Subsidiarity Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Subsidiarity is the principle that policy making should be taken at the lowest capable level of government. The term gained political prominence in the 1990s when it became a central operating principle of the European Union (EU). It was cited in the Treaty on European Union (1992) to clarify the policymaking balance between the EU and its member states.

The term originated in Catholic social thought. It was cited in the 1931 Papal Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, which suggested that higher organizations should restrict their activities to those that individuals, families, and smaller social units do not have the capacity to undertake. Politically, proponents have traced the meaning of and justification for subsidiarity to Aristotle and Alexis de Tocqueville. It is defended on the grounds that people have a right to self-determination and that they can better hold officials accountable at lower levels of government.

Subsidiarity became an important concept within the EU as a result of the rapid shift of power from member states to the EU. While integration efforts were initially an elite-driven process focused on removing barriers to trade, over time the EU has moved into social and political policy areas, raising public awareness. Moreover, under the 1986 Single European Act, the member states moved from unanimous voting to qualified majority voting in the Council of Ministers on a number of issues, which meant that individual states could no longer veto legislation. This led to talk of a democratic deficit and to fears that citizens would lose their ability to influence decision making and preserve their cultural diversity.

Under the Treaty on European Union, the member states agreed to widen further the competence of the community and the scope for qualified majority voting. To reassure the public and some member countries, the EU explicitly incorporated the principle of subsidiarity into the treaty. The preamble of the treaty states that decisions will be taken “as closely as possible to the citizen, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.” Article 3b of the treaty explains that under this principle, in any areas that do not fall within its exclusive competence, the European community should take action, “only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved by the Community.” Subsidiarity affects areas in which the EU and member states have concurrent competence, including health, consumer protection, culture, and education.

The Treaty on European Union was initially rejected by Danish voters in a 1992 referendum and was nearly defeated by French voters. This led the European Council to underscore the importance of subsidiarity in its annual summit in Edinburgh in December 1992. In a protocol on subsidiarity that was later incorporated into the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997, the council agreed that subsidiarity was binding on all of the community’s institutions and could be adjudicated in the European Court of Justice. After passage of the Treaty on European Union, the European Commission reviewed, amended, and repealed some legislation in light of the subsidiarity principle.

While closely linked to ideas of federalism, subsidiarity is less an institutional arrangement than a set of procedures. It requires discussion of whether the powers that do not fall exclusively into the competence of the EU should be exercised by the commission or by member states. As such, it is a political decision. The term has generated considerable debate. Some view it as a means of protecting the sovereignty of national states and regions. Others argue that it interferes with the ability of the EU to integrate further and achieve its policy goals. Still others argue that it could lead to important powers being logically transferred to the EU as these could be more effectively dealt with at the supranational level. Analysts are divided on its usefulness. Some suggest that its definition is too vague, while others see it as crucial to the legitimacy of the EU. Much of its usefulness will depend on the future willingness of the European Court of Justice to limit the policymaking scope of EU institutions, something it has generally not done.

Bibliography:

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