David Cameron’s proposal to give national parliaments a ‘red card’ over EU laws is deeply flawed

David Cameron sent a letter to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, in November 2015 outlining the key elements that he will seek in a renegotiation of the UK’s EU membership. As Valentin Kreilinger writes, one of Cameron’s demands is to strengthen the role of national parliaments in the EU’s legislative process, with the provision of a so called ‘red card’ mechanism that would allow groups of parliaments to effectively veto new proposals.

He argues that this system would be likely to create more problems than it would solve and could actively work against the UK’s interests by preventing the liberalisation of Europe’s services sector and reforms aimed at boosting competitiveness.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Speech: Prime Minister's speech on Europe http://www.europeansources.info/record/speech-prime-ministers-speech-on-europe/

ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/

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