The European Parliament decided to amend its Rules of Procedure to the Treaty of Lisbon.
The main amendments are as follows:
Members’ Statute: Parliament will adopt the Members’ Statute and any amendment of this will be on the basis of a proposal from the competent committee.
Bureau: it is stated 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 Bureau shall nominate two 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.
Delegation of legislative powers: when scrutinising a proposal for a legislative act which delegates powers to the Commission as provided for in Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Parliament shall pay particular attention to the objectives, content, scope and duration of the delegation, and to the conditions to which it is subject. The committee responsible for the subject-matter may at any time request the opinion of the committee responsible for the interpretation and application of Union law.
The committee responsible for the interpretation and application of Union law may also, on its own initiative, take up questions concerning the delegation of legislative powers. In such cases it shall duly inform the committee responsible for the subject-matter.
Amendments to the Treaties: where Parliament is consulted, in accordance with Article 48(3) of the Treaty on European Union, on a proposal for a decision of the European Council in favour of examining amendments to the Treaties, the matter shall be referred to the committee responsible. The committee shall draw up a report comprising i) a motion for a resolution which states whether Parliament approves or rejects the proposed decision and which may contain proposals for the attention of the Convention or of the conference of representatives of the governments of the Member States; ii) if appropriate, an explanatory statement.
Parliamentary Questions: in accordance with guidelines established by the Conference of Presidents, specific question hours may be held with the President of the Commission, with the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and with the President of the Eurogroup.
The organisation and promotion of effective and regular interparliamentary cooperation within the Union shall be negotiated on the basis of a mandate given by the Conference of Presidents, after consulting the Conference of Committee Chairs. Parliament shall approve any agreements on such matters.
A committee may directly engage in a dialogue with national parliaments at committee level within the limits of budgetary appropriations set aside for this purpose. This may include appropriate forms of pre-legislative and post-legislative cooperation.
Any document concerning a legislative procedure at Union level which is officially transmitted by a national parliament to the European Parliament shall be forwarded to the committee responsible for the subject-matter dealt with in that document.
These amendments will enter into force the first day of the next session period.