Nederlandse regering stelt speciale subsidiariteits-waakhond in (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Dutch are planning to hire a new "watchdog" official on EU subsidiarity, or who does what in the union, in the aftermath of the resounding "no" to the EU constitution.

The Netherlands will also co-host a conference with the UK presidency on the same issue.

Talking to journalists on Monday (7 November), Dutch state secretary for European affairs Atzo Nicolai i revealed The Hague's plans to hire a new "subsidiarity watchdog", a high level official who would systematically screen the appropriateness of new EU legislation.

EU over-regulation and too much interference in people's daily lives is generally regarded as a prime cause for recent Dutch unease over Brussels.

"We should avoid situations where we say: how absurd that Brussels is dealing with this, whereas in some cases we - the Dutch government itself - even played an initiating role [in the legislation]," Mr Nicolai said.

The watchdog will boost existing preliminary checks of Brussels's legal initiatives, raising the alarm on any over-ambitious EU schemes.

Subsidiarity checks already take place but "we have to be more alert" Mr Nicolai indicated.

"Subsidiarity" is a concept which is derived from Roman Catholic social philosophy and recommends that nothing should be done by a large, more complex organisation that can be done just as well by a smaller and simpler entity.

The idea entered EU law in the 1992 Maastricht treaty, which states that the EU shall only take action when action at member state level is ineffective.

Subsidiarity conference

Signalling their fresh interest in the legal principle, the Dutch will together with the UK presidency stage a major conference on the topic in The Hague on 17 November.

The conference, titled "Sharing power in Europe - striking the right balance between EU and member state action" will be attended by UK foreign secretary Jack Straw, Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Dutch foreign minister Berhard Bot and EU communications commissioner Margot Wallstrom.

The presidents of all member states and EU hopefuls' national parliaments have also been invited, a Dutch official said.

The aim of the event is to "encourage and increase awareness of the subsidiarity principle" particularly among national parliaments, as well as to find ways to "help citizens understand how the EU works," the official added.

Longer reflection period?

The initiative for the conference was taken up by the Dutch government as part of the so called "reflection period" agreed by EU leaders last June following the French and Dutch "no" votes on the EU constitution.

The period was initially agreed to last one year, but Mr Nicolai said on Monday that Sweden has now suggested the period should last one year longer, something which the Dutch are backing.

Germany has meanwhile demanded a mid-term assessment of the period in December, when EU leaders meet in Brussels.