Opposition gegen die Umsetzung von EU-Recht im Bundestag

Abstract

One function of national parliaments is to transpose EU law into the domestic legal order . This article examines whether and under what conditions opposition parties in the Bunde- stag support such an implementation . The results of a statistical analysis of all votes on national transposition laws since 1990 show a stable trend toward a competitive opposi- tion, which is also manifested in the voting behavior of pro-European opposition parties . In addition, the relatively high rejection rates cannot be explained by a critical attitude toward the substantive translation into national law, because opposition is voiced not only to directives, but also to regulations and ECJ rulings that leave the government hardly any room for maneuver in transposition . Both findings confirm the EU politicization thesis, according to which European politics has become an integral part of national party compe- tition .