Speaker asks for greater influence for national parliaments in EU legislative process

Monday 7 April, the Speaker of the Netherlands’ House of Representatives, Anouchka van Miltenburg, addressed her European colleagues at the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments, in Vilnius. In her keynote speech she asked for augmentation of the EU legislative process that would allow National Parliaments to be of greater influence.

Monday 7 April, the Speaker of the Netherlands’ House of Representatives, Anouchka van Miltenburg, addressed her European colleagues at the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments, in Vilnius. In her keynote speech she asked for augmentation of the EU legislative process that would allow National Parliaments to be of greater influence.

The changes she suggested should encourage both national and international dialogue and lead to intensified public debate on the big issues that challenge the EU. The role of the national parliaments would be to form a bridge between the people of the EU and its legislators in the European Commission. Secondly she called for improved cooperation between the EU parliament and national parliament. Both measures would strengthen democratic legitimacy, without the need to change existing treaties.

(copyright: Netherlands Embassy Vilnius)