The Treaty of Lisbon would formally make the European Council into one of the institutions of the European Union. Article 13 of the amended Treaty on European Union (TEU) mentions the European Council right after the European Parliament, and Article 15 TEU contains the main provisions on its tasks, membership and President.
This leads to other changes at treaty level and below.
***
Current treaty
The fourth paragraph of Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) lays down the principle that the European Parliament can hear the Council (which has both legislative and executive powers), but it does not mention the European Council:
“The Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Council in its Rules of Procedure.”
***
Lisbon Treaty
The corresponding provision of the Treaty of Lisbon is the third paragraph of Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The Council and its Rules of Procedure remain as before, but the European Council and its Rules of Procedure are added:
“The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.”
***
New Rules of Procedure
In practice, the head of government (or state) of and incoming Council Presidency presents the work programme before the European Parliament and then lauds the achievements during the six months at the helm before handing over the Presidency to the next member state.
Article 230 TFEU means that the European Council needs its own Rules of Procedure. Reporting from the meetings will become the task of the semi-permanent President, according to Article 15(6) TEU.
Preparatory work is needed to implement the Lisbon Treaty, should it enter into force.
***
Council information
The only more or less comprehensive public EU report emanating from the Council on preparatory work seems to be almost nine months old.
It is the ‘Progress report from the Presidency to the European Council ─ Preparatory work in view of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty’ from the Slovenian Council Presidency to the European Council 19 and 20 June 2008 (Council document 10650/08, 13 June 2008):
http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/08/st10/st10650.en08.pdf
The Progress Report, which sampled a number of questions from Slovenia’s earlier and unpublished list, noted that a number of issues related to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty will require some form of agreement with the European Parliament (point 4).
Point 11 summarised the work undertaken on the Council’s and the European Council’s Rules of Procedure:
11. Rules of Procedure of European Council and Council (Articles 235 and 240 TFEU)
On the basis that the Council's Rules of Procedure should only be modified to the extent that this was needed as a result of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, Permanent Representatives examined possible amendments to the existing Rules. Broad consensus was reached, subject to the inclusion of several provisions related to the division of labour between the GAC and the FAC and the preparation of European Council meetings, which it was agreed would be examined at a later stage.
Considerable progress was made on technical aspects of the European Council's Rules of Procedure; some other issues, related in particular to the preparation of European Council meetings, will require further work. A preliminary exchange of views focussed on the respective roles of those involved in the preparation of European Council meetings. There was broad support for the need for all of them to work closely together. A significant number of delegations underlined the need to ensure an adequate role in European Council meetings for the Head of State or Government of the Member State holding the Council presidency. These issues will require further work.
***
Preparatory work, progress reports and draft proposals are needed.
Ralf Grahn
Showing posts with label 197 TEC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 197 TEC. Show all posts
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
European Parliament: Hearing the Council
The rotating EU Council Presidency still in force is crucial for how the European Union is represented externally and the Council internally, six months at a time. The Treaty of Lisbon would preserve the rotating Presidency generally, but give the European Council a more permanent President and the double-hatted High Representative/Vice-President would chair the Foreign Affairs Council.
Under the Treaty of Lisbon the European Council would become an official institution. This has been noted in the provision on hearing by the European Parliament, but we lack public information about how the member states intend to implement the Lisbon Treaty.
In this post we look at the rules on hearing the Council by the European Parliament.
***
Current treaty
The fourth paragraph of Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) lays down the principle that the European Parliament can hear the Council (which has both legislative and executive powers):
“The Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Council in its Rules of Procedure.”
***
Lisbon Treaty
The corresponding provision of the Treaty of Lisbon is the third paragraph of Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The Council and its Rules of Procedure remain as before. (The European Council and its Rules of Procedure are added.)
“The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.”
***
Council’s Rules of Procedure
It is not for a “sovereign” European Parliament to dictate how the Council is to be heard, but for the Council to decide in its Rules of Procedure (based on various treaty provisions drafted by the representatives of the member states).
As in many other instances, working relationships require cooperation between the EU institutions.
Council Decision 2006/683/EC, Euratom of 15 September 2006 adopting the Council's Rules of Procedure was originally published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 16.10.2006 L 285/47.
Each year the Council has to approve the population figures relevant for voting in the Council (Annex 3), and since there is a consolidated version of the Council’s Rules of Procedure (of 1 January 2009) it is the one we use:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2006D0683:20090101:EN:PDF
***
Representation before the European Parliament
The general rule concerns the acting Council Presidency, the main responsible to be heard by the European Parliament or to delegate the tasks.
Usually the head of government (or state) of the Presidency member state presents its programme at the beginning of the six month turn in office and sums up its achievements at the end.
Article 26 of the Council’s Rules of Procedure assigns this task primarily to the acting Presidency, although there are other options, such as the following Presidency.
The role of the Secretary-General includes the task of High Representative, so keeping the European Parliament informed about CFSP and CSDP developments can be delegated to him (instead of the Foreign Minister of the country holding the Presidency).
At committee level Council officials can also be instructed to appear (instead of the relevant Ministers of the Presidency government). This includes the Deputy Secretary-General, practically unknown to the general public, but with the High Representative/Secretary-General more than occupied by foreign policy, one of the real powers within the EU:
Article 26
Representation before the European Parliament
The Council may be represented before the European Parliament or its committees by the Presidency or, with the latter's agreement, by the following Presidency or by the Secretary-General. The Council may also be represented before those committees by its Deputy Secretary- General or senior officials of the General Secretariat, acting on instructions from the Presidency.
The Council may also present its views to the European Parliament by means of a written statement.
***
Parliamentary questions and silence procedure
The number of questions for written answer (written questions) from members of the European Parliament is great. Preparing draft replies to them is largely routine work for the Council Secretariat, so facilitated procedures have been adopted to ease the work load of Coreper (the Committee of Permanent Representatives) and especially of the Council.
Article 12(2) of the Council’s Rules of Procedure mentions a simplified written procedure called “silence procedure”, applicable to (written) questions and some other matters. If none of the member states react within a time limit (normally three working days), the text is considered adopted:
2. On the initiative of the Presidency, the Council may act by means of a simplified written procedure called “silence procedure”:
(a) for the purpose of adopting the text of a reply to a written question or, as appropriate, to an oral question submitted to the Council by a Member of the European Parliament, after the draft reply has been examined by Coreper [the time limit is normally three working days];
-----
(c) for the purpose of deciding to consult other institutions or bodies wherever such consultation is required by the Treaties;
-----
In that case, the relevant text shall be deemed to be adopted at the end of the period laid down by the Presidency depending on the urgency of the matter, except where a member of the Council objects.
3. The General Secretariat shall establish that the written procedures have been completed.
***
Lisbon Treaty
With regard to hearing the Council Article 230 TFEU does not alter the text of Article 197 TEC. It only adds the European Council and its Rules of Procedure.
