The European Parliament adopted a decision on the
amendment of Rule 123 on written declarations and Rule 42 on
legislative initiatives of Parliament’s Rules of
Procedure.
Parliament recalls that written declarations have a
very limited impact, in terms of both agenda-setting and
influencing decisions taken by the institutions, and may give a
misleading impression as to their effectiveness; when properly
used, however, they still retain value as a popular campaigning
tool. Moreover, for proposals calling for a legislative action,
Rule 42(2) should be used, giving individual Members a real
opportunity to influence Union legislation and to incorporate a
given proposal into the work of Parliament's committees.
In light of these considerations, Parliament has
decided to amend its Rules of Procedure as follows:
Rule 42 – paragraphs 2 and 3 (legislative
initiatives):
- any Member may table a proposal for a Union act on the
basis of the right of initiative granted to Parliament under
Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Such a proposal may be tabled together by up to 10 Members. The
proposal shall indicate its legal basis and may be accompanied by
an explanatory statement of no more than 150 words;
- the proposal shall be submitted to the President, who
shall verify whether the legal requirements are fulfilled. He may
refer the proposal for an opinion on the appropriateness of the
legal basis to the committee responsible for such verification . If
the President declares the proposal admissible, he shall announce
it in plenary and refer it to the committee
responsible;
- where such a proposal is signed by a majority of
Parliament's component members, the report on the proposal shall be
deemed to be authorised by the Conference of Presidents. The
committee shall draw up a report in accordance with Rule 48, after
having heard the authors of the proposal;
- where a proposal is not opened for additional
signatures or is not signed by a majority of Parliament's component
Members the committee responsible shall take a decision on further
action within three months of the referral, and after having heard
the authors of the proposal.
Rule 123
(written declarations):
- at least 10 Members from
at least three political groups may submit a written declaration of
not more than 200 words relating exclusively to a matter falling
within the competence of the European Union;
- the contents of such a declaration may not go beyond
the form of a declaration. In particular, it may not call for
any legislative action, contain any decision on matters for
which specific procedures and competences are laid down in these
Rules of Procedure or deal with the subject of ongoing proceedings
in Parliament
- The authorisation to proceed further shall be subject
to a reasoned decision by the President pursuant to paragraph 1 in
any given case. Written declarations shall be published in the
official languages on Parliament's website and distributed
electronically to all Members. They shall be entered, with the
names of the signatories, in an electronic register. This register
shall be public and shall be accessible through Parliament's
website.
- The signature of any Member may be added to a
declaration entered in the electronic register. It may be withdrawn
at any time before the end of a period of three months from the
entry of the declaration in the register. In the event of such a
withdrawal the Member concerned shall not be permitted to add his
or her signature again to the declaration.
Members take the view that the institutions to which a
written declaration is addressed should inform Parliament about
the intended follow-up within three months from receipt of such
a declaration. Members intend, moreover, to seek an agreement with
the Commission on this principle on the occasion of the next
negotiations on the revision of the Framework Agreement on
relations between the European Parliament and the
Commission.
Lastly, the resolution notes that the quality and relevance of some written
declarations, and in particular their concordance with the
competences of the Union as set out in Title I of Part I of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, can be
underwhelming. In the next term, therefore, Parliament might assess
the impact of the new provisions of its Rules of Procedure
concerning written declarations and examine their
effectiveness.