Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the joint committee, I will respond to that question. I acknowledge the fact that all of my colleagues who are from different parties could have different answers to Professor Männle's question. I will, therefore, make three points that may be helpful to the visiting committee.

The first point, as Professor Männle said, is that under the Lisbon treaty, new powers were conferred on parliaments. The way it has worked within this parliament is that these powers sit with sectoral committees rather than the Joint Committee on European Affairs. If there is an issue about transport policy, for example, under the Lisbon treaty the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications has capacity rather than the Joint Committee on European Affairs.

It would be a concern of all members that the national parliament maintain a pre-eminent role in European affairs. Our Parliament and this committee, through COSAC, the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union, have put forward suggestions regarding how that could be maintained in European affairs and economic policy.

Within this Parliament, this committee does not have a formal role in the setting of government policy before decisions are made. Our role is one of influence and opinion rather than of formal sanction. For example, the committee has pre- and post-Council meetings.