Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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178. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will update Dáil Éireann on the European Council's deliberations in 2013 on the principle of subsidiarity that underpins the European Union; if he will refer in this regard to developments that occurred during Ireland's Presidency of the European Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30048/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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While the European Council did not hold any specific discussions on the principle of subsidiarity during 2013, the December 2012 European Council concluded, in the context of President Van Rompuy's report on the completion of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), that the “general objective remains to ensure democratic legitimacy and accountability at the level at which decisions are taken and implemented”. Leaders also agreed that any new steps towards strengthening economic governance needed to be accompanied by stronger legitimacy and accountability, with appropriate involvement by national parliaments and the European Parliament. This message was reiterated by the March 2013 European Council in the context of ongoing work on deepening EMU.

The Informal Meeting of Ministers and State Secretaries for European Affairs chaired by the Irish Presidency in January 2013, considered the issue of democratic legitimacy and accountability. The discussion focussed on immediate practical steps that could be taken within the existing supporting measures within the Lisbon Treaty. Ministers expressed support for greater interaction between the European Parliament and national parliaments, including through COSAC. Ireland chaired the XLIX COSAC plenary in June 2013, which welcomed the successful intensification of interparliamentary exchange of information on subsidiarity scrutiny since the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty, in many cases contributing to specific scrutiny outcomes. COSAC affirmed the importance of effective execution of this role by national parliaments and encouraged further cooperation between national Parliaments when appropriate in order to reach the thresholds under the Treaties.

As the Deputy will be aware, arising from its right of legislative initiative, and before proposing new initiatives, the European Commission verifies whether the EU has the right to take action and whether the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by Member States. In this context, I refer the Deputy to the Commission's Annual Report on Subsidiarity and Proportionality. The Report for 2012 was published in July 2013. .

Furthermore, national Parliaments have an important role under the Treaties in scrutinising European Commission legislative proposals for compliance with the principle of subsidiarity and, where appropriate, issuing reasoned opinions where a breach is considered to have occurred. Oireachtas Committees are charged with this responsibility as part of their scrutiny of draft legislative proposals under Standing Orders and their Orders of Reference.