National parliaments in the aftermath of the Lisbon Treaty : adaptation to the ‘New Opportunity Structure’

This dissertation examines the influence of European integration on national parliaments. The Treaty of Lisbon granted national parliaments new responsibilities in terms of European affairs. This, in turn, changed the relationship between various parliamentary players, namely parliament members, parliamentary committees, and employees of parliamentary administrations. One of the views argued in this dissertation is that parliaments focus primarily on the distribution of tasks between member states and the EU. Much less attention is paid to the content of European legislation, which can have a negative impact on the decision-making process and the national debate surrounding issues of European importance.