Parliamentary Control Research Articles

National Parliaments after Lisbon: Administrations on the Rise?

In the wake of the Lisbon Treaty, much of the academic debate on national parliaments in the EU has focused on the new powers of national parliaments and the potential for the politicisation and parliamentarisation of the EU. In the process, the role of administrators in the parliamentary control of EU affairs has been neglected. This article addresses that gap by comparing parliamentary administrations to a set of ideal types on the basis of in-depth interviews and a comparative survey of parliamentary staff. This leads to the observation that the roles of parliamentary administrators have been further expanded after Lisbon to a range of tasks that go beyond technical support and include elements of agenda-setting.

Parliamentary control within the system of state control in the Russian Federation

Parliamentary control within the system of state control in the Russian Federation

Decision-Making and Parliamentary Control for International Military Cyber Operations by the Netherlands Armed Forces

This chapter focuses on the highly pertinent issues of political decision-making, the provision of information to parliament and parliamentary control related to the international ‘deployment’ of military cyber capabilities by the Netherlands armed forces. These military cyber operations will be based on the threefold purpose taken from the Constitution: defending the Kingdom, including collective defence; maintaining and promoting the international legal order; and protecting other (vital) interests of the Kingdom.

Роль национальных парламентов в управлении Европейским союзом

Institutional structures and decision-making processes, which have been established in the European Union, fall beyond the scope of national rules for the functioning of parliamentary government. National parliaments of the EU member states have not succeeded in acquiring solid positions in the multilevel constellation within the Union. Yet nowadays they are assigned an important mission in their efforts to overcome, alongside the European Parliament (EP), the growing democratic deficit at both the European and national levels. The article is meant to assess the potential of national parliaments in capitalizing on the Lisbon Treaty provisions and on new forms of their engagement with supranational institutions (the European Council, the European Commission and the EP in particular), aimed at enhancing their legitimizing influence. General paradigm for the analysis is determined by the multilevel governance concept (MLG). It allows for a picture of European decision-making, which is shared by actors placed at different levels of the governance structure. National parliaments are supposed to be provided with multiple access points to the political process in the European Union as well. But the MLG vision doesn't contradict the fact that the key role within the EU belongs to those who occupy the highest executive power positions at the national level. Three directions for the national parliaments to intensify their involvement are put into spotlight: parliamentary control over national executives; control of compliance with the subsidiarity principle in European legislative proposals and supranational decisions; political dialogue with the European Commission and interparliamentary cooperation. The analysis proves that conditions are ripe for more active stance of national parliaments in the EU affairs. The “system of early warning” of the subsidiarity principle violations, provided for in the Lisbon Treaty, seems most promising. But national parliaments themselves will still have to demonstrate more persistence when using new instruments. Acknowledgment. The article has been supported by a grant of the Russian Foundation for Humanities (RFH). Project № 14-07-00050.

European Parliament in the inter-institutional power-game : 'Traumatic' experience on the control function

The paper discusses the role of the European Parliament in the inter-institutional quest for power on the ground of the effectiveness of its control over the supra- national institutions and bodies with the intelligence function as well as in the protection of the right to privacy. The starting assumption is that, despite the Lisbon reform, the powers and jurisdiction of the European Parliament are still quite limited with a view to oversight of the EU policy implementation and the performance of the EU institutions, respectively. The author examines the following cases: the recently revealed practice of massive electronic surveillance of the EU citizens' communication, the unselective processing of personal data, and the semi-secretive set up of a supranational intelligence function out of the MEPs' reach. The analyzed cases show that the European Parliament's control powers are weak when it comes to the issues that demand a narrow technical expertise, but still can endanger civil rights. The author concludes that the protection of the right to privacy can indicate the real power of the Parliament in future dynamics of the supranational institutional framework.

