Institutionalization of the Activity of National Parliaments in the European Union System. Deterministic Analysis

Abstract

The subject of the research included in the article is the process of institutionalization of the activity of national parliaments in the European Union system. However, the research goal was the influence of the European Union on the process of distinguishing national parliaments perceived as systemic actors and the functions performed by them, leading to an autonomous model of coordination of the management of EU competences. The article proves the hypothesis that national parliaments in the European Union, over 30 years of integration, have created a community resulting from the use of specific forms of deterministic institutionalization, formalizing the bonds between them and EU institutions. This institutionalization was based on securing the proper implementation of their common values, interests and goals. The methodology of historical institutionalism used in the article helps to explain the process of adapting the institutional framework of national parliaments to changes in the internal environment of the EU, which results in linking the integration reality with the preferences of its individual institutional actors. The analysis carried out led the author to the conclusion that the activity of national parliaments in the EU is dominated by historical determinism in the form of path dependence. From this point of view, it should be recognized that the Maastricht Treaty establishing the European Union and the institutional formula contained therein determined the place of parliaments in the system.