When JHA is dissenting. Explaining national parliaments’ activity in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

National parliament’s prerogatives in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice have been strengthened during the recent years. However, we still know little about parliamentary activities and scrutiny in this area. Through a quantitative analysis focused of all European national parliaments for the period 2010-2012, this article outlines and explains the empirical variation of parliamentary activities in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. The analysis shows, on the one hand, that this policy area is not leaving indifferent national parliaments. They do scrutinize European justice and home affairs policies. On the other hand, the article shows that parliamentary scrutiny of the European policies in this field can be explained by the institutional and technical capacities of national parliaments to exercise scrutiny, as well as by the willingness of the actors involved to make use of them.