About the Martens Centre 4

About the authors 6

Executive summary 8

Introduction 12

Taking the EU seriously: the successful Grand Committee in Finland 15

Staffing directly in Brussels: the German Bundestag and Bundesrat strike forces 20

Applying robust and tailored transparency rules: insights from Sweden 24

Scrutinising the government before and after European Councils: plenary debates in Italy and Spain 28

Making sure members of national parliaments and MEPs work together: Denmark and Hungary at the forefront 33

Making interparliamentary cooperation work (finally!): the Europol Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group 37

Conclusion and recommendations 42

Bibliography 48