The procedures in the European Parliament are regulated in its Rules of Procedure, which the EP plans to amend (Corbett Report). In addition, Lisbon Treaty implementation and interinstitutional relations are dealt with in the Leinen, Brok and Dehaene reports, and they have been covered in a number of blog posts.
But the Council’s Rules of Procedure have to be adapted to the amending Treaty of Lisbon. I have found no public proposal concerning the needed changes.
Ralf Grahn
Under the Treaty of Lisbon the European Council would become an official institution. This has been noted in the provision on hearing by the European Parliament, but we lack public information about how the member states intend to implement the Lisbon Treaty.
In this post we look at the rules on hearing the Council by the European Parliament.
***
Current treaty
The fourth paragraph of Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) lays down the principle that the European Parliament can hear the Council (which has both legislative and executive powers):
“The Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Council in its Rules of Procedure.”
***
Lisbon Treaty
The corresponding provision of the Treaty of Lisbon is the third paragraph of Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The Council and its Rules of Procedure remain as before. (The European Council and its Rules of Procedure are added.)
“The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.”
***
Council’s Rules of Procedure
It is not for a “sovereign” European Parliament to dictate how the Council is to be heard, but for the Council to decide in its Rules of Procedure (based on various treaty provisions drafted by the representatives of the member states).
As in many other instances, working relationships require cooperation between the EU institutions.
Council Decision 2006/683/EC, Euratom of 15 September 2006 adopting the Council's Rules of Procedure was originally published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 16.10.2006 L 285/47.
Each year the Council has to approve the population figures relevant for voting in the Council (Annex 3), and since there is a consolidated version of the Council’s Rules of Procedure (of 1 January 2009) it is the one we use:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2006D0683:20090101:EN:PDF
***
Representation before the European Parliament
The general rule concerns the acting Council Presidency, the main responsible to be heard by the European Parliament or to delegate the tasks.
Usually the head of government (or state) of the Presidency member state presents its programme at the beginning of the six month turn in office and sums up its achievements at the end.
Article 26 of the Council’s Rules of Procedure assigns this task primarily to the acting Presidency, although there are other options, such as the following Presidency.
The role of the Secretary-General includes the task of High Representative, so keeping the European Parliament informed about CFSP and CSDP developments can be delegated to him (instead of the Foreign Minister of the country holding the Presidency).
At committee level Council officials can also be instructed to appear (instead of the relevant Ministers of the Presidency government). This includes the Deputy Secretary-General, practically unknown to the general public, but with the High Representative/Secretary-General more than occupied by foreign policy, one of the real powers within the EU:
Article 26
Representation before the European Parliament
The Council may be represented before the European Parliament or its committees by the Presidency or, with the latter's agreement, by the following Presidency or by the Secretary-General. The Council may also be represented before those committees by its Deputy Secretary- General or senior officials of the General Secretariat, acting on instructions from the Presidency.
The Council may also present its views to the European Parliament by means of a written statement.
***
Parliamentary questions and silence procedure
The number of questions for written answer (written questions) from members of the European Parliament is great. Preparing draft replies to them is largely routine work for the Council Secretariat, so facilitated procedures have been adopted to ease the work load of Coreper (the Committee of Permanent Representatives) and especially of the Council.
Article 12(2) of the Council’s Rules of Procedure mentions a simplified written procedure called “silence procedure”, applicable to (written) questions and some other matters. If none of the member states react within a time limit (normally three working days), the text is considered adopted:
2. On the initiative of the Presidency, the Council may act by means of a simplified written procedure called “silence procedure”:
(a) for the purpose of adopting the text of a reply to a written question or, as appropriate, to an oral question submitted to the Council by a Member of the European Parliament, after the draft reply has been examined by Coreper [the time limit is normally three working days];
-----
(c) for the purpose of deciding to consult other institutions or bodies wherever such consultation is required by the Treaties;
-----
In that case, the relevant text shall be deemed to be adopted at the end of the period laid down by the Presidency depending on the urgency of the matter, except where a member of the Council objects.
3. The General Secretariat shall establish that the written procedures have been completed.
***
Lisbon Treaty
With regard to hearing the Council Article 230 TFEU does not alter the text of Article 197 TEC. It only adds the European Council and its Rules of Procedure.
The procedures in the European Parliament are regulated in its Rules of Procedure, which the EP plans to amend (Corbett Report). In addition, Lisbon Treaty implementation and interinstitutional relations are dealt with in the Leinen, Brok and Dehaene reports, and they have been covered in a number of blog posts.
But the Council’s Rules of Procedure have to be adapted to the amending Treaty of Lisbon. I have found no public proposal concerning the needed changes.
Ralf Grahn
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
European Parliament: Relations with Council and European Council
The existing treaties of the European Union and the EU Treaty of Lisbon contain basic provisions on the European Parliament’s relations with the other institutions: the Commission and the Council.
In this blog post we present the current and amending treaties before we embark upon the relations between the institutions in more detail.
We notice that the Treaty of Lisbon requires preparatory work in order to be implemented, should it enter into force.
***
Current treaty
Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) contains bare bones provisions on two areas concerning the European Parliament:
a) internal organisation, and
b) relations with the Commission and the Council.
The text of Article 197 TEC is from the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134. Having covered the first three paragraphs in some detail in preceding blog posts, we are going to turn our main attention to the fourth one, which concerns the relations with the EU Council:
Article 197 TEC
The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its Members.
Members of the Commission may attend all meetings and shall, at their request, be heard on behalf of the Commission.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Council in its Rules of Procedure.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon formally deleted the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC on the internal organisation of the European Parliament and replaced two of the three other paragraphs. Notice the wording of the new fourth paragraph (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102):
185) Article 197 shall be amended as follows:
(a) the first paragraph shall be deleted;
(b) the second paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.’;
(c) the fourth paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.’.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
The European Parliament’s relations with the Commission and the Council remained in slightly amended form in Article 197 (ToL), which was renumbered Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty (OJEU OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/151).
Because the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC had been formally deleted, but in practice moved to Article 14(4) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the replacement for the fourth paragraph of Article 197 TEC became the third paragraph of Article 230 TFUE, with the new wording:
Article 230 TFEU
(ex Article 197, second, third and fourth paragraph, TEC)
The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.
***
Lisbon Treaty changes
The third paragraph of Article 230 TFEU makes the treaty level addition that the European Council is heard by the EP. This is a codification of existing practice, but it does not exclude further developments.
If the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, the European Council becomes an official institution and it needs its own Rules of Procedure, replacing the meagre Rules for the organisation of the proceedings of the European Council.
***
We take note that the Lisbon Treaty requires a number of complementary rules and decisions, if it enters into force. Some of these are only technical, but necessary. Others are political in nature. All require preparatory work.
Two documents are crucial, either as instruments of change or in order to adapt to separate decisions:
The Rules of Procedure of the EU Council would have to be adapted to the amending treaty.
