Article 6, Protocol No.2

This article is related to Art. 3 of Protocol No. 1. The wording is virtually identical to that of Art. 6.1 of Protocol No. 2, except for two elements. The provision, that had the same wording also in the Constitutional Treaty, and that is the basic core of the article, in that it concerns the important aspect of partecipation of sub-state legislative levels in controlling the application of the principle of subsidiarity, is the possibility that the national Parliament or the chambers of national Parliaments may involve regional assemblies with legislative powers. Even though it must be pointed out that envisaging that national Parliaments may consult the regional Parliaments with legislative powers places into the hands of the Member States' legal orders the region's participation in controlling the subsidiarity principle. This means that the provision does not give the regional legislative assemblies participation "rights" but, so to speak, mere "expectations" (albeit juridically qualified ones) to participate. It must however be pointed out that not all domestic legal orders have regional Parliaments with legislative powers. Moreover, some of these states have a rather limited regional system. It is worth pointing out also that the power attributed to Parliaments to express their opinions regards exclusively legislative acts and hence the provision does not apply to areas concerning the economic and monetary policy, and competition or even to the acts adopted directly by the Commission.