EP Rules of Procedure, Rule 90: international agreements

The European Parliament decided by 650 votes to 15, with 8 abstentions, to amend Rule 90 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure on international agreements.

The amendments adopted are as follows:

Opinions in the context of the scrutiny of international agreements by the Parliament (Rule 90(4)): at any stage of the negotiations and from the end of the negotiations to the conclusion of the international agreement, Parliament may, on the basis of a report from the committee responsible, adopt recommendations and require them to be taken into account before the conclusion of that agreement.

Review by the committee responsible (Rule 90(5)): requests by the Council for Parliament's consent or opinion should be referred by the President to the committee responsible for consideration in accordance with Rule 81 or Rule 43(1).

Opinion of the Court of Justice (Rule 90(6)): before the vote is taken, the committee responsible, a political group or at least one-tenth of the Members may propose that Parliament seek an opinion from the Court of Justice on the compatibility of an international agreement with the Treaties.