Abstract
The subject of the article is the matter of the „european commitment" of the Polish Senate as the so-called second chamber of the parliament. Starting point is the statement that the matter of participation of the Senate, and wider of every parliamentary second chamber, in the execution of the rughts referring to the European Uniori membership, should be looked into from at least several points of view.
The first is tier which can be referred to as „competency" because it concerns delimitation of the rights ofthe Executive and the Legislative branch with regard to the matters referring the European Union. lt is contained in the recognition that the competencies ofthe parliament in the widely understood „european relations" are limited ab initio while the second chamber or even wider - the parliament, is brought down to the role ofa councelling, advisory body, where ihe Executive is the leading body.
The second tier is a much wider matter, having a global value - namely the perception of national parliaments by the European Union: This matter may therefore conventionally by referred to as the „union matter" or the „european matter", because it is both undertaken and regulated, even though rather generally, by the European Union. It boils down to the indication of a generał role of the national parliaments in the sphere of their european contacts, which on the one hand includes the area ad intra - the internal area, whose core is the relationship of the national parliament with respective national executive bodies. On the other hand, it is the area ad extra - the external area which refers to both the relationship of the national parliament with the Union as such and its individual bodies, and the relationship with the parliaments of the other member states.
The third tier can briefly and not very precisely be referred to as „doctrinal" or alternatively „functional". It mainly is about an answer to the question what function or functions national parliaments actually have (including the second chamber). Therefore, is this function, or functions, a classic function ofthe parliaments, i.e. supervisory and legislative, with the assumption of a necessary transposition in this respect which is the imposed by their „europeisation". Or prehaps the function associated with the european participation of the national parliaments dose not fit in any of the insofar existing or classic or even standard functions of the legislative branch, adopting the form of a separate and independent function - function sui generis.
Another tier, the fourth one, is the tier of mutual relations which take place with a divided parliament, the parliament with a complex, two-chamber internal structure. Conventionally, this aspect of the matter may be referred to as „structural" or „bicameral". Its imprtance results from the obvious fact of division of the national legislative aithority which results in a series of subsequent affects, including in particular those associated with mutual relations between the cham bers as well as the extent oftheir equivalence which may obviously vary and not necessarilly be the same. Thus, the cariants of dispersion of functions and competencies in both chambers of the parliament are at least a few, starting from the full or perfect symmetry of the chambers through to their seriously advanced sprain.
Finally, the fifth tier is the tier of intranational constitutional regulations which - without ultimately arbitrating the matter - should at least into a certain extent by consistent with the generał adjudications dictated by the decisions executed at the previous tiers, namely the „competency", the „union", ,,functional" and eventually the „structural" tier.
Consequently, particular particpipartion of every second chamber, and wider - every chamber of the parliament, in the execution of the rights referring to the European Union membership, will be the function of the above five fundamental or initial metters which will decide on the shape, form and extend of the said participation. Therefore, the concept of the european commitment of the second chamber of the parliament has a somewhat resultant nature, being the form of compilation and mutatuon of many overlapping problems, circumstances and effects, which results in the actual lack of a single, universal model of fulfilling the ,,european function" by the second chamber.
