The European Parliament decided by 598 votes to 66,
with 8 abstentions, to amend Parliament's Rules of Procedure with
regard to parliamentary questions.
The amendments adopted concern Rule 116, Question
Time, as well as Rules 117 and 118, Questions for Written
Answer.
The main features of the amendments are as
follows:
Question time (Rule 116):
- Question Time with the Commission shall be held at
each part-session for a duration of 90 minutes on one or
more specific horizontal themes to be decided upon by the
Conference of Presidents one month in advance of the
part-session;
- the Commissioners invited to participate by the
Conference of Presidents shall have a portfolio related to the
specific horizontal theme or themes on which questions are to
be put to them. The number of Commissioners shall be limited to
two per part-session, with the possibility of adding a third
being dependent on the specific horizontal theme or themes chosen
for the Question Time;
- Question time shall be conducted in accordance with a
ballot-system;
- Annex II which establishes in great length guidelines
for the verification of the admissibility of questions,
supplementary questions and time-limits has been adapted to the new
ballot system.
After a period expiring one year from the beginning of
the eighth parliamentary term, the Conference of Presidents should
carry out an assessment of the regime in respect of additional
questions.
Questions for written answer (Rules 117 and
118):
- questions should be submitted to the President. Doubts
concerning the admissibility of a question should be settled by the
President. The President's decision should be based not exclusively
on the provisions of annex III on criteria for questions for
written answer but on the provisions of these Rules of Procedure in
general. The questioner should be notified of the President's
decision;
- questions should be submitted in electronic format.
Each Member may submit a maximum of five questions per
month. By way of exception, additional questions may be
submitted in the form of a paper document tabled and signed
personally by the Member concerned in the relevant service of the
Secretariat;
- questions and answers should be published on
Parliament’s website;
- any Member may put a maximum of six questions per
month for written answer to the European Central Bank. Doubts
concerning the admissibility of a question shall be settled by the
Chair. The questioner shall be notified of the Chair's
decision;
- questions should fall exclusively within the limits
of the competences of the institutions as laid down in the
relevant Treaties and within the sphere of responsibility of the
addressee, and be of general interest. They should not contain more
than three sub-questions;
Lastly, if a question seeks factual or statistical
information that is already available to Parliament's research
services, it should not be forwarded to the addressee but to those
services, unless the President decides otherwise upon request by
the author.
These amendments should enter into force on the first
day of the first part-session of the eighth parliamentary
term.