The Committee
on Constitutional Affairs adopted the report drawn up by David MARTIN
(S&D, UK) on the adaptation of Parliament's Rules of Procedure to the
Treaty of Lisbon.
MEPs propose
that the European Parliament amends its rules of procedure in order to:
- take
account of the judgment of the Court of First Instance of 15 October 2008
in Case T - 345/05 (Ashley Neil Mote). This amendment corresponds at the
same time to the obligation to state reasons for legal acts which, by
virtue of the Treaty of Lisbon, from now on, also applies explicitly to
the European Parliament (Article 296 of the Treaty on the Functioning of
the European Union);
- stipulate
that, unless otherwise stipulated, the rules governing implementation of
the Statute for Members of the European Parliament shall be determined
by Parliament on the basis of a recommendation from the committee
responsible. Unlike a decision taken exclusively by the Bureau, this
procedure has the advantage of offering a much higher degree of transparency,
as well as involving all Members in drawing up the rules pertaining to
them and making all Members responsible for their definition;
- ensure
that the new Rule on observers introduced into the Rules of Procedure on
May 6 2009 applies also to observers who may be invited by Parliament,
with a view to the additional seats allocated to certain Member States,
after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon;
- clarify
that the Bureau shall take financial, organisational and administrative decisions
on matters concerning Members on a proposal of the Secretary-General or a
political group. The committee considers that where matters relating to
Members are concerned the political groups should be given the formal
capacity to table texts and amendments which will be discussed and voted;
- stipulate
that the Bureau shall nominate two or more Vice-Presidents who shall be entrusted
with the implementation of relations with national parliaments. They
shall report back regularly to the Conference of Presidents on their activities
in this regard;
- introduce
a new procedure for the scrutiny of the respect of fundamental rights
and also to establish a minority right;
- specify
that where a proposal for a legislative act has financial implications,
Parliament shall establish whether sufficient financial resources are
provided;
- transpose
the new procedures for the national Parliaments with regard to the
respect for the principle of subsidiarity (‘yellow card’ procedure and
‘orange card’ procedure) into the Rules of Procedure;
- determine
the legislative procedures on initiatives originating from a Member
State (and not just the consultation on initiatives originating from a
Member State);
- give,
in the event of referral back, the possibility for the committee responsible
to decide on the procedure to be followed, including the possibility to
present a report;
- delete
Rule 60 on the conciliation procedure contained in the 1975 joint
declaration. With the new provisions on the budget and the multiannual
financial framework, the 1975 joint declaration becomes obsolete;
- introduce
a new Article on the ordinary Treaty revision (in this context, MEPs
stress that it may not always be most efficient to have the Parliament’s
delegation chaired by a member of the Convention’s steering group,
bureau or presidium);
- introduce
a new Article on the simplified Treaty revision. This amendment reflects
the new right for Parliament to propose Treaty changes introduced by the
Treaty of Lisbon;
- take
account of the new possibility to withdraw from the Union;
- introduce
a new Article on the breach by a Member State of fundamental principles,
reproducing, with slight changes, the wording of the current Rule 102;
- provide
that before the end of a parliamentary term, Parliament may, on the
basis of a report drawn up by its committee responsible, make a proposal
to modify its composition;
- introduce
in Chapter 7 (Budgetary Procedures) a certain number of amendments: the
multiannual (has become a legislative act needing the consent of
Parliament); the document made available to Members; the consideration
of the draft budget – first stage; the financial trialogue; budgetary
conciliation; final adoption of the budget; the provisional twelfths
system; the procedure to be applied when drawing up Parliament’s
estimates;
- replace
the word "assent" throughout the entire text of the Rules of
Procedure by the word "consent". The words ‘Commission proposal’
and ‘legislative proposal’ shall also be replaced throughout the entire
text of the Rules of Procedure by the words ‘proposal for a legislative
act’ or ‘proposed legislative act’ as grammatically appropriate;
- transpose
the new regime of delegated acts into the Rules of Procedure;
- delete
the specific provisions concerning the appointment of the High
Representative for the common foreign and security policy;
- take
account of Parliament’s new right to elect the President of the
Commission;
- introduces
a new Article corresponding to the new role of Parliament with regard to
the nominations for the Court of Justice;
- transpose
into the Rules of Procedure the European
Parliament resolution of 7 May 2009 on the development of the
relations between the European Parliament and national parliaments under
the Treaty of Lisbon. The amendment is based on the idea that the
Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the specialised committees responsible
for matters on the agenda of COSAC should be more strongly involved in
the preparation of, and representation at, COSAC meetings;
- introduce new Articles on: the cooperation at
committee level; pre- and post-legislative dialogue; transmission of
documents concerning a legislative procedure at European Union level;
election of the Ombudsman.