PARLIAMENTARY CONTROL OF "OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS" IN THE NEW SPANISH TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS ACT (TOIAA)

The new Spanish Act on Treaties and Other International Agreements (TOIAA) regulates two figures of the Spanish praxis that do not exist in the 1969 Vienna Convention and is not usually regulated in national domestic law either. These other international agreements (OIA) follow this classification: Administrative International Agreements (Executive International Agreements) and Non-normative International Agreements (Memoranda of Understanding). Only if administrative agreements may be qualified as “international” (AIA) fall within the scope of the TOIAA and must be published in the Spanish Official Gazette (BOE). The regulation of Non-Normative International Agreements (NNIA) tries to establish a minimum preventive control of the Government over the international activities of other entities, especially of Regions, which try to use them as a foreign projection of their powers. But Parliamentary control of both figures is deficient. This is notorious in the case of AIA, because the Government has recently used this figure to circumvent Parliamentary control of agreements regulating the European bailout of Spanish banks. That is hardly compatible with the provisions of our Constitution.

National Parliamentary Control of EU Policy: The Challenge of Supranational Institutional Development

The history of the EU is characterised by rapid and complex institutional development. This leaves European Affairs Committees (EACs) in national parliaments with a moving target problem in their endeavours to control the government's EU policies. This paper investigates how EACs react to this challenge. Building on the rational delegation literature, it is argued that EACs are likely to adapt control instruments in tandem with institutional changes at the supranational level. Using McCubbins and Schwartz (1984, American Journal of Political Science, 28, 165–179), it is further argued that EACs are likely to want to impose both police patrol and fire alarm control on the government. These arguments are investigated in the case of Denmark during the 50-year period since the first Danish application for EU membership in 1961, and considerable support is found for the authors' hypotheses.

¿Debates del estado de la nación control parlamentario o puesta en escena para medios de comunicación?

The debates on the State of the nation (Spain) as a parliamentary control. The repercussion and the high visibility in the news media.

The Swedish Superintendent in the Policy Stream

During the last several decades, educational reform in Sweden has been at once contentious, fast paced, and uneven as control of Parliament and educational policy shifted between left- and right-wing political factions. These political power shifts within Parliament created tension between national and local municipal governments and provoked reactions by educators and local school boards. Passage of the Education Act of 2010 turned emphasis to improving educational quality and academic quality, which had a significant impact on how schools were governed, structured and administered, and required superintendents to navigate through a complex system of national control and municipal support functions.

Need for a New Philosophy of International Economic Law and Adjudication

Section I explains why the human rights obligations of all UN Member States call for a new philosophy of international economic law (IEL) in order to protect rights of citizens and their democratic demand for transnational public goods (PGs) more effectively. Section II discusses five different conceptions of IEL and the need for their ‘legal integration’ so as to promote more ‘public reason’, democratic participation, legal coherence, and ‘proportionality balancing’ in multilevel governance of transnational PGs. Section III argues that the ‘functional institutionalism’ underlying UN and WTO law—albeit necessary for limiting ‘prisoner dilemmas’ and other collective action problems in multilevel governance of international ‘aggregate PGs’—must be embedded into ‘cosmopolitan constitutionalism’ in order to protect human rights and other ‘aggregate PGs’ more effectively through ‘participatory’ and ‘deliberative democracy’, democratic accountability mechanisms, and stronger legal and judicial remedies of citizens compensating for the inadequate parliamentary control of multilevel economic regulation. Transforming ‘disconnected UN/WTO governance’ into ‘cosmopolitan republicanism’ requires ‘responsible citizenship’ and cosmopolitan rights protecting individual autonomy (e.g. ‘market freedoms’), democratic autonomy and other ‘aggregate PGs’ (res publica). ‘Constitutional’ and ‘legislative balancing’ of economic and non-economic rules must be complemented by case-specific ‘judicial balancing’ and justification with due respect for ‘principles of justice’ (including cost-benefit analyses).

