Rappresentanza regionale e controllo di sussidiarietà

This chapter explores the role of Regions in the subsidiarity scrutiny. It argues that, at a general level, the Treaty of Lisbon overcomes the “regional blindness” characterizing previous European Treaties. The Lisbon Treaty, indeed, amends two pivotal principles of the EU legal order—such as the principle of subsidiarity and the principle of respect for national identities—so to explicitly mention the importance of the regional and local dimension. Nevertheless, on closer inspection, some contradictions emerge as to the specific instruments allowing the inclusion of territorial autonomies in the multilevel system of governance. It is submitted that, if before the Lisbon Treaty Regions were qualified as autonomous actors engaged in a sort of “horizontal cooperation” through the Committee of the Regions and other appropriate institutional settings, the Early Warning Mechanisms seems to foster a “vertical” rather than “horizontal” cooperation. As per the Protocol on subsidiarity attached to the Lisbon Treaty, Regions must necessarily coordinate with their respective national Parliaments in order to have a say or claim their interests within the subsidiarity scrutiny.