The European Council needs its own Rules of Procedure.
We are left wondering what the French Council Presidency did during the latter half of 2008 and what the Czech Council Presidency is doing during the first six months of 2009.
Ralf Grahn
In this blog post we present the current and amending treaties before we embark upon the relations between the institutions in more detail.
We notice that the Treaty of Lisbon requires preparatory work in order to be implemented, should it enter into force.
***
Current treaty
Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) contains bare bones provisions on two areas concerning the European Parliament:
a) internal organisation, and
b) relations with the Commission and the Council.
The text of Article 197 TEC is from the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134. Having covered the first three paragraphs in some detail in preceding blog posts, we are going to turn our main attention to the fourth one, which concerns the relations with the EU Council:
Article 197 TEC
The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its Members.
Members of the Commission may attend all meetings and shall, at their request, be heard on behalf of the Commission.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Council in its Rules of Procedure.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon formally deleted the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC on the internal organisation of the European Parliament and replaced two of the three other paragraphs. Notice the wording of the new fourth paragraph (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102):
185) Article 197 shall be amended as follows:
(a) the first paragraph shall be deleted;
(b) the second paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.’;
(c) the fourth paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.’.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
The European Parliament’s relations with the Commission and the Council remained in slightly amended form in Article 197 (ToL), which was renumbered Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty (OJEU OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/151).
Because the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC had been formally deleted, but in practice moved to Article 14(4) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the replacement for the fourth paragraph of Article 197 TEC became the third paragraph of Article 230 TFUE, with the new wording:
Article 230 TFEU
(ex Article 197, second, third and fourth paragraph, TEC)
The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.
***
Lisbon Treaty changes
The third paragraph of Article 230 TFEU makes the treaty level addition that the European Council is heard by the EP. This is a codification of existing practice, but it does not exclude further developments.
If the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, the European Council becomes an official institution and it needs its own Rules of Procedure, replacing the meagre Rules for the organisation of the proceedings of the European Council.
***
We take note that the Lisbon Treaty requires a number of complementary rules and decisions, if it enters into force. Some of these are only technical, but necessary. Others are political in nature. All require preparatory work.
Two documents are crucial, either as instruments of change or in order to adapt to separate decisions:
The Rules of Procedure of the EU Council would have to be adapted to the amending treaty.
The European Council needs its own Rules of Procedure.
We are left wondering what the French Council Presidency did during the latter half of 2008 and what the Czech Council Presidency is doing during the first six months of 2009.
Ralf Grahn
Monday, 9 March 2009
European Parliament: Questions for written answer
Question Time and Questions for oral answer with debate may be more “media sexy”, but Questions for written answer offer individual members of the European Parliament more freedom to query the Commission or the Council.
The number of “written questions” is high, but with patience you may find valuable nuggets of information about interesting details not readily available elsewhere.
***
Treaty provisions
“The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.”
This is the text of the third paragraph of Article 197 of the current Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), published in the consolidated version of the treaties OJEU 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134.
Its substance would not be affected by Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102).
Article 197 (ToL) appears renumbered as Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty, with the same wording of the second paragraph (OJEU 9.5.2008/151).
***
EP Rules of Procedure
Naturally, more detailed rules are needed to complement or implement treaty provisions. The general resource concerning procedures in the European Parliament is the Rules of Procedure (16th edition, October 2008).
Rule 110 concerns questions for written answer to the Council or the Commission. Each member can table one priority question each month, to be answered within three weeks. Non-priority questions should be answered within six weeks, but the Rule does not limit their number. The questions and answers are published:
Rule 110 Questions for written answer to the Council or the Commission
1. Any Member may put questions for written answer to the Council or the Commission in accordance with guidelines laid down in an annex to these Rules of Procedure. The content of questions shall be the sole responsibility of their authors.
2. Questions shall be submitted in writing to the President who shall forward them to the institution concerned. Doubts concerning the admissibility of a question shall be settled by the President. His decision shall be notified to the questioner.
3. If a question cannot be answered within the time limit set it shall, at the request of the author, be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of the committee responsible. Rule 109 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
4. Questions which require an immediate answer but not detailed research (priority questions) shall be answered within three weeks of being forwarded to the institution concerned. Each Member may table one priority question each month.
Other questions (non-priority questions) shall be answered within six weeks of being forwarded to the institution concerned.
Members shall indicate which type of question they are submitting. The final decision shall be taken by the President.
5. Questions and answers shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
***
Guidelines: Annex IIa
More detailed rules are laid down in Annex IIa. While Rule 110 concerns questions to the Council or the Commission, the reference to Rule 111 is with regard to questions to the European Central Bank.
The guidelines set fairly basic norms for the relevance and language of an admissible question, if need be with advice on drafting. In addition, the guidelines try to avoid burdening the Commission and the Council with repetitive answers to essentially the same question or when the information is readily available. The Commission or Council can bundle answers on related matters:
ANNEX II a Guidelines for questions for written answer under Rules 110 and 111
1. Questions for written answer shall:
- fall within the competence and sphere of responsibility of the institution concerned and be of general interest;
- be concise and contain an understandable interrogation;
- not contain offensive language;
- not relate to strictly personal matters.
2. [In effect after the 2009 European elections] If a question does not comply with these guidelines, the Secretariat shall provide the author with advice on how the question may be drafted in order to be admissible.
3. [In effect after the 2009 European elections] If an identical or similar question has been put and answered during the preceding six months, the Secretariat shall transmit a copy of the previous question and answer to the author. The renewed question shall not be forwarded to the institution concerned unless the author invokes new significant developments or is seeking further information.
4. If a question seeks factual or statistical information that is already available to Parliament's library, the latter shall inform the Member, who may withdraw the question.
5. Questions concerning related matters may be answered together.
***
Written questions
Just as questions for oral answers with debate become “oral questions” in everyday parlance, questions for written answer turn into “written questions” colloquially. In other words, search for “Answers to written question(s)” if you want to know more.
But the search and search options did not feel especially intuitive, so try the European Parliament’s web page Parliamentary questions:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/QP-WEB/home.jsp?language=en
A cottage industry opens up. The latest written question this year was numbered P-1583/09 and we are little more than two months into 2009 (an election year).
You can access the most recent questions or all the questions for the year. The headlines give an indication of what the questions are about.
You can find the most recent questions with answer, which might give you valuable information about a certain topic. Because of the number of questions and topics you might want to try the search option on the page.
Ralf Grahn
The number of “written questions” is high, but with patience you may find valuable nuggets of information about interesting details not readily available elsewhere.
***
Treaty provisions
“The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.”
This is the text of the third paragraph of Article 197 of the current Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), published in the consolidated version of the treaties OJEU 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134.
Its substance would not be affected by Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102).
Article 197 (ToL) appears renumbered as Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty, with the same wording of the second paragraph (OJEU 9.5.2008/151).
