Ühenduse õiguse põhimõte, mille kohaselt otsused tuleb teha võimalikult lähedasel tasandil isikutele, keda need otsused mõjutavad; Ühendus võib oma ainupädevusest välja jäävates küsimustes meetmeid võtta üksnes siis ja niivõrd, kui vaadeldavaid eesmärke ei ole võimalik saavutada liikmesriigi tasandil; kõnealune põhimõte sõnastati Euroopa Liidu lepinguga (1993); vt EÜ asutamislepingu artikkel 5 (3b)
the principle that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level (1). In areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Community shall take action, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved by the Community (2).
In areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Community shall take action, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved by the Community.
