The principle of subsidiarity, or the “right to autonomy”, is a basic condition of a free society.
If this principle is suppressed, power centralises, and totality emerges!
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The principle of subsidiarity means that decisions are taken at the lowest possible level of governance capable of resolving them effectively.
Higher levels of governance (e.g. municipality, state, supranational institutions) intervene only when the lower level cannot resolve the issue on its own.
The aim is to preserve the autonomy and freedom of smaller communities (individual, municipality, region, state) and to prevent the centralisation of power.
A free society is bottom-up self-governance – not a “dictatorship of the majority”.
When the EU was formed, and also when we joined it, subsidiarity was presented as a core pillar of the Union.
When they catch the bird, they sing to it nicely…
When and why did we turn away from freedom and subsidiarity?
Totality is always introduced under the pretext of some “higher good”. In the EU, it began to creep in under the slogan of “unity”.
Short-sighted, manipulated (even if well-meaning) people, who do not think their actions through, fall for it and approve a form of dictatorship.
We saw this here after World War II, when under the pretext of equality and brotherhood, freedom was taken from us.
Through the illusion of representative quasi-democracy and sophisticated leverage mechanisms in governance, a relatively small group managed to dictate to the majority how to live.
But even if they were the majority, they still have no right to impose their view of how to live on a minority.
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Are we so foolish that we must repeat the mistakes of the past, or are we able to learn?!
Can a municipality dictate how you live within your family?
Can a district, region, or state dictate how we live in our municipality?
Can the EU or a global institution dictate how we live in our state?
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1. Maastricht Treaty (1992) *
– first explicitly introduced subsidiarity
– then Article 3b of the EC Treaty
2. Treaty on European Union (TEU) – current wording **
– Article 5(3) TEU
3. Lisbon Treaty (2007) ***
– strengthened subsidiarity
– introduced control by national parliaments
4. Protocol No. 2 to the Lisbon Treaty ***
– on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality
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“The Community shall act within the limits of the powers conferred upon it by this Treaty and of the objectives assigned to it therein.
In areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Community shall take action, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, only if and insofar 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.
Any action by the Community shall not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives of this Treaty.”
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“Under the principle of subsidiarity, in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Union shall act only if and insofar as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, either at central level or at regional and local level, but can rather, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved at Union level.
The institutions of the Union shall apply the principle of subsidiarity as laid down in the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. National Parliaments ensure compliance with the principle of subsidiarity in accordance with the procedure set out in that Protocol.”
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Article 1
“Each institution shall ensure constant respect for the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, as laid down in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union.”
Article 5
“Draft legislative acts shall be justified with regard to the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. Any draft legislative act should contain a detailed statement making it possible to appraise compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality…”
Article 6
“Any national Parliament or any chamber of a national Parliament may, within eight weeks… send to the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission a reasoned opinion stating why it considers that the draft in question does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity.”
Article 7
“Where reasoned opinions… represent at least one third of all the votes allocated to the national Parliaments… the draft must be reviewed…”
