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CDU demands inclusion of a clause into the European
Constitutional Treaty enabling a judicial review of compliance of secondary
European law with the principle of subsidiarity (Courtesy
Translation)
Resolution of the National Committee on European Politics of CDU
Germany chaired by Elmar Brok MEP August 2002
The CDU rejects the proposal recently taken up again to create a new
political body of the European Union consisting e. g. of members of parliaments
of member states of the EU and of members of the European Parliament. A new
political body would be solely subject to political considerations and could
therefore not guarantee a legally relevant review. A political review already
exists by the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council on
part of the EU member states.
The CDU demands the preservation and promotion of the political and
cultural variety on our continent as a central aim of European politics.
Despite the introduction of the principle of subsidiarity in the EU-Treaty of
Maastricht and its precise description in a protocol of its own attached to the
EU-Treaty of Amsterdam, an abuse of competence by the European level is only
insufficiently ruled out. Therefore the CDU demands both a more precise
separation of competences between the European Union and its member states
including its regions and municipalities, and the inclusion of a clause into
the EU Constitutional Treaty enabling a review of a presumed violation of the
principle of subsidiarity.
The CDU demands in particular the inclusion of a clause of a legal
review by a constitutional and competence senate of the European Court of
Justice. The European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council, the
national governments, and the national parliaments should be entitled to bring
a claim. CDU and CSU demand in their proposals for a European constitutional
treaty of November 26, 2001: "In the event of competency disputes between the
EU and its member states, relevant decisions are made by a competency senate of
the European Court of Justice, which may also require the participation of
national constitution judges". The adherence to the principle of subsidiarity
can be legally guaranteed only by a possibility to have a review by independent
judges. This is central for preserving the political and cultural variety in
Europe. Since in such a case the Bundesrat (the Upper House of the German
parliament representing the federal states) would also be entitled to bring a
claim, the federal states of Germany, the Länder, would also have a
good instrument to defend their competences versus the European Union.
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