EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT’S CONTROL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION – PROCEDURAL ASPECTS

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to give legal analysis of the procedures for the political control of the European Commission by the European Parliament. The author has used the legal method for the analysis of legal acts which introduce in the EU political system the tools of political control which have been known in different systems of government based on the separation of powers. The use of comparative method has to facilitate the answer to the question whether the EU lawmaker could and should use the instruments of the political control which have been prescribed in the national legal systems. Well-known instruments of the political control, such as parliamentary questions, inquiry, and the vote of no confidence, have been prescribed in different acts. However, legally prescribed conditions for the use of these instruments are usually quite strict. It seems that they exist only as legal and political possibility but they don’t have any practical value. Therefore, it could be said that the political control of the Commission by the Parliament is more an idea than reality.