Arms, Exports, Influence: Institutional Corruption in the German Arms Export Regime

The present article analyses the role of the arms industry in the German arms export control regime, and examines the claim that the illegitimate influence of industry interests has diverted the regime from its original restrictive function. The article applies the concept of institutional corruption, which is defined as a systemic or strategic influence that undermines an institution’s effectiveness by diverting it from its purpose. The article discusses the German arms export regime, examines the characteristics of the German weapons industry, and then goes on to analyze the strategic influence exerted by the German arms industry through the lens of the concept of institutional corruption. It discusses a range of practices associated with this concept, for example the so-called revolving door phenomenon and contributions to political parties, and their consequences for the regime’s trustworthiness. Finally, this article discusses the role of secrecy in making the German arms export regime more vulnerable to institutional corruption, and lays the basis for reform proposals.By using the concept of institutional corruption, this article sheds light on aspects of the issue that have long been ignored and connects the dots between lack of parliamentary control and of political transparency, and insufficient regulation of lobbying activities and other forms of interrelationships between politics and the industry. This article comes to the conclusion that both secrecy within the authorization regime and lack of transparency regarding corporate attempts to exert influence are causing the arms export regime to be extremely vulnerable to institutional corruption, since supervision and control by political and civil society actors are effectively limited.

Performance audit and the importance of the public debate

The purpose of this article is to explore the impact of performance audit on public policy. The article investigates performance audit reports and the debates they trigger in the public realm. The case of Norway is analysed using mixed methods including a questionnaire, mapping and categorizing of reports, document studies and interviews. The results show that the Norwegian Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) is primarily preoccupied with managerial issues. It is nevertheless open to interpretation whether the preoccupation with managerial issues primarily implies an efficiency and effectiveness focus or an assessment of compliance to managerial standards. Most reports receive moderate attention from the media and the parliamentary control committee. Therefore direct dialogue with the ministries appears to be important to ensure that performance audits are influential. In the public debate the SAI, the ministries and the members of parliament base their argumentation on different institutional logics. These logics can lead to different interpretations of the control system, laws and regulations and hamper the SAI’s influence.

Controle parlamentar da Administração Pública na legislação brasileira: a eficácia dos mecanismos de solicitação de informação

This paper examines the means of parliamentary control in Brazilian legislation, in particular the questions and the interpellations. The analysis begins by examining the overview of parliamentary control, by stating its foundations on democracy and the system of checks and balances, followed by the presentation of the means of parliamentary control, especially focusing on the questions and the interpellations. Finally, it considers the lack of effectiveness of these means of parliamentary control as a result of the historical and cultural elements of Brazilian State formation.

More than a ritual dance. The Dutch practice of parliamentary oversight and control of the intelligence community

Parliamentary oversight and control of intelligence and security services is complex, in theory as well as in practice. Because of the secrecy that surrounds their work, parliamentary control is essentially difficult. In this article the Dutch experiences in institutionalizing and practising oversight are explored. It will become clear that factors such as the structural makeup of the parliamentary committee for oversight, political culture, and the personal views of the Members of Parliament involved, decide to a large degree how often the committee convenes, what the atmosphere of the meetings is like, and what issues are on the table.

Parliamentary control of CSDP: the case of the EU's fight against piracy off the Somali coast

Parliamentary involvement remains a key tool for the democratic control of executive policies. This article explores the web of parliamentary involvement in decision-making on European Union (EU) military operations, using insights gained in an in-depth case study on the EU's anti-piracy mission Atalanta. We find that parliaments at all levels became involved only after key political decisions had already been made. At the member state level, we find highly uneven involvement with only some parliaments being very well informed and closely monitoring, if not influencing government policy. The European Parliament became active only after the launch of the mission but then scrutinised it intensely, profiting (in contrast to national parliaments) from its access to top military officials and key decision-makers. Finally, transnational parliamentary assemblies as well as more informal networks provided opportunities to transmit information across the boundaries of individual parliaments and party-groups thus potentially enhancing the ability of parliamentarians to scrutinise government policies.

Debating the State of the Union? Comparing Parliamentary Debates on EU Issues in Finland, France, Germany and the United Kingdom

Over the last 20 years, the role of national parliaments in European Union (EU) affairs has gained considerable academic attention. Much of the literature has focused on the parliamentary control function and shown that national parliaments are no longer docile lambs willing to be led to the European slaughtering block, but exercise tighter scrutiny of their governments in EU affairs. What tends to be overlooked, however, is that the parliamentary communication function is at least as important in EU politics. Yet while the literature has discussed reasons why members of parliament or political parties may prefer to ‘depoliticise’ European issues by conducting their EU business away from the prying eye of the public, so far we have little empirical data on how parliaments communicate EU politics. This study will therefore provide a comparative analysis of parliamentary debates on EU issues in the UK, Finland, Germany and France.

