Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31297/hkju.16.4.7
Multi-Level Governance as a Constitutional Principle in the Legal System of the European Union
Carlo Panara
; John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Abstract
This is a legal study of multi-level governance (MLG) in the EU. Earlier legal studies investigated the nature of MLG as a legal principle, suggesting that MLG is a “procedural principle” or a “principle of coordination” of the action of governmental and non-governmental actors at various levels within the EU. However, the legal bases of MLG still need to be persuasively identified in EU primary law and in the constitutional laws of the member states, the nature of MLG as a legal principle in the context of the EU requires more compelling evidence, the normative content of MLG needs a more accurate definition, and the practical legal consequences of MLG still need to be clearly determined, especially the application of MLG by Union and national judiciaries. This study looks at these aspects from a legal perspective. It argues that MLG envisages participatory solutions to constitutional problems linked to the position of local and regional authorities in the EU. MLG is normatively linked to the principles
of local and regional autonomy and of subsidiarity. It operationalises these principles in the multi-level context of the EU by envisaging the participation of local and regional authorities in EU decision-making processes and in the implementation of EU law and policy. This study identifies four functions of MLG as a constitutional principle in the EU legal system: (1) the epistemological function concerning the nature of the EU, (2) the de iure condendo function, (3) the behaviour-shaping function, and (4) the interpretation-shaping function. MLG as a legal principle shall also guide the interpretation and application of
the law by the courts, and particularly the Court of Justice of the EU, in relation to the enforcement of the principle of subsidiarity, the enforcement of participation rights of local and regional authorities, and the locus standi of local and regional authorities in direct challenges to EU acts in Union courts.
Keywords
multi-level governance; local self-government; regional self-government; EU legal system
Hrčak ID:
173621
URI
Publication date:
13.12.2016.
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