Efforts to increase inter-parliamentary cooperation in the EU are progressing at a snail’s pace

The principle of increasing the role of national parliaments in the EU’s legislative process has been promoted by several political actors, with the Treaty of Lisbon introducing a so called ‘yellow card’ system under which national parliaments can force the European Commission to review a legislative proposal. Valentin Kreilinger writes on recent decisions and initiatives related to the role of national parliaments in economic governance, international affairs and EU legislation. He argues that while national parliaments and the European Parliament do cooperate with each other, attempts to strengthen this process have only made very slow progress.