The European Parliament adopted by 585 votes to 32, with 10 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation.
It adopted its position at second reading under the ordinary legislative procedure.
The amendments concern in particular the issue of delegated acts and may be summarised as follows:
Following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament is now fully recognised as co-legislator alongside the Council on virtually all legislation. Parliament considers that this should be reflected in the area of the implementation of external cooperation financial instruments. During the first reading in October 2010, Parliament expressed its favour for the application of the "delegated acts" procedure for the financing instruments for external assistance. This procedure significantly strengthens Parliament's powers: Parliament's veto right allows it to block a draft measure it objects against, and requires the Commission to present an amended proposal.
Consequently, Parliament calls for:
· the Commission to be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in respect of Geographic Strategy Papers, Multi-annual Indicative Programmes and Strategy Papers for thematic programmes, as they supplement Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 and are of general application;
· further instructions regarding the allocation of the overall amount among beneficiaries to be defined by the Commission by means of delegated acts;
· the annual action programmes to be adopted by the Commission taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council;
· where the cost of such measures exceeds EUR 10 million, the Commission to adopt them taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council. For special measures below EUR 10 million, the Commission shall send the measures to the European Parliament and to the Council for information within one month of adopting its decision;
· amendments to special measures, such as those making technical adjustments, extending the implementation period, reassigning funds within the forecast budget, or increasing or reducing the size of the budget by less than 20 % of the initial budget, provided those amendments do not affect the initial objectives set out in the Commission decision, shall be communicated within one month to the European Parliament and to the Council;
· the Commission to regularly monitor and review its programmes, and evaluate the results of the implementation of geographical and thematic policies and programmes, and of sectoral policies and the effectiveness of programming, where appropriate by means of independent external evaluations, in order to ascertain whether the objectives have been met and enable it to formulate recommendations with a view to improving future operations. Proposals by the European Parliament, the national parliaments or the Council for independent external evaluations shall be taken into due account. Particular attention shall be given to social sectors and to progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);
· the Commission to examine the progress made in implementing the measures taken under this Regulation and shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council an annual report on the implementation and the results and, as far as possible, on the main outcomes and impacts of the assistance.
Other amendments focus on the objectives, scope and duration of the delegation of power, as well as the conditions to be respected by the delegations.