***
EP Rules of Procedure
Naturally, more detailed rules are needed to complement or implement treaty provisions. The general resource concerning procedures in the European Parliament is the Rules of Procedure (16th edition, October 2008).
Rule 110 concerns questions for written answer to the Council or the Commission. Each member can table one priority question each month, to be answered within three weeks. Non-priority questions should be answered within six weeks, but the Rule does not limit their number. The questions and answers are published:
Rule 110 Questions for written answer to the Council or the Commission
1. Any Member may put questions for written answer to the Council or the Commission in accordance with guidelines laid down in an annex to these Rules of Procedure. The content of questions shall be the sole responsibility of their authors.
2. Questions shall be submitted in writing to the President who shall forward them to the institution concerned. Doubts concerning the admissibility of a question shall be settled by the President. His decision shall be notified to the questioner.
3. If a question cannot be answered within the time limit set it shall, at the request of the author, be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of the committee responsible. Rule 109 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
4. Questions which require an immediate answer but not detailed research (priority questions) shall be answered within three weeks of being forwarded to the institution concerned. Each Member may table one priority question each month.
Other questions (non-priority questions) shall be answered within six weeks of being forwarded to the institution concerned.
Members shall indicate which type of question they are submitting. The final decision shall be taken by the President.
5. Questions and answers shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
***
Guidelines: Annex IIa
More detailed rules are laid down in Annex IIa. While Rule 110 concerns questions to the Council or the Commission, the reference to Rule 111 is with regard to questions to the European Central Bank.
The guidelines set fairly basic norms for the relevance and language of an admissible question, if need be with advice on drafting. In addition, the guidelines try to avoid burdening the Commission and the Council with repetitive answers to essentially the same question or when the information is readily available. The Commission or Council can bundle answers on related matters:
ANNEX II a Guidelines for questions for written answer under Rules 110 and 111
1. Questions for written answer shall:
- fall within the competence and sphere of responsibility of the institution concerned and be of general interest;
- be concise and contain an understandable interrogation;
- not contain offensive language;
- not relate to strictly personal matters.
2. [In effect after the 2009 European elections] If a question does not comply with these guidelines, the Secretariat shall provide the author with advice on how the question may be drafted in order to be admissible.
3. [In effect after the 2009 European elections] If an identical or similar question has been put and answered during the preceding six months, the Secretariat shall transmit a copy of the previous question and answer to the author. The renewed question shall not be forwarded to the institution concerned unless the author invokes new significant developments or is seeking further information.
4. If a question seeks factual or statistical information that is already available to Parliament's library, the latter shall inform the Member, who may withdraw the question.
5. Questions concerning related matters may be answered together.
***
Written questions
Just as questions for oral answers with debate become “oral questions” in everyday parlance, questions for written answer turn into “written questions” colloquially. In other words, search for “Answers to written question(s)” if you want to know more.
But the search and search options did not feel especially intuitive, so try the European Parliament’s web page Parliamentary questions:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/QP-WEB/home.jsp?language=en
A cottage industry opens up. The latest written question this year was numbered P-1583/09 and we are little more than two months into 2009 (an election year).
You can access the most recent questions or all the questions for the year. The headlines give an indication of what the questions are about.
You can find the most recent questions with answer, which might give you valuable information about a certain topic. Because of the number of questions and topics you might want to try the search option on the page.
Ralf Grahn
European Parliament: Question Time
Otto von Bismarck may have been of the opinion that it is better not to see laws and sausages being made, but this blog builds on the assumption that educated and enlightened citizens are crucial for representative democracy to work properly. This includes the European level.
Today we let Jim Hacker guide us on our courageous visit to the Euro sausage factory, where the Question Time brand is made.
For the less hyperbolically inclined: the rules on Question Time in the European Parliament.
***
Treaty provisions
Currently the third paragraph of Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) concerns oral and written questions to the Commission.
The text is from the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134:
Article 197 TEC
-----
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
-----
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon did not affect Article 197 TEC with regard to questions by the European Parliament or its members to the Commission (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102).
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
Article 197 (ToL) was renumbered Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty, with the questions to the Commission in the second paragraph (OJEU 9.5.2008/151):
Article 230 TFEU
(ex Article 197, second, third and fourth paragraph, TEC)
-----
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
-----
***
EP Rules of Procedure
The existing and future treaty level provisions leave the practical solutions to be sought at a lower level. On the one hand, the Commission has an obligation to reply to parliamentary questions, but as usual the institutions have to find cooperative solutions to make things work. On the other hand, questions in parliament are something the European Parliament has had to develop internally.
Not mentioned directly at treaty level is the fairly high profile event called Question Time, laid down in Rule 109 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (16th edition, October 2008). Note the powers of the EP President to rule on the admissibility and the order of questions:
Rule 109 Question Time
1. Question Time with the Council and Commission shall be held at each part-session at such times as may be decided by Parliament on a proposal from the Conference of Presidents. A specific period of time may be set aside for questions to the President and individual Members of the Commission.
2. No Member may put more than one question to the Council and the Commission at a given part-session.
3. Questions shall be submitted in writing to the President, who shall rule on their admissibility and on the order in which they are to be taken. The questioner shall be notified immediately of this decision.
4. The detailed procedure shall be governed by guidelines laid down in an annex to these Rules of Procedure.
***
Guidelines
The detailed procedure is laid down in Annex II, with the guidelines in part A. These guidelines serve MEPs drafting questions and the President of the EP ruling on admissibility and order:
ANNEX II Conduct of Question Time under Rule 109
A.Guidelines
1. Questions shall be admissible only where they
- are concise and are drafted so as to permit a brief answer to be given;
- fall within the competence and sphere of responsibility of the Commission and the Council and are of general interest;
- do not require extensive prior study or research by the institution concerned;
- are clearly worded and relate to a specific matter;
- do not contain assertions or opinions;
- do not relate to strictly personal matters;
- are not aimed at procuring documents or statistical information;
- are interrogatory in form.
2. A question shall be inadmissible if the agenda already provides for the subject to be discussed with the participation of the institution concerned.
3. A question shall be inadmissible if an identical or similar question has been put down and answered during the preceding three months unless there are new developments or the author is seeking further information. In the first case a copy of the question and the answer shall be given to the author.
Supplementary questions
4. Each Member may follow up the reply with a supplementary question to any question and may put in all two supplementary questions.
5. Supplementary questions shall be subject to the rules of admissibility laid down in these Guidelines.
6. The President shall rule on the admissibility of supplementary questions and shall limit their number so that each Member who has put down a question may receive an answer to it.
The President shall not be obliged to declare a supplementary question admissible, even where it satisfies the foregoing conditions of admissibility, if:
a) it is likely to upset the normal conduct of Question Time, or
b) the main question to which it relates has already been adequately covered by other supplementary questions, or
c) it has no direct bearing on the main question.
