A Virtual Third Chamber for the European Union? National Parliaments Under the Treaty of Lisbon

The Treaty of Lisbon introduces an early warning mechanism (EWM) which empowers national parliaments to intervene collectively at the EU-level; they may now raise objections to – and even help to block – EU legislative proposals. The EWM represents a new model of parliamentary involvement in international relations: national parliaments now constitute a virtual third chamber for the EU. Though they do not meet together in the same physical space, national parliaments collectively form a body that can, at least to some degree, perform three key parliamentary functions – representation, legislation, and deliberation. First, the EWM provides a new channel of representation linking the citizen with the EU. Second, it gives national parliaments power – more than is commonly supposed – to influence the EU’s legislative process. Third, it creates a new forum for debating the merits of proposed EU legislation, which will increase the salience of national parliaments’ concerns, particularly with respect to subsidiarity.