Subsidiarity for a Changing Union

Emanuela Carbonara 

University of Bologna - Department of Economics

Barbara Luppi 

Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) - Faculty of Business and Economics; University of St. Thomas School of Law, Visiting

Francesco Parisi 

University of Minnesota - Law School
September 28, 2012

Research Handbook on Economics of European Union Law, 95-110 (Elgar, 2012)
Minnesota Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-52 
Abstract:      
In this paper, we develop an economic model of subsidiarity and discuss the ways in which this instrument should best be applied in the context of a changing European Union. The results suggest that the application of the subsidiarity test in the context of a union with growing membership requires both a prospective and retrospective analysis of the reallocation of competences between states and Union. Absent such a dynamic application, the instrument of subsidiarity could become an instrument of entrenched centralization, contrary to its historical origins and functional purpose.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 27

Keywords: subsidiarity, centralization, devolution

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2153959