ABSTRACT

Most accounts of parliamentary involvement in European affairs describe a gradual increase over time in the role of national parliaments. However, it is also possible for parliamentary involvement to stagnate or decline over time. The argument of this article is that such inertia or decline is being seen in Ireland when it comes to EU-related crises, such as the COVID-19-inspired economic crisis: the Oireachtas is largely confining its European-related activities to creating a public forum. Hence, debates and parliamentary questions remain the tools of choice. These have the advantage for parliamentarians of involving little effort. However, they also exert little influence on policy. Simultaneously, methods of direct engagement with the electorate such as stakeholder consultations and townhall meetings are now featuring in such situations (joining other direct engagement methods found in the Irish democratic landscape such as citizens’ assemblies and referendums).

摘要

大多数关于议会参与欧洲事务的叙述都描述了随着时间的推移，国家议会的作用逐渐增加。然而，议会参与也有可能随着时间的推移而停滞或下降。本文的论点是，在涉及与欧盟相关的危机（例如由 COVID-19 引发的经济危机）时，爱尔兰正在看到这种惯性或衰退：Oireachtas 在很大程度上将其与欧洲相关的活动限制在创建公众论坛。因此，辩论和议会问题仍然是选择的工具。这些对议员来说具有很少努力的优势。然而，它们对政策的影响也很小。同时，