http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/wor ... 38228.html
A prime example of this EU information gap occurred last week when EU justice ministers met in Brussels to discuss a range of issues, including the controversial Metock immigration case. The plaintiffs were four couples living in Ireland, who successfully challenged deportation orders issued by the Government at the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Each couple included an EU national, who was not Irish, and a non-EU national, who had claimed asylum in Ireland. In a landmark judgment in 2006 the ECJ ruled that the Government had broken EU law by introducing restrictions on the rights of non-EU spouses to reside in the Republic.
The Lisbon Treaty will help by forcing the council to televise all debates when new legislation is being decided, although sensitive discussions such as Metock would still be held behind closed doors. It would also give MEPs a say over new legislation in the justice area for the first time, which should improve the level of scrutiny over such EU decisions.
The Lisbon Treaty also forces the European Commission to send all new legislative proposals to national parliaments for consideration in an attempt to bridge the gulf between domestic politics and EU politics. Parliaments can attempt to delay or block a proposal if they feel it infringes on an area that would best be handled through domestic rather than European legislation. This would address concerns raised by no campaigners about a “democratic deficitâ€
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