Yesterday, I spoke to some smart students from the College of Europe. They were part of the cadre being taught by the godfather of secondary legislation, Daniel Guegen. Once a year they are taken out of the cloisters of Bruges to the belly of the beast, Brussels.
The European Parliament
One of the questions that came up was how the European Parliament could make law making, more transparent.
My own take is it is easy. The Parliament today could:
- The Committees publish the secondary legislation newsletter at the same time they send it to members.
- All votes in Committee are made roll call votes. One Committee is apparently doing this.
- Publish the 4 column document. Keeping the widely leaked document is likely just a coprorate welfare project for lobbyists who get hold of it. People will pay for something that seems mysterious.
The Commission
Of course, if the Commission were serious about making secondary law making more transparent they could today:
- Publish how Member States vote in Member State Committee
- Publish the names of the officials who attend the Member State Committee
- Use the excellent delegated legislation website as the model for the comitology site (covering RPS measures and implementing acts). The comitology site looks like it was designed in the pre-Netscape era.
Whilst the Parliament and Commission could do this all today, they won’t. Too many officiald and MEPs prefer law making in the shadows.