Montesquieu Papers - Main contents

Do ‘big democratic, constitutional changes’ offer a sollution to problems with the Dutch parliamentary democracy? This is the central question in this essay.

How to ensure input legitimacy (without jeopardizing output legitimacy)? This policy paper analyses the problems and proposes solutions to involve EU citizens and national parliaments, in order to give citizens more ownership of EU politics.

In this policy paper the authors describe what the European Semester means, what the role of nationale parliaments is, and how the Semester programme functions with its recommendations, annual growth analysis and coordination of economic policies in national budgets.

This policy paper analyses the possible solutions fot the the 'problems' of the Dutch Senate. What do these solution have to offer and what is their downside? Furthermore the authors look into the competences of the Senate and the way elections are taking place.

Following the decision of the Dutch public prosecution service to charge Geert Wilders with criminal utterances, the idea that parliamentary immunity in the Netherlands is insufficient and should be augmented by ‘political immunity’ has re-entered the public debate. Based on an analysis of the purpose of parliamentary immunity and the legal implications of extending it to ‘political immunity’, this policy paper advises against this idea.

National political parties can strenghten the position of an European political party in both a direct and an indirect manner. Directly by transferring a part of their autonomy on the European domain, and indirectly by seeking reforms of the constitutional context in which the European political parties function.

The Dutch Lower House and other national parliaments have different options to monitor their governements on how they respond on the financial crisis. But most parliaments fail to use these means to their advantage. This policy paper suggests that parliaments look into how they can use their monitor options to their advantage by looking into the possibilities of the European Semester.

Parliamentary investigations have become an established part of parliamentary procedure, but they are not used to its fullest potential. A more structural effort to use the instrument will offer significant chances to meet some of the most frequent complaints against the current parliamentary procedure. In addition, the House of Representatives will be better equiped to fullfill its constitutional task. This paper suggests to start working with permanent subcommittees within the regular committees.

This paper compares the Dutch and German political debates on the future of the EU. In Germany, future prospects of the EU are well discussed by all political parties. Since the interests of the various stakeholders, particularly of the German Houses of Parliament, are well defined and defended, the public debate is less capricious than in the Netherlands.

This paper discusses the European integration process from the perspective of the Dutch and German constitutional cultures in a transnational perspective, taking each others and the wider European perspective into account.

This paper analyzes how public images and self-images of the social welfare state are important for the political identity of states and explores how social debate about the crisis of the welfare state led to a feeling of identity loss and how this identity could be regained.

This paper explores the developments surrounding constitutional reserves and covert institutions. What can be said about the role of constitutional reserves in a parliamentary democracy?

Prof. van den Berg discusses the relationship between the European Parliament and national parliaments within the European Union. Can it be said that both compliment one another?
This speech was held on October 17, 2008 during the conference "Fifty Years European Parliament, Experiences and Perspectives' in Athens, Greece.

In this paper the events before and after the Dutch 'no' to the Constitutional Treaty are analysed. Furthermore, the more recent history up until the endorsement of the Treaty of Lissabon is discussed. What could and should we learn from these developments?