Answers to questions
7. The institution concerned shall ensure that answers are concise and are relevant to the subject of the question.
8. If the content of the questions concerned permits it, the President may decide, after consulting the questioners, that the institution concerned should answer them together.
9. A question may be answered only if the questioner is present or has notified the President in writing, before Question Time begins, of the name of a substitute.
10. If neither the questioner nor a substitute is present, the question shall lapse.
11. If a Member tables a question, but neither that Member nor a substitute are present at Question Time, the President shall remind the Member in writing of his or her responsibility to be present or substituted. If the President has to send such a letter three times in the space of any twelve-month period, the Member concerned shall lose the right to table questions at Question Time for a six-month period.
12. Questions that remain unanswered for lack of time shall be answered in accordance with Rule 110(4), first subparagraph, unless the authors thereof request application of Rule 110(3).
13. The procedure for answers in writing shall be governed by Rule 110(3) and (5).
Time limits
14. Questions shall be tabled at least one week before Question Time begins. Questions not tabled within this time limit may be taken during Question Time with the consent of the institution concerned.
Questions declared admissible shall be distributed to Members and forwarded to the institutions concerned.
Format
15. Question Time with the Commission may, with the agreement of the Commission, be divided into specific question times with individual Members of the Commission.
Question Time with the Council may, with the agreement of the Council, be divided into question times with the Presidency, the High Representative for common foreign and security policy or the President of the Eurogroup. It may also be divided by subject.
***
Recommendations
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution with recommendations Concerning Question Time. These form Part B of Annex II:
B.Recommendations
(extract from resolution of Parliament of 13 November 1986)
The European Parliament,
1. Recommends stricter application of the guidelines for the conduct of Question Time under Rule 43 [now Rule 109], and in particular of point 1 of those guidelines concerning admissibility;
2. Recommends more frequent use of the power conferred on the President of the European Parliament by Rule 43(3) [now Rule 109(3)] to group questions for Question Time according to subject; considers, however, that only the questions falling within the first half of the list of questions tabled for a given part-session should be subject to such grouping;
3. Recommends, as regards supplementary questions, that as a general rule the President should allow one supplementary question from the questioner and one or at most two supplementaries put by Members belonging preferably to a different political group and/or Member State from the author of the main question; recalls that supplementary questions must be concise and interrogatory in form and suggests that their duration should not exceed 30 seconds;
4. Invites the Commission and the Council, pursuant to point 7 of the guidelines, to ensure that answers are concise and relevant to the subject of the question.
***
Watch the EP live
The next Question Time with the Commission is scheduled for Tuseday 10 March 2009 between 18:00 and 19:30. “Séance en direct” allows you to follow the live proceedings of the European Parliament.
The final draft agenda for the sittings from 9 to 12 March 2009 offer a snapshot view of the issues to be debated and the work of the European Parliament:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sce/data/fast_access/doc//879/03_mars_I_EN.pdf
Perhaps even Sir Humphrey should miss out on one of his Club dinners for a taste of Euro sausage. Yes, Minister?
Ralf Grahn
Today we let Jim Hacker guide us on our courageous visit to the Euro sausage factory, where the Question Time brand is made.
For the less hyperbolically inclined: the rules on Question Time in the European Parliament.
***
Treaty provisions
Currently the third paragraph of Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) concerns oral and written questions to the Commission.
The text is from the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134:
Article 197 TEC
-----
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
-----
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon did not affect Article 197 TEC with regard to questions by the European Parliament or its members to the Commission (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102).
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
Article 197 (ToL) was renumbered Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty, with the questions to the Commission in the second paragraph (OJEU 9.5.2008/151):
Article 230 TFEU
(ex Article 197, second, third and fourth paragraph, TEC)
-----
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
-----
***
EP Rules of Procedure
The existing and future treaty level provisions leave the practical solutions to be sought at a lower level. On the one hand, the Commission has an obligation to reply to parliamentary questions, but as usual the institutions have to find cooperative solutions to make things work. On the other hand, questions in parliament are something the European Parliament has had to develop internally.
Not mentioned directly at treaty level is the fairly high profile event called Question Time, laid down in Rule 109 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (16th edition, October 2008). Note the powers of the EP President to rule on the admissibility and the order of questions:
Rule 109 Question Time
1. Question Time with the Council and Commission shall be held at each part-session at such times as may be decided by Parliament on a proposal from the Conference of Presidents. A specific period of time may be set aside for questions to the President and individual Members of the Commission.
2. No Member may put more than one question to the Council and the Commission at a given part-session.
3. Questions shall be submitted in writing to the President, who shall rule on their admissibility and on the order in which they are to be taken. The questioner shall be notified immediately of this decision.
4. The detailed procedure shall be governed by guidelines laid down in an annex to these Rules of Procedure.
***
Guidelines
The detailed procedure is laid down in Annex II, with the guidelines in part A. These guidelines serve MEPs drafting questions and the President of the EP ruling on admissibility and order:
ANNEX II Conduct of Question Time under Rule 109
A.Guidelines
1. Questions shall be admissible only where they
- are concise and are drafted so as to permit a brief answer to be given;
- fall within the competence and sphere of responsibility of the Commission and the Council and are of general interest;
- do not require extensive prior study or research by the institution concerned;
- are clearly worded and relate to a specific matter;
- do not contain assertions or opinions;
- do not relate to strictly personal matters;
- are not aimed at procuring documents or statistical information;
- are interrogatory in form.
2. A question shall be inadmissible if the agenda already provides for the subject to be discussed with the participation of the institution concerned.
3. A question shall be inadmissible if an identical or similar question has been put down and answered during the preceding three months unless there are new developments or the author is seeking further information. In the first case a copy of the question and the answer shall be given to the author.
Supplementary questions
4. Each Member may follow up the reply with a supplementary question to any question and may put in all two supplementary questions.
5. Supplementary questions shall be subject to the rules of admissibility laid down in these Guidelines.
6. The President shall rule on the admissibility of supplementary questions and shall limit their number so that each Member who has put down a question may receive an answer to it.
The President shall not be obliged to declare a supplementary question admissible, even where it satisfies the foregoing conditions of admissibility, if:
a) it is likely to upset the normal conduct of Question Time, or
b) the main question to which it relates has already been adequately covered by other supplementary questions, or
c) it has no direct bearing on the main question.
Answers to questions
7. The institution concerned shall ensure that answers are concise and are relevant to the subject of the question.
8. If the content of the questions concerned permits it, the President may decide, after consulting the questioners, that the institution concerned should answer them together.
9. A question may be answered only if the questioner is present or has notified the President in writing, before Question Time begins, of the name of a substitute.
10. If neither the questioner nor a substitute is present, the question shall lapse.
11. If a Member tables a question, but neither that Member nor a substitute are present at Question Time, the President shall remind the Member in writing of his or her responsibility to be present or substituted. If the President has to send such a letter three times in the space of any twelve-month period, the Member concerned shall lose the right to table questions at Question Time for a six-month period.
