Rome, Italy

Parliaments, democratic accountability and budgetary powers

when 10 July 2017 - 21 July 2017
language English
duration 2 weeks
credits 8 EC

The summer program on “Parliamentary democracy in Europe” and the Jean Monnet module associated to it intend to cope with one of the challenges Parliaments are currently facing: the increase in the number and scope of highly technical decisions normally taken outside parliaments or where parliaments certainly do not play the role of main decision-makers. The new EU intergovernmentalism and the powers conferred or exercised by independent and technical institutions, the unprecedented design of the budgetary procedures and of the budgets partly at European level and partly at national level leave Parliaments with a narrow margin of manoeuvre to control crucial decisions for their polities.

What is left of the principle of “no taxation without representation”? How is the chain of democratic accountability on the exercise of budgetary powers designed? Does it work effectively?

This summer program untangles these issues and provides its participants with a map of the current state of democracy at EU and national level, under the perspective of the parliaments of Europe, national governments, and EU institutions, notably the European Commission, the Council and the European Central Bank.

Participants will be provided with knowledge and expertise that will allow them to understand and interpret the complex role of these institutions exercising budgetary powers. The Faculty, which includes senior and junior academics from law, political sciences and economics and experienced officials from European and national institutions, reflects the need to combine theory with practice in understanding the future of Europe's democracy and the interplay between national and EU institutions in budgetary procedures.

This Summer Program has been awarded as a Jean Monnet module on “Parliamentary accountability and technical expertise: budgetary powers, information and communication technologies and elections (PATEU)” co-financed by the European Commission (1st year). Previously it was a awarded as a Jean Monnet Module from 2013 to 2015 and in 2015 was chosen as the winner of the PADEMIA teaching award.

Organised in cooperation with Sciences Po-Centre d'études européennes, CEUR Foundation, LUISS Center for parliamentary studies

Course leader

Director: Prof. Nicola Lupo (Full Professor of Parliamentary Law and Director of the Erasmus Plus Joint Master on "Parliamentary procedures and legislative drafting""

Coordinator: Dr. Cristina Fasone (Assistant Professor of Comparative Public Law and J

Target group

The beneficiaries of this intensive learning experience are:

- graduates, doctoral students and post-docs who are active in the field of parliamentary, comparative, and European Union studies (preferably with a background in law and in social sciences in general) and want to test their current knowledge and experience with an international faculty and senior professionals. Students must hold at least a bachelor degree(preferably in law, political science, economy, philosophy or history).In the case of law students, applicants must have completed their third year

- civil servants from European institutions and bodies, from international organizations, and from national and subnational institutions in Member States and from Third countries, who want to advance and share their hands-on experience with other colleagues and scholars;

- lobbyists and public affairs professionals who want to acquire advanced knowledge on the exercise of budgetary powers, at national and European level, and, therefore, be better prepared to the new challenges, in particular the new budgetary cycle through the European Semester, its players and the coordination between national and EU budgets.

Course aim

Taught by world-renowned academics and experts, this summer program applies research-based knowledge to the practical contexts that European Parliament and national parliaments as well as executives face nowadays in the framework of the budgetary procedures.

The faculty will create a teaching and seminar environment that is likely to foster experiential learning and to allow participants to debate new concepts, ideas and challenges while working together through seminars and group work.

The course lasts two weeks, the first, from 10 to 14 July 2017, primarily focused on the exercise of budgetary powers at domestic level; the second, from 17 to 21 July 2017, mainly devoted to the EU budget and budgetary procedures, and it covers the following subject areas:

1st week (10-14 July 2017)

Budgetary policy between democracy and technocracy
The budget as a democratic instrument: what remains of the principle “no taxation without representation” today?
The constitutional enforcement of budgetary rules
The structure of a public budget
Does the Government actually lead national budgetary procedures? Comparing the situation in the EU Member States and in the US
National parliaments in the European Semester
The practice of the economic (and monetary) dialogue: the relationship between the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Central Bank
What has been implemented of the Five Presidents’ Report of 2015: the democratic commitments


2nd week (17-21 July 2017)

Independent fiscal institutions: non-identified objects?
Parliaments and constitutional courts in the Eurozone crisis: a difficult relationship on the exercise of budgetary powers
The history and the evolution of the EU budget
The Multiannual Financial Framework: the need for a better coordination between national budgets and EU budget
The EU system of own resources: a challenge to the budgetary authority of the European Parliament?
The discharge procedure and the accountability of the European Commission before the European Parliament
The discharge procedure and the accountability of the European Commission before the European Parliament
Towards a reformed EU budget, more democratic and respondent to the needs of EU citizens
Students can decide to attend the course both weeks or either of them.

The programme is available here.

The Summer Program will start with an opening lecture and will end with a closing conference by prominent academics and practitioners.

The lectures, given by top-level and senior academics, will consist in 45 minute lecture and 45 minute Q&A. They provide the participants with the theoretical framework and the conceptual analysis instrumental to fully exploit the other academic activities offered by the teaching staff

- The training sessions, also with simulation exercises, aim to develop practical skills of the participants and to train them in the field of the budgetary-related inter-institutional procedures.

- The Guest professional seminar series aims to move the participants closer to the institutional reality and policy-making by focusing on case studies. In addition, seminars, led by junior scholars, intend to focus on a comparative overview of notions and concepts dealt with by lectures and guest professional seminars.

Paper discussions, coordinated by young scholars, will be devoted to discuss papers that the students can be interested to present ad to provide them with feedback.The best papers presented by the participants will be published by LUISS School of Government as part of its Working Paper Series.

Participants will also have a first-hand experience during a visit to the Italian Chamber of Deputies and Senate’s budget committees.

Credits info

8 EC
A certificate of participation is awarded upon successful completion of the Summer Program.

In order to gain this certificate, participants are expected to attend and actively participate in all the activities of the Summer Program.

Participants willing to obtain credits should consult their own institutions in advance about the acceptability of the Summer Program evaluation, which will be based on class participation and the successful evaluation of a written test.

4 ECTS one week – 8 ECTS two weeks

Credits will be awarded along the following guidelines:

Attendance of every academic activity scheduled in the framework of the Summer Program
Successful evaluation (at least satisfactory) of a written test (questionnaire with closed and open questions).
Participants complying with these standards will receive an official transcript detailing the awarded credits.

Fee info

EUR 0: 650 EUR is the fee excluding accommodation.

The fee, including accommodation for one week, is 1000 EUR (check in on Sunday before the start of the Summer Program’s attendance, check out onSaturday after the end of the week at Summer Program)

Participants who are or have been affiliated to LUISS Guido Carli University or to one of partners of this program will receive a discount of 10%. Should you want to be considered for this discount, please indicate this in the motivation letter and in the section "Note" of the application form.
EUR 1000: 1000 EUR is the fee excluding accommodation.

The fee, includiing accommodation for one week, is 1500 EUR (check in on Sunday, 9 July 2017; check out , 22 July 2017)

Participants who are or have been affiliated to LUISS Guido Carli University or to one of partners of this program will receive a discount of 10%. Should you want to be considered for this discount, please indicate this in the motivation letter and in the section "Note" of the application form.