Influence Through Co-operation? Regional Parliaments' Participation in the European Union Subsidiarity Scrutiny

The introduction of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 marked the first time that regional parliaments could (formally) participate in the European Union (EU) legislative procedure, requiring their consultation 'where appropriate' in the Early Warning System (EWS) for subsidiarity scrutiny by national parliaments. Using a comprehensive dataset covering all regional parliaments with legislative power in the EU, this study investigates whether regional activities translate into substantive influence in EU decision-making. The argument put forward asserts that co-ordinated efforts amongst regional parliaments within a country have the potential to amplify their impact on the EWS. Analysing data through penalised maximum likelihood estimation for rare event data reveals negligible probabilities for individual regional parliaments to influence the national position on subsidiarity issues. However, co-ordinated activities, especially when institutionalised, significantly strengthen the position of regional parliaments in the EWS. Findings challenge assumptions about re-legitimised EU decision-making through the EWS but suggest prospects for regional adaptation.