Участие ФРГ в международном кризисном регулировании (1991–2012)

The article discusses the participation of the Federal Republic of Germany in the struggle against new challenges of the world security sphere. In this regard the main focus is on the usage of German armed forces (Bundeswehr) for International Crisis Management (ICM), first of all – outside the NATO area. Although Germany has been taking part in this type of activities since 1991, only in 1994 German Bundestag formulated and approved the mechanism of parliamentary control over the Bundeswehr usage outside the NATO area. The author attempts to define the periods of this process and cover practical German involvement in ICM activities of the NATO, the European Union and the United Nations Organization. In this sense it is necessary to compare the forms and the average number of soldiers, which were used by Germany in ICM operations by each of these three international structures. It is also rather important to define the main regions (countries) where German troops were used in ICM activities, and the reasons for it. Yugoslavia was the first region where Bundeswehr served for stabilization of the situation in areas of internal military conflicts. By the year 2014, the main regions of the German International Crisis Management participation became Afghanistan and Horn of Africa.The article also examines the perspectives of the Federal Republic of Germany’s involvement in ICM, considering the current and possible future results of the Bundeswehr reform, while Bundesehr was and is the main country’s instrument in ICM.

The Serbian Ministry of Interior and administrative procedure in the area of citizenship

The area of citizenship, as well as of citizens' other personal statuses, has a deep impact to the social life and is important both for the citizens and for the public administration performance. The Ministry of Interior seeks to provide conditions for every citizen to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights and takes care of effective and efficient enjoyment of the citizens' rights and ensures a secure legal environment. The paper is restricted to the analysis of legal regulation and practice in this field. It will emphasize the specificity of administrative procedure consisting of the power to enact laws by discretion, and in the particular cases, strictly stipulated by the law, to apply force. Decisions and actions in this matter are subject to both administrative and judicial control, and to certain forms of parliamentary control, through the Ombudsman. The paper will also tackle the issue of adoption and implementation of generally accepted international rules.

Searching for legal and institutional concept of national security of the Republic of Serbia

Searching for a possible concept of national security in the Republic of Serbia proceeds from the term 'security', with a view of the existing, but also some new forms of jeopardy, which have not so far been recognized as such, or they have not been paid enough attention to, all the way to including the social area into the state security. Basic international conventions, systemic laws and strategies which regulate these issues are indicated. Institutionally, additional attention is paid to military intelligence and security agencies in the country, without special analysis of already known details of these regulations, but providing the criticism of what would absolutely have to change with an aim to protect values and goods of already recognized individual and collective human rights and freedoms, as well as possible institutional change through the establishment of an agency within the Ministry of Defense. More adequate forms of work are suggested when it comes to specific challenges and threats and risks. Even though there is no parliamentary control of security services in all countries, it is indirectly concluded that it would be an optimal solution for our country. There is an example of Italian legislation, within which, for decades, there is a unified system of security, with tendencies to make changes which follow social development and status. The creation of a reformed system of national security in Serbia is insisted upon, from which new solutions would follow, as a part of the security system.

Legitimacy through Subsidiarity? The Parliamentary Control of EU Policy-Making

Abstract This article explains the relationship between subsidiarity and legitimacy of policies designed at EU level. Through means of theoretically informed analysis this paper claims that if the principle of subsidiarity is respected and implemented throughout the policy process, EU policy-making can aspire to satisfy the condition of both input and output legitimacy. The empirical part of the paper shows how, through a subsidiarity control mechanism known as the Early Warning System, national parliaments can collectively fulfill representative and deliberative functions in EU policy-making. Conclusions about the changing dynamics in parliamentary modus operandi in the field of EU affairs lead to forming a set of recommendations for further research.