The Early Warning Mechanism : A case study

In the tumultuous political climate following Brexit, the European integration lives on borrowed time. With the ever-increasing need for democratic legitimacy on the EU stage, the ‘Early Warning Mechanism’ is viewed by many as the last salvation. Since its introduction to the EU with the Treaty of Lisbon of 2007, it has been used to trigger a subsidiarity test three times, issuing so called ‘yellow cards’ to the Commission, and forcing it to review its proposal on grounds of subsidiarity. However, the Commission has ruled in favor of itself at every instance, making both the EU and the Member States question its efficiency. By presenting the three yellow cards, this study aims to scrutinize the Commission’s and the Member States’ involvement in the EWM while discussing their views on subsidiarity as a whole