New EPP Group Vice-Chairwoman Esther de Lange: Efficient cooperation between the European Parliament and National Parliaments

Esther de Lange has made a fresh start as the new EPP Group Vice-Chairwoman responsible for Relations with National Parliaments. De Lange is a young and experienced MEP from The Netherlands. She has worked in the European Parliament for 15 years and has been an MEP since 2007. She was the top candidate of the Dutch Christian Democrats (CDA) at the last European elections.

De Lange was elected as Vice-Chairwoman by the new EPP Group in July. "I am looking forward to working on the Relations with the National Parliaments. It is very important to keep up the good work done by Paulo Rangel on strengthening the cooperation and debate between all EPP family groups in the parliaments of Europe."

What is your goal in your new role?

"To strengthen and elaborate the debate on current political and social-economic issues in a more detailed way in order to further shape the EPP Group's mutual understanding and ways to work together. We need to learn from past mistakes and have a more transparent and legitimate approach. We need cooperation between all national parliaments and the European Parliament for better and constructive dialogues."

What is your experience with national parliaments so far?

"I have met many national parliamentarians from many Member States. We all strive for a European Union that works for people. Better regulation with respect for both subsidiarity and proportionality is of high importance. The participation in the meeting on Article 13 (Fiscal Compact), held on 29-30 September in Rome was fruitful and many parliamentarians felt the desire to strengthen the cooperation."

What do you expect from the upcoming meetings?

"I am looking forward to discussing the important current topics at the upcoming meetings. On 13 October, at the EPP European Network in Brussels, we will discuss the lessons learned from the European elections and the experiences of different national parliamentarians during the EU elections."

Another topic will be the participation of parliaments in the Union’s activities: what will be the role of the national parliaments?

The Lisbon Treaty, treaty of the parliaments, placed greater emphasis on the involvement of national parliaments in the European political process. It is aimed at strengthening cooperation with the European Parliament and it opened the door to a better and greater democratic scrutiny of the entire political activity of the Union, in general as well as in the Member States. The possible use of the yellow card procedure is a very efficient and important right of the national parliaments, which enables them to give an early warning when a Commission proposal is not in line with the principle of subsidiarity. This early warning mechanism is an effective tool for national parliaments to increase their involvement and ways to contribute to the Union's democratic legitimacy."