the constitutional-law differences between European Parliament and National Assembly, or the parliament of another state, will increasingly diminish if the processes of the transfer of states' sovereignty to the European Union continue. At the same time, the relation of the political power of the European Parliament and the national parliaments of the Union state members will change.