Amendment to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure concerning Rule 216 on committee meetings

The European Parliament decided by 555 votes to 20, with 63 abstentions, to amend Parliament’s Rules of Procedure concerning Rule 216 on committee meetings.

The amendment to Rule 216 specifies that when convening a committee meeting, the Chair may decide, on a case-by-case basis and with the approval of coordinators representing a majority of the committee members, that it should also be possible to attend the meeting remotely, except for committee meetings held in camera.

In the case of remote participation, it should be ensured that:

- Members are able to exercise their parliamentary mandate, including, in particular, their right to speak in committees without impairment;

- the information technology solutions made available are ‘technology neutral’;

- secure electronic means that are managed and supervised by Parliament’s services directly and internally are used;

- the technical equipment enables the necessary audio and video quality; and

- the intervention is done from an appropriate place.