EUROPEANISATION AS STRENGTHENING OF DOMESTIC EXECUTIVE POWER? THE ITALIAN EXPERIENCE AND THE CASE OF THE "LEGGE COMUNITARIA"
Title:
EUROPEANISATION AS STRENGTHENING OF DOMESTIC EXECUTIVE POWER? THE ITALIAN EXPERIENCE AND THE CASE OF THE "LEGGE COMUNITARIA"
Author:
Fabbrini, Sergio Dona, Alessia
Appeared in:
Journal of european integration
Paging:
Volume 25 (2003) nr. 1 pages 31-50
Year:
2003
Contents:
The deepening process of European integration has had asymmetrical effects at the domestic level of EU member states. In particular it has strengthened the role of the executive to the detriment of that of the legislature in EU affairs. How has the legislature reacted to this process? This paper considers the Italian experience of the late 1990s through an analysis of the legge comunitaria , a yearly statute introduced in 1989 to achieve two aims: First, to reduce the Italian deficit in the transposition of EU directives; Second, to give the parliament an instrument to scrutinise the government's activity in EU affairs. The first aim has been achieved, but the second not at all. This conclusion is based upon qualitative interviews of crucial public officials strategically positioned in the making of the legge comunitaria . However, if, at the policy level, the government appears to be the most prominent actor in EU affairs, at the politics level the parliament regained an important role in conditioning government composition and stability in the period 1998-2001. Thus, at least in Italy, the 'deparliamentarisation' of the governmental system is of a contradictory nature.
Journal description