The European Conservatives and Reformists Group has welcomed today’s vote in Strasbourg on an own-initiative report aimed at reinforcing the role of national parliaments in EU law-making and ensuring that the European Commission respects subsidiarity and proportionality before submitting new legislative proposals.

Reacting to the outcome, ECR Shadow Rapporteur Gheorghe Piperea said:

“For too long, the Commission has legislated first and justified subsidiarity later. That logic must change. Respect for subsidiarity and proportionality must happen a priori, not as an afterthought.”

The report underlines that subsidiarity and proportionality are binding constitutional principles that must guide the Commission’s decision to legislate, ensuring that EU action is genuinely necessary and conducted strictly within the limits of the Union’s competences. It calls for earlier, more substantive engagement with national and regional parliaments, clearer explanations of why EU intervention is needed, and greater transparency about how the Commission follows up on concerns about overreach.

Within this broader framework, the report also extends the “yellow card” and “orange card” procedures from eight to twelve weeks — a change the ECR Group has consistently supported. This adjustment provides national chambers with a more realistic timeframe to examine proposals and coordinate with one another when they believe the Commission has exceeded its mandate.

Piperea emphasised that the extension is only one part of a wider democratic correction:

“This is not simply about giving national parliaments more time. It is about restoring balance: Brussels must not do more than necessary, and national parliaments must have the means to insist on that.”

He added that stronger national parliaments are essential for the Union’s legitimacy:

“Subsidiarity anchors the EU in national democracies. When parliaments are properly heard — not hurried — citizens’ trust in Europe grows.”

The ECR Group will continue to press for stronger scrutiny tools for national parliaments and for a stricter application of subsidiarity and proportionality in all new Commission proposals, ensuring that decisions are taken as closely as possible to citizens and only at EU level where this is genuinely necessary.

MEPs endorsed the text by 337 votes in favour, 245 against and 12 abstentions.