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Brink, Ton van den --- "The Substance of Subsidiarity: The Interpretation and Meaning of the Principle after Lisbon" [2012] ELECD 519; in Trybus, Martin; Rubini, Luca (eds), "The Treaty of Lisbon and the Future of European Law and Policy" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: The Treaty of Lisbon and the Future of European Law and Policy

Editor(s): Trybus, Martin; Rubini, Luca

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857932556

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: The Substance of Subsidiarity: The Interpretation and Meaning of the Principle after Lisbon

Author(s): Brink, Ton van den

Number of pages: 19

Extract:

9. The substance of subsidiarity: the
interpretation and meaning of the
principle after Lisbon
Ton van den Brink*

1. INTRODUCTION
The Treaty of Lisbon has firmly strengthened the subsidiarity principle by
empowering national parliaments to scrutinize legislative proposals on
compliance with the principle. This has marked an important new step in its
development. Up until now, this development has been characterized by a
polarization between those who consider the principle necessary to protect
the Member States from too much interference from the European Union
(EU), and those who consider it `the wrong idea, in the wrong place, at the
wrong time'.1 Their critique focuses on points such as the principle's
defensive nature; the absence of a clear and uncontested definition (which
enables diverging interpretations),2 and the impossibility of judicial
enforcement.3 A fundamental point of the critique was voiced by Davies
who argued that the principle is not appropriate for providing a balance
between Member States' and EU interests as it regards the question of what
level of government objectives of the EU should be achieved.4 Should
Member States' interests be considered as independent and legitimate

* The author wishes to express his gratitude to the following students for their
help: Willem van Ewijk, Sophie Hiensch, Maartje Möhring, and Arne Mombers.
1
To quote Davies: Davies, G. (2006), `Subsidiarity: The Wrong Idea, in the
Wrong Place, at the Wrong Time', Common Market Law Review, 43, 63.
2
De Búrca, G. (1999), `Reappraising Subsidiarity's Significance ...