Reformed Institutions

How will the European Union work with the Constitution?
A more efficient Europe
Who does what? The distribution of competence between the Member States and the European Union

The Constitution clarifies the distribution of power between the European Union and the Member States. It provides an answer to the question: "Who does what?" in the European Union, a decisive element in the democratization of Europe in that it strengthens the responsibilities of the various levels of power.

The principles of the sharing of competence

The sharing of competence between the EU and the Member States is established as follows:

The Union exercises the competence that the States grant it in the European Constitution. All of the other competences remain under the control of the States. The "principle of attribution" guarantees that the Union may not extend its competence at the expense of the States without their agreement.

The Union acts in areas where the States have decided to pool their power in order to be more efficient (principle of subsidiarity) as far as reaching established objectives is concerned (principle of proportionality).  

What type of competence?

The Constitution distinguishes three main categories of competence:

Competences that are exclusive to the Union:

- Operational rules of the European internal market such as competition.

- Monetary policy for the States who have adopted the euro as their currency.

- Common trade and customs union.

Shared competences between the Union and Member States, involving the States exercising their power when the Union is not exercising its own competence:

- Environment 

- Consumer Protection

- Transport

We should note that the States co-ordinate their economic and employment policies within the Union, and the latter is acknowledged as a competence within the domain of the common foreign and security policy.

Finally, the areas where Member States retain full command but the Union may provide support or coordinate activities cornering European domains:

- Industry

- Culture

- Tourism

- Education in terms of university exchange and the teaching of languages

The Union's new competence

The Constitution does not provide the Union with any new exclusive competences, but it does provide it with a certain number of competences that fall under the category of "shared competence" (such as Space and Energy) and those that are included in the category "support, co-ordination and complimentary activities" (such as civil protection, intellectual property, tourism, administrative co-operation and sports). The usual legislative procedure (co-decision with Parliament and qualified majority voting in the Council of Ministers) will be applied in these areas.

For example, the Constitution facilitates research and technological development and will work towards a true European spatial policy, due to a European Space Program. Such measures will facilitate the creation of an agency responsible for the Galileo program, the "European GPS."

The Constitution will also enable the Union  to regulate the energy market and the security of the Union's energy supply in order to promote conservation and the development of new, sustainable energy sources.

In terms of civil protection, the Union may support co-operation between Member States in order to improve prevention and protection systems in case of natural catastrophes within the Union.

The Constitution will also enable the Union to contribute towards the development of tourism. Generally, tourism comprises a major economic sector since it represents 5% of the EU's GDP and involves nearly 8 million jobs.

National Parliaments now involved in controlling the competence sharing

With "an early warning system," the Constitution confirms the role of national parliaments that are to ensure that the competence between the Union and Member States are respected. Any national parliament may reveal a possible violation of the European institutions of the subsidiarity principle. When more than a third (one quarter in the area of “Justice and Internal Affairs”) of national parliaments raise suspicions of violations, the Commission must review their proposal. The Constitution plans for each Member State to have the opportunity to appeal to the Court of Justice in the case of transgression of the principle of subsidiarity.

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