The Riksdag scrutinises proposals for EU legislation
In the EU, political decisions are to be taken at the political level at which the decision can be made most effectively – as close to the citizens as possible. This means that EU legislation cannot always automatically be adopted at EU level. Each completed legislative proposal must first undergo special scrutiny in the Riksdag and the national parliaments of the other EU member states. The question at the heart of this scrutiny is whether the proposal can best be achieved at the national level or the EU level.
The Riksdag scrutinises all legislative proposals
Will the outcome be best if a new piece of legislation is adopted at EU level or at the national level by the EU member states themselves? This is the question that the Riksdag and the national parliaments of the other EU member states ask themselves when the EU presents a legislative proposal. The Riksdag scrutinises all legislative proposals from the EU. The work takes place in the parliamentary committee responsible for the policy area in question.
This scrutiny is known as a subsidiarity check. The Riksdag carries out a subsidiarity check of all legislative proposals from the EU in areas in which the EU and the member states have shared competence to adopt legislation.
The EU and EU member states share the power
Within certain policy areas, the EU has exclusive competence to adopt laws, for example, regarding rules for the functioning of the European single market. In a number of areas, however, the EU and EU member states share the power to adopt laws, for example in the fields of agriculture, environment, consumer protection and transport. Here, the EU and the EU member states have what is known as shared competence to adopt legislation. This means that the European Commission - the institution that proposes new laws - must explain why the objectives of the legislative proposal can best be achieved at EU level, rather than national level. When the European Commission’s legislative proposal is available in all of the EU’s official languages, the member states’ parliaments have eight weeks in which to scrutinise the proposal.
The EU´s power depends on the issue at hand
The work is carried out in the Riksdag committees
The subsidiarity check is carried out by the committee responsible in the Riksdag for the policy area in question. If new environmental legislation is proposed, for example, it is scrutinised in the Riksdag by the Committee on Environment and Agriculture.
About the principle of subsidiarity
According to the EU’s rules - the treaties - new legislation is to be adopted at the political level at which the decision can be made most effectively - as close to the citizens as possible. The purpose is to increase the quality of decision-making and safeguard the ability of the member states to take their own decisions. Formally, it is stated that the EU’s decisions must respect the principle of subsidiarity.
This applies in policy areas where the EU and the member states share the power to adopt legislation, for example, agriculture, environment, energy, consumer protection and transport.
The committee asks two questions
During its scrutiny, the committee assesses whether the objectives of the legislative proposal can be best achieved by means of a decision at the national level in Sweden or at EU level. The committee examines the purpose and objectives of the proposal in relation to Swedish legislation and experience. It may, for example, be a matter of scrutinising whether a proposal is too extensive or whether already existing Swedish regulations are sufficient. The committee can also request information from the Government and invite ministers for discussions on the EU’s proposal.
The point of departure for the committee’s work procedures is that the decision regarding the new legislation should be taken by the EU member states themselves, and then to ask two questions:
- Is it possible to achieve the objectives of the new legislation if it is decided nationally, regionally or locally?
- Would the outcome be better if the decision were taken at EU level?
The outcome of the subsidiarity check
Scrutiny of a legislative proposal can lead to two different outcomes. The committee may consider that the outcome of the legislation will be better if the decision is taken at the EU level. The conclusion in this case is that the EU proposal does not conflict with the principle of subsidiarity. Such decisions are made within the committee. However, if a majority of the committee’s members consider that the objectives of the proposal will be better achieved through legislation in the member states themselves, the proposal is considered to conflict with the principle of subsidiarity. The committee then proposes in a statement that the Riksdag submit its objections in a reasoned opinion to the European Commission. A decision is then taken in the Chamber of the Riksdag to submit such a reasoned opinion.
It is also possible for a committee minority of at least five members to lift the scrutiny for a decision in the Chamber in what is known as a minority statement.
Debate and decision in the Chamber
The committee presents the findings of its scrutiny in the Chamber, at a meeting attended by all members of the Riksdag. If the committee considers an EU proposal to conflict with the principle of subsidiarity, it presents its reasons in a statement explaining why it considers that it would be better if the decision to adopt legislation was taken at the national level, in the EU member states. The members of the Riksdag hold a debate on the committee’s conclusions in the Chamber, and then take a decision on the matter.
Webcasts: Debates on the committees' scrutiny of EU legislation
Sends opinions to the European Commission
If a majority of members of the Riksdag agree with the committee that the legislative proposal conflicts with the principle of subsidiarity, a decision is taken by the Riksdag to inform the EU institutions of its opinion. The Riksdag sends its viewpoints in the form of a reasoned opinion to the European Commission and other EU institutions.
If a sufficient number of national parliaments consider that a decision should not be taken at EU level, the European Commission is given a warning in the form of a yellow or orange card. When the European Commission receives a warning, it may need to withdraw and revise, that is consider changing, its legislative proposal.
Warnings in the EU
Yellow card
If at least one third of the national parliaments of the EU member states reject an EU proposal, a yellow card is issued to the European Commission. If the legislative proposal concerns freedom, security or justice, it is sufficient with a quarter of the national parliaments.
The European Commission should either withdraw, rework, or keep the proposal as it is and include a justification of its reasons for doing so.
Orange card
If at least half of the national parliaments reject an EU proposal, they issue an orange card to the European Commission.
In this case too, the Commission should either withdraw, rework, or keep the proposal as it is and send a justification of its reasons for doing so to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.
If a majority of members of the European Parliament, or 55 per cent of the EU member states in the Council of Ministers, consider that the EU proposal conflicts with the principle of subsidiarity, it is discarded.