The European Parliament decided by 353 votes to 125, with 211 abstentions, to make amendments to its Rules of Procedure concerning Rules 99, 197, 213, 214, 222, 223, 230, 235 and Annex V, and on the insertion of a new Rule 106a.
The amendments aim in particular to:
- clarify, in Article 99, that the provisions governing the procedure for granting discharge to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the budget in accordance with the financial provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council are attached to these Rules as an annex;
- insert a new Rule 106a on the procedure for delivering Parliaments position on the establishment or extension of Union trust funds for external actions;
- delete Rule 197 on the inadmissibility of a matter;
- clarify in Rule 213(1) on committee bureaux that the Chair and the first Vice-Chair of a committee shall not be of the same gender. Gender balance shall also apply to the other members of the bureau. It shall not be permissible for all of the bureau members to come from the same Member State;
- stipulate in Rule 223 on setting-up and duties of interparliamentary delegations that the bureaux of the delegations shall be constituted in accordance with the procedure laid down for the committee bureaux in Rule 213. However, members of the bureaux of the delegations shall be elected for the duration of the parliamentary term.
These amendments will enter into force on the first day of the part-session following that of their adoption, with the exception of:
- the amendment to Rule 213(1) concerning gender diversity, which shall enter into force at the opening of the first part-session following the next elections to the European Parliament due to be held in 2024;
- the amendment to Rule 223 on the term of office of the members of the bureaux of the delegations, which shall enter into force at the opening of the first part-session following the next elections to the European Parliament due to be held in 2024.