12. Questions that remain unanswered for lack of time shall be answered in accordance with Rule 110(4), first subparagraph, unless the authors thereof request application of Rule 110(3).
13. The procedure for answers in writing shall be governed by Rule 110(3) and (5).
Time limits
14. Questions shall be tabled at least one week before Question Time begins. Questions not tabled within this time limit may be taken during Question Time with the consent of the institution concerned.
Questions declared admissible shall be distributed to Members and forwarded to the institutions concerned.
Format
15. Question Time with the Commission may, with the agreement of the Commission, be divided into specific question times with individual Members of the Commission.
Question Time with the Council may, with the agreement of the Council, be divided into question times with the Presidency, the High Representative for common foreign and security policy or the President of the Eurogroup. It may also be divided by subject.
***
Recommendations
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution with recommendations Concerning Question Time. These form Part B of Annex II:
B.Recommendations
(extract from resolution of Parliament of 13 November 1986)
The European Parliament,
1. Recommends stricter application of the guidelines for the conduct of Question Time under Rule 43 [now Rule 109], and in particular of point 1 of those guidelines concerning admissibility;
2. Recommends more frequent use of the power conferred on the President of the European Parliament by Rule 43(3) [now Rule 109(3)] to group questions for Question Time according to subject; considers, however, that only the questions falling within the first half of the list of questions tabled for a given part-session should be subject to such grouping;
3. Recommends, as regards supplementary questions, that as a general rule the President should allow one supplementary question from the questioner and one or at most two supplementaries put by Members belonging preferably to a different political group and/or Member State from the author of the main question; recalls that supplementary questions must be concise and interrogatory in form and suggests that their duration should not exceed 30 seconds;
4. Invites the Commission and the Council, pursuant to point 7 of the guidelines, to ensure that answers are concise and relevant to the subject of the question.
***
Watch the EP live
The next Question Time with the Commission is scheduled for Tuseday 10 March 2009 between 18:00 and 19:30. “Séance en direct” allows you to follow the live proceedings of the European Parliament.
The final draft agenda for the sittings from 9 to 12 March 2009 offer a snapshot view of the issues to be debated and the work of the European Parliament:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sce/data/fast_access/doc//879/03_mars_I_EN.pdf
Perhaps even Sir Humphrey should miss out on one of his Club dinners for a taste of Euro sausage. Yes, Minister?
Ralf Grahn
Friday, 6 March 2009
European Parliament: Questions for oral answer
Parliamentary questions give elective representatives opportunities to profile themselves and issues outside the legislative treadmill.
UK Prime Minister’s Question Time has probably set the trend in Europe, including the European Parliament, to find ways of more direct interaction between parliaments and governments.
The structure of the European Union is more complicated, but in this blog post we look at the rules concerning oral questions by the EP or MEPs to the Commission.
***
Current treaty
Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) contains bare bones provisions on two areas concerning the European Parliament:
a) internal organisation, and
b) relations with the Commission and the Council.
The third paragraph of Article 197 TEC concerns oral and written questions to the Commission.
The text is from the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134:
Article 197 TEC
-----
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
-----
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon did not affect Article 197 TEC with regard to questions by the European Parliament or its members to the Commission (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102).
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
Article 197 (ToL) was renumbered Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty, with the questions to the Commission in the second paragraph (OJEU 9.5.2008/151):
Article 230 TFEU
(ex Article 197, second, third and fourth paragraph, TEC)
-----
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
-----
***
Admissibility of questions
Among the powers of the President of the European Parliament is to rule on the admissibility of questions to the Council and the Commission, according to Rule 19(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (16th edition, October 2008).
***
Questions for oral answer
Attentive readers may have noticed my deliberately sloppy language above, calling the questions oral and written.
As we see from Rule 108 the questions are submitted to the EP President in writing. Hence ‘Questions for oral answer with debate’.
Submission is reserved for committees, political groups or at least forty MEPs.
The Conference of Presidents decides if a question is placed on the agenda and in what order.
Questions have to be communicated to the Commission one week in advance.
The oral part of the proceedings commence at the sitting where the question is aired and answered (paragraph 4).
Rule 103(2) to (5) refers to winding up the debate with a resolution (paragraph 5).
Rule 108 Questions for oral answer with debate
1. Questions may be put to the Council or the Commission by a committee, a political group or at least forty Members with a request that they be placed on the agenda of Parliament.
Such questions shall be submitted in writing to the President who shall immediately refer them to the Conference of Presidents.
The Conference of Presidents shall decide whether and in what order questions should be placed on the agenda. Questions not placed on Parliament's agenda within three months of being submitted shall lapse.
2. Questions to the Commission must be referred to that institution at least one week before the sitting on whose agenda they are to appear and questions to the Council at least three weeks before that date.
3. Where the questions concern matters referred to in Articles 17 and 34 of the EU Treaty, the time limit provided for in paragraph 2 of this Rule shall not apply, and the Council must reply with sufficient promptness to keep Parliament properly informed.
4. One of the questioners may move the question for five minutes. One member of the institution concerned shall answer.
[Official explanation: The author of the question is entitled to use the whole period of speaking time mentioned.]
5. Rule 103(2) to (5) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
***
Eur-Lex
In principle, you can search on Eur-Lex for Parliamentary questions, but when I tested I got the improbable result that no such questions had been posed during the time span 2008 to 2009. A number of other search options yielded results of a similar nature.
But if you want to try your luck, go to:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/RECH_questions_parlementaires.do
***
EP website
You may be luckier if you try the European Parliament’s web page Parliamentary questions:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/QP-WEB/home.jsp?language=en
The so called oral questions are found here:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/QP-WEB/application/home.do?SELECT_TAB=qo_param
For the year 2009 there were 46 oral questions listed under Rule 108:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sidesSearch/sipadeMapUrl.do?PROG=OQ&L=EN&SORT_ORDER=D&REF_OQ=O-2009-*&F_REF_OQ=O-*/2009
Ralf Grahn
UK Prime Minister’s Question Time has probably set the trend in Europe, including the European Parliament, to find ways of more direct interaction between parliaments and governments.
The structure of the European Union is more complicated, but in this blog post we look at the rules concerning oral questions by the EP or MEPs to the Commission.
***
Current treaty
Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) contains bare bones provisions on two areas concerning the European Parliament:
a) internal organisation, and
b) relations with the Commission and the Council.
The third paragraph of Article 197 TEC concerns oral and written questions to the Commission.
The text is from the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134:
Article 197 TEC
-----
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
-----
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon did not affect Article 197 TEC with regard to questions by the European Parliament or its members to the Commission (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102).
