Is the six week period allowed to parliaments to formulate and forward objections long enough?
129. All of the evidence we have received suggests that six weeks is too short a time frame. Although we regret this we recognise that the six week period is now set in the Constitutional Treaty. 130. Within this short period of time national parliaments would have two tasks to complete. First, they must scrutinise the content of the draft proposal. Second, they must verify whether or not a proposal breaches the principle of subsidiarity. This could involve a substantial amount of work. 131. Some evidence noted, however, that the six week period is, in effect, longer than it was when it was first laid down 16 years ago[33]. As proposals would be sent directly to national parliaments (and not filtered through government) and as they would be sent electronically, national parliaments would take receipt of proposals much sooner than some have previously been able to. 132. Richard Corbett MEP views this provision as potentially more important than the early warning mechanism itself: “more
