PANEL 1
Subsidiarity monitoring - When? In what form?

Subsidiarity monitoring means the participation of parliaments in information, communication and notification processes. It involves a) the development of internal procedures for scrutiny of the subsidiary principle and cooperation of national parliaments under the early warning system (ex ante scrutiny - "yellow" and "orange" cards); b) ex post scrutiny - complaints filed by parliaments with the European Court of Justice (through their governments) on any breach of the principle of subsidiarity in a European legislative act ("red" card).

The success of the early warning system will be decided by the parliaments' ability to identify problems at a sufficiently early stage. Studies on the parliaments' future position should start after the publication of the European Commission's legislative programme at the latest. It is important for parliaments to develop a subsidiarity testing model. Lying at the heart of the new responsibilities is the tightening of parliamentary cooperation, especially between parliamentary committees; this requires organisational and financial problems to be solved. Examples of relevant solutions should be presented at the meeting.

The following questions should be answered: a) when should parliaments initiate subsidiarity checks; b) what form should a reasoned opinion take; c) do the tests constitute a legal or political issue; and d) about the new methods of cooperation with other parliaments.

PANEL 2
Active contribution to the good functioning of the EU
To evaluate and scrutinise or to co-create?

Upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the European parliaments will be receiving directly: communications, green and white papers, annual legislative programmes of the European Commission, all legislative proposals prepared by EU bodies, notifications of EU accession applications, and reports on the evaluation of EU policies in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, as well as the right to be informed about the proceedings of the Standing Committee on Internal Security (COSI) within the Council.

As part of the new powers conferred on national parliaments, European Commission will be required to draw - under the subsidiarity procedure - national parliaments' attention to proposals based on the flexibility clause. The parliaments will be able to participate in treaties' revision procedures, both ordinary (participation in conventions) and simplified, with the proviso that in the case of the simplified procedure, by applying a passerelle clause, an objection of one parliament will block the procedure. In addition, national parliaments have been given the right to participate in the scrutiny and evaluation of Europol and Eurojust.

Those areas of parliamentary activities still remain an open issue, both in terms of organisational forms and political decisions. They will require a change in the methods and forms of work of specialised parliamentary bodies and the establishment of new mechanisms of information flow.

PANEL 3
EU parliaments' cooperation system - With whom? Together or separately?

On the entry of the Treaty into force, international cooperation platforms such as COSAC, IPEX and permanent representatives of national parliaments to the EU are facing new challenges. It seems to be of key importance to answer the question how those "old bodies" are to function in their new roles and whether new ones will emerge.

COSAC is to be a forum for the exchange of information and views - organise inter-parliamentary conferences, in particular to debate matters of common foreign and security policy, support information sharing between parliaments, including their special committees, and submit any comments it finds appropriate to EU bodies. Is COSAC to be the main body coordinating the early warning system?

IPEX is to become a web-based platform for the exchange of information, positions and documents on the exercise of the parliaments' new rights, including mainly the early warning system - the design of the platform remains an open issue.

The permanent representatives are to enable national parliaments to establish contacts necessary to perform the new tasks and provide support in acquiring necessary information.

PANEL 4
New tasks of parliamentary administration - Adaptation or reform?

Most of the issues presented should find expression in support to the work of the European parliaments provided by their administrations. This means not only additional costs, setting up new databases, but also adapting the parliamentary administration structures to the new situation. New responsibilities are given e.g. to research and expert services - this may necessitate their expansion, reform or creation of new ones. The administrative and expert base should be reoriented so as to cater for the European responsibilities of the national parliaments.

It is also necessary to resolve the issue of communicating information on the role of parliaments in the European Union to the public (websites will have to be modified). Consideration must also be given to the need to provide the deputies with knowledge on the arrangements that the Treaty of Lisbon brings into force.

The methods of solving those problems and signalling organisational and well as political difficulties in this respect will be the focus of this part of the meeting.