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
Article 197 (ToL) was renumbered Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty, with the questions to the Commission in the second paragraph (OJEU 9.5.2008/151):
Article 230 TFEU
(ex Article 197, second, third and fourth paragraph, TEC)
-----
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
-----
***
Admissibility of questions
Among the powers of the President of the European Parliament is to rule on the admissibility of questions to the Council and the Commission, according to Rule 19(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (16th edition, October 2008).
***
Questions for oral answer
Attentive readers may have noticed my deliberately sloppy language above, calling the questions oral and written.
As we see from Rule 108 the questions are submitted to the EP President in writing. Hence ‘Questions for oral answer with debate’.
Submission is reserved for committees, political groups or at least forty MEPs.
The Conference of Presidents decides if a question is placed on the agenda and in what order.
Questions have to be communicated to the Commission one week in advance.
The oral part of the proceedings commence at the sitting where the question is aired and answered (paragraph 4).
Rule 103(2) to (5) refers to winding up the debate with a resolution (paragraph 5).
Rule 108 Questions for oral answer with debate
1. Questions may be put to the Council or the Commission by a committee, a political group or at least forty Members with a request that they be placed on the agenda of Parliament.
Such questions shall be submitted in writing to the President who shall immediately refer them to the Conference of Presidents.
The Conference of Presidents shall decide whether and in what order questions should be placed on the agenda. Questions not placed on Parliament's agenda within three months of being submitted shall lapse.
2. Questions to the Commission must be referred to that institution at least one week before the sitting on whose agenda they are to appear and questions to the Council at least three weeks before that date.
3. Where the questions concern matters referred to in Articles 17 and 34 of the EU Treaty, the time limit provided for in paragraph 2 of this Rule shall not apply, and the Council must reply with sufficient promptness to keep Parliament properly informed.
4. One of the questioners may move the question for five minutes. One member of the institution concerned shall answer.
[Official explanation: The author of the question is entitled to use the whole period of speaking time mentioned.]
5. Rule 103(2) to (5) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
***
Eur-Lex
In principle, you can search on Eur-Lex for Parliamentary questions, but when I tested I got the improbable result that no such questions had been posed during the time span 2008 to 2009. A number of other search options yielded results of a similar nature.
But if you want to try your luck, go to:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/RECH_questions_parlementaires.do
***
EP website
You may be luckier if you try the European Parliament’s web page Parliamentary questions:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/QP-WEB/home.jsp?language=en
The so called oral questions are found here:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/QP-WEB/application/home.do?SELECT_TAB=qo_param
For the year 2009 there were 46 oral questions listed under Rule 108:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sidesSearch/sipadeMapUrl.do?PROG=OQ&L=EN&SORT_ORDER=D&REF_OQ=O-2009-*&F_REF_OQ=O-*/2009
Ralf Grahn
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
European Parliament: Hearing the Commission
According to the second paragraph of Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), Members of the Commission may attend all meetings and shall, at their request, be heard on behalf of the Commission.
Under the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon, the first paragraph of Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) would shorten this to: The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.
In the Framework Agreement mentioned below, the Commission seeks to ensure that, as a general rule, Members of the Commission are present at plenary sittings for agenda items falling under their responsibility, whenever Parliament so requests.
***
Statements
According to the Rules of Procedure, the Commission (as the Council and the European Council) can ask the EP President for permission to make a statement:
Rule 103 Statements by the Commission, Council and European Council
1. Members of the Commission, Council and European Council may at any time ask the President for permission to make a statement. The President shall decide when the statement may be made and whether it is to be followed by a full debate or by thirty minutes of brief and concise questions from Members.
-----
Rule 104 provides for information from the Commission about its latest decisions:
Rule 104 Statements explaining Commission decisions
After consulting the Conference of Presidents, the President may invite the President of the Commission, the Commissioner responsible for relations with the European Parliament or, by agreement, another Commissioner, to make a statement to Parliament after each meeting of the Commission, explaining the main decisions taken. The statement shall be followed by a debate of at least thirty minutes in which Members may put brief and concise questions.
***
Relations more broadly
The provisions on hearing in the Chamber cover only a part of the multi-faceted relations between the European Parliament and the Commission.
Therefore we take a broader view of the relations between these institutions and look at how some of them have been regulated in the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (16th edition, October 2008).
***
Interinstitutional agreements
The “institutional triangle” ─ the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council ─ have developed complementary rules through so called interinstitutional agreements.
The EP’s Rules of Procedure offer the following general principles concerning these agreements:
CHAPTER 6 INTERINSTITUTIONAL AGREEMENTS
Rule 120 Interinstitutional agreements
1. Parliament may enter into agreements with other institutions in the context of the application of the Treaties or in order to improve or clarify procedures.
Such agreements may take the form of joint declarations, exchanges of letters or codes of conduct or other appropriate instruments. They shall be signed by the President after examination by the committee responsible for constitutional affairs and after approval by Parliament. They may be annexed to the Rules of Procedure for information.
2. Where such agreements imply the modification of existing procedural rights or obligations or establish new procedural rights or obligations for Members or bodies of Parliament, or otherwise imply modification or interpretation of the Rules of Procedure, the matter shall be referred to the committee responsible for examination in accordance with Rule 201(2) to (6) before the agreement is signed.
***
Framework Agreement
There are several interinstitutional agreements, but Annex XIII to the EP Rules of Procedure contains the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the Commission, which aims to ensure that their powers and prerogatives are exercised as effectively as possible.
Here is a summary of matters covered.
The rules concern the political accountability of the Commission, information at every stage of legislative and budgetary processes, as well as on the Commission’s legislative and work programme. The Commission undertakes to inform the EP about action taken on the basis of requests by the European Parliament.
The Commission promises information about negotiations on international agreements from the preparatory stage onwards.
The Commission presents proposals for the European Union’s multiannual programming, with a view to achieving consensus on inter-institutional programming between the Institutions concerned.
As a general rule, the Member of the Commission responsible for an item under consideration in a parliamentary committee shall be present at the relevant committee meeting, when invited. Members of the Commission shall be heard at their request.
Annex 1 of Annex XIII concerns the forwarding of confidential information to the European Parliament and Annex 2 presents a timetable for the Commission legislative and work programme.
Ralf Grahn
Under the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon, the first paragraph of Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) would shorten this to: The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.
In the Framework Agreement mentioned below, the Commission seeks to ensure that, as a general rule, Members of the Commission are present at plenary sittings for agenda items falling under their responsibility, whenever Parliament so requests.
***
Statements
According to the Rules of Procedure, the Commission (as the Council and the European Council) can ask the EP President for permission to make a statement:
Rule 103 Statements by the Commission, Council and European Council
1. Members of the Commission, Council and European Council may at any time ask the President for permission to make a statement. The President shall decide when the statement may be made and whether it is to be followed by a full debate or by thirty minutes of brief and concise questions from Members.
