Giuseppe Maria Morganti (Libera) has voiced support for the proposal of an annual law to address the transposition of European regulations, while calling for guarantees that the role of the Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale) be preserved. The commissioner spoke during the joint committee session on 12 October, asking whether the annual review would take place before the approval of the rules or would instead concern measures already transposed. His full remarks follow below.
“First of all, I want to thank the Secretaries for their input. Today we are called upon, above all, to begin charting the course for defining the procedures for transposing the acquis. We will not finalise them today, but we are essentially focusing on the content of the law and the information contained in the two accompanying documents. I am very pleased that two legislative measures are envisaged – one annual and one ongoing – which allow, in the exercise of the legislative function, for an application of European guidelines that is not automatic, but interpretative in light of the needs of our legal system. We had discussed this matter with the Venice Commission as well, which expressly confirmed that this possibility exists for States. I am therefore very glad to see it recognised through this bill. I fully agree with the annual law, which will open up an important new forum for debate for the Grand and General Council. Alongside the budget forecast, where domestic policies are discussed, we will have an opportunity to debate our policies towards Europe. However, I wonder whether the annual law comes into play before or after transposition. If it comes before, that means all the guidance set out in that debate will also have to be implemented through Article 4 of the bill. If not, I would be concerned, because the end-of-year discussion would lose much of its weight: if the laws had already been approved, it would become little more than a formal acknowledgement or a correction of errors, nothing more. I too have serious reservations about Article 5. I already had them regarding the Council’s rules of procedure, so you will understand why I have them concerning this bill as well. I believe that the legislative function of the Grand and General Council must not be weakened through tools designed merely to ensure greater efficiency. I said as much during the discussion on the amendment to the Council’s rules of procedure, and my concern remains. I believe we should do exactly the opposite: strengthen the work, the commitment, the capacity and the power of the Grand and General Council in exercising its legislative function. Unfortunately, the demands of modernity sometimes push in the opposite direction. That is essentially what I wanted to say, but I would like to reiterate the question: does the annual law initiate the procedures, or does it merely take note of what has already been done, for instance through Article 4? This is a very important question, because I believe it is on this point that the political debate must be measured.”
