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a say in how much they paid and for what, and
that all decisions should be as publicly under
stood as possible. When
these principles were
applied to the European Community it had to be
said that there was very little of them there.
On the European Parliament Herr Deringer
said no parliament was capable of "handling all
the details". He suggested the development of a
border-line between principal questions which
should be decided with the assistance of Parlia
ment, and matters of detail which could be left
to the Commission in Brussels, or the staff of the
uouncil, with Parliament reserving power of veto.
Mr. John Temple Lang, of Dublin, said insuffi
cient attention had been paid to the possibility of
national parliaments exercising more control over
the activities of the governments in the Council of
Ministers.
"The E.E.C. involves a substantial transfer of
legislative power away from national parliaments
in the spheres under E.E.C. control, and these
powers are transferred to the Council and Com
mission, over which neither the national parlia
ments nor the European Parliament have any real
control. Therefore, as well as democratising the
E.E.C. institutions themselves, means are needed
to give national parliaments control over
the
conduct of their Ministers in
the Council and
over
the way
in which national governments
choose to carry out E.E.C. directives.
"The E.E.C. Commission could do more
to
facilitate control by national parliaments over
their own governments in E.E.C. matters. For
example how far national governments had a
discretion in implementing particular directives,
and how far they were bound to bring specified
results about. This would help
to ensure that
major national decisions were not introduced by
national governments under the guise of merely
carrying out E.E.C. directives, without democratic
debate.
"Time limits for implementing directives should
be adequate to allow national parliaments time
to discuss implementing measures, and national
parliaments should be careful not to hand over to
their governments all powers needed to carry out
E.E.C. directives without reserving parliamentary
control.
"National parliaments, simply because they were
democratic bodies, should be treated as the allies
of the Commission. Thev were at least as likely to
further
the cause of European
integration as
national governments. The European institutions
should, therefore, encourage national parliaments
to set up special committees to deal with national
participation
in European Community affairs,
both to discuss the attitudes of their represen
tatives in the Council of Ministers and to consider
how their governments proposed
to carry out
Community decisions.
"Another element needing more democratic
control was the rise of European organisations of
employers, trade unions, and particular industries,
and other pressure groups brought into being by
the need to consider and advise the E.E.C. Com
mission on drafts of measures it is preparing."
In his opening address,
the Taoiseach, Mr.
Lynch, had indicated that the Government has
not yet decided how to tackle the constitutional
amendments necessary to allow Ireland to join the
E.E.C. He referred to "a number of alternatives"
open to Government but did not comment on them.
Three alternatives were spelled out by Mr.
Temple Lang in a background paper presented to
the conference, and reported some time ago in
The Irish Times.
These are. a series of amend
ments adjusting specific articles of the Constitu
tion, a single amendment giving approval to entry
into the E.E.C. and any constitutional changes
involved, or a more general amendment vali
dating any legislation necessary to give effect to
any treaty promoting European unity.
Senator Mary Bourke spoke also on Mr. Temple
Lang's alternatives yesterday, and
seemed
to
favour the second. Professor Bourke pointed out
that because of the need to amend the Constitu
tion, Ireland would have to be more democratic
than any other country had been in adhering to
the E.E.C. Ireland could only join if a Refer
endum was carried by the majority of her people.
The Taoiseach, Mr. Lynch, spelled out to the
conference some points in the Irish Constitution
which would need amendment, and added there
were other provisions which a constitutional law
yer would ponder carefully. He then commented :
". .
.
it would be surprising if the position were
otherwise, in view of the fact that our Constitution
has been in force since before the Second World
War, and was drafted at a time when the devel
opments which have led to the international situa
tion as it exists today could not have been fore
seen. Indeed, this is a classic demonstration that,
in a progressive society, law must evolve to adapt
to changing circumstances."
Earlier Mr. Lynch had said :
"Ireland is like
Britain and unlike the other applicant countries
and the existing member states of the Communi
ties in having a common law system. Conversely,
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