THE STATUS OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
National parliaments participate in the work of the European Union on three different levels: by contributing to the drafting and implementation of EU legislation, by exercising political oversight of their governments' actions in the Council, and by taking part in bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the legislative assemblies of the other member states.
As Finland was acceding to membership of the European Union, there was a desire to safeguard national-level monitoring of Union decisionmaking. The aim was to create an at least indirectly democratic monitoring system under which Union-level decisionmaking would be integrally linked to the work of the Eduskunta.
THE EDUSKUNTA'S EYES AND EARS IN BRUSSELS
The office of a Permanent Representative was opened in Brussels in 1996 and is at the service of the Eduskunta in matters concerning the European Union. The Permanent Representative belongs to the Eduskunta's Secretariat for EU Affairs, which takes care of liaison with the EU and has operated in conjunction with the Committee Secretariat since the beginning of 1997.
In addition to the Permanent Representative, the staff of the office includes an intern, who is replaced every six months and financed by the Centre for International Mobility (CIMO). CIMO operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Labour.
The Permanent Representative represents the Eduskunta in European Union institutions and supplies the legislature with material and documents relating to the EU. The Permanent Representative drafts reports and reviews, which are available to all parliamentarians and officials, on themes of topical relevance. The weekly EU reviews are intended to provide basic abilities to deliberate and grasp Union affairs of current interest. The reports clarify the backgrounds to and factors underlying individual issues.
Because the Council of State (Government) is required by the Constitution to submit for the deliberation of the Eduskunta all matters which would otherwise be included in the legislature's sphere of com-petence, the Permanent Representative tries to follow inter alia the Commission's legislative initiatives at as early a stage as possible, thereby facilitating work scheduling in the Eduskunta. A second area of emphasis is monitoring the work of the European Parliament.
COOPERATION WITH MEPs
The office of the Permanent Representative is in close contact with the Finnish members of the European Parliament and supplies also them with copies of the reviews and other material it produces. In addition, it has been the custom for the members of the Grand Committee to meet the Finnish MEPs at half-yearly seminars to discuss topical issues.
The Permanent Representative's duties also include assisting with official visits to Brussels by parliamentarians. The Permanent Representative helps them perform their official tasks on these visits and, if necessary, acts as secretary to delegations from the Eduskunta. This aspect of the work has assumed greater prominence in recent years, because contacts between national parliaments and relations with the European Parliament have become closer. Committees of the European Parliament also often invite members of national parliaments to their meetings to discuss topical themes.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Permanent Representative Mika Boedeker
European Parliament
RMD 0 J 6
Rue Belliard 89
B-1047 Brussels
Belgium
Tel. +32-2-284 4231/ GSM +358 50 550 7549
Fax +32-2-230.48.43
e-mail mika.boedeker@parliament.fi