-----
Rule 104 provides for information from the Commission about its latest decisions:
Rule 104 Statements explaining Commission decisions
After consulting the Conference of Presidents, the President may invite the President of the Commission, the Commissioner responsible for relations with the European Parliament or, by agreement, another Commissioner, to make a statement to Parliament after each meeting of the Commission, explaining the main decisions taken. The statement shall be followed by a debate of at least thirty minutes in which Members may put brief and concise questions.
***
Relations more broadly
The provisions on hearing in the Chamber cover only a part of the multi-faceted relations between the European Parliament and the Commission.
Therefore we take a broader view of the relations between these institutions and look at how some of them have been regulated in the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (16th edition, October 2008).
***
Interinstitutional agreements
The “institutional triangle” ─ the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council ─ have developed complementary rules through so called interinstitutional agreements.
The EP’s Rules of Procedure offer the following general principles concerning these agreements:
CHAPTER 6 INTERINSTITUTIONAL AGREEMENTS
Rule 120 Interinstitutional agreements
1. Parliament may enter into agreements with other institutions in the context of the application of the Treaties or in order to improve or clarify procedures.
Such agreements may take the form of joint declarations, exchanges of letters or codes of conduct or other appropriate instruments. They shall be signed by the President after examination by the committee responsible for constitutional affairs and after approval by Parliament. They may be annexed to the Rules of Procedure for information.
2. Where such agreements imply the modification of existing procedural rights or obligations or establish new procedural rights or obligations for Members or bodies of Parliament, or otherwise imply modification or interpretation of the Rules of Procedure, the matter shall be referred to the committee responsible for examination in accordance with Rule 201(2) to (6) before the agreement is signed.
***
Framework Agreement
There are several interinstitutional agreements, but Annex XIII to the EP Rules of Procedure contains the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the Commission, which aims to ensure that their powers and prerogatives are exercised as effectively as possible.
Here is a summary of matters covered.
The rules concern the political accountability of the Commission, information at every stage of legislative and budgetary processes, as well as on the Commission’s legislative and work programme. The Commission undertakes to inform the EP about action taken on the basis of requests by the European Parliament.
The Commission promises information about negotiations on international agreements from the preparatory stage onwards.
The Commission presents proposals for the European Union’s multiannual programming, with a view to achieving consensus on inter-institutional programming between the Institutions concerned.
As a general rule, the Member of the Commission responsible for an item under consideration in a parliamentary committee shall be present at the relevant committee meeting, when invited. Members of the Commission shall be heard at their request.
Annex 1 of Annex XIII concerns the forwarding of confidential information to the European Parliament and Annex 2 presents a timetable for the Commission legislative and work programme.
Ralf Grahn
European Parliament: Relations with Commission and Council
The existing treaties and the EU Treaty of Lisbon contain basic provisions on the internal organisation of the European Parliament and on the EP’s relations with the other institutions: the Commission and the Council.
We note that the Council (Presidencies) have been negligent in reporting on the preparatory work to implement the Treaty of Lisbon.
In this blog post we present the treaty changes before we embark upon the relations between the institutions in more detail.
***
Current treaty
Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) contains bare bones provisions on two areas concerning the European Parliament:
a) internal organisation, and
b) relations with the Commission and the Council.
The text of Article 197 TEC is from the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134:
Article 197 TEC
The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its Members.
Members of the Commission may attend all meetings and shall, at their request, be heard on behalf of the Commission.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Council in its Rules of Procedure.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon formally deleted the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC on the internal organisation of the European Parliament and amended two of the three other paragraphs (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102):
185) Article 197 shall be amended as follows:
(a) the first paragraph shall be deleted;
(b) the second paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.’;
(c) the fourth paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.’.
***
I used the words formally deleted with regard to the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC, because if we look at Article 9a(4) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) we find the following text (OJEU page 17):
4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.’.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
This means that we had two strands to follow in the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115).
1) The main provisions on the institutions are located in Title III of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 9a TEU (ToL) was renumbered Article 14 TEU in the consolidated version (OJEU page 22 to 23).
In a number of blog posts we presented the internal organisation of the European Parliament, where it has exercised its autonomy by laying down detailed provisions in its Rules of Procedure. We found that the EP’s web pages showed little effort to offer the public accessible information about the activities and decisions of the administrative bodies of the Parliament.
2) We are now going to turn to the “institutional triangle”, the relations between the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council.
.
***
The European Parliament’s relations with the Commission and the Council remained in slightly amended form in Article 197 (ToL), which was renumbered Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty (OJEU page 151):
Article 230 TFEU
(ex Article 197, second, third and fourth paragraph, TEC)
The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.
***
Lisbon Treaty changes
The first paragraph of Article 230 TFEU does not change the meaning of its counterpart in Article 197 TEC, but it is shorter and arguably more elegant.
The third paragraph of Article 230 TFEU makes the treaty level addition that the European Council is heard by the EP. This is a codification of existing practice, but it does not exclude further developments.
If the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, the European Council becomes an official institution and it needs its own Rules of Procedure, replacing the meagre Rules for the organisation of the proceedings of the European Council.
The Council has been negligent in its reporting on the preparation of the numerous Lisbon Treaty implementing measures and in enabling a public debate on the draft proposals.
Ralf Grahn
We note that the Council (Presidencies) have been negligent in reporting on the preparatory work to implement the Treaty of Lisbon.
In this blog post we present the treaty changes before we embark upon the relations between the institutions in more detail.
***
Current treaty
Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) contains bare bones provisions on two areas concerning the European Parliament:
a) internal organisation, and
b) relations with the Commission and the Council.
The text of Article 197 TEC is from the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134:
Article 197 TEC
The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its Members.
Members of the Commission may attend all meetings and shall, at their request, be heard on behalf of the Commission.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Council in its Rules of Procedure.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon formally deleted the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC on the internal organisation of the European Parliament and amended two of the three other paragraphs (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102):
185) Article 197 shall be amended as follows:
(a) the first paragraph shall be deleted;
(b) the second paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.’;
(c) the fourth paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.’.
***
I used the words formally deleted with regard to the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC, because if we look at Article 9a(4) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) we find the following text (OJEU page 17):
4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.’.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
This means that we had two strands to follow in the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115).
1) The main provisions on the institutions are located in Title III of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 9a TEU (ToL) was renumbered Article 14 TEU in the consolidated version (OJEU page 22 to 23).
In a number of blog posts we presented the internal organisation of the European Parliament, where it has exercised its autonomy by laying down detailed provisions in its Rules of Procedure. We found that the EP’s web pages showed little effort to offer the public accessible information about the activities and decisions of the administrative bodies of the Parliament.
2) We are now going to turn to the “institutional triangle”, the relations between the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council.
.
***
The European Parliament’s relations with the Commission and the Council remained in slightly amended form in Article 197 (ToL), which was renumbered Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty (OJEU page 151):
Article 230 TFEU
(ex Article 197, second, third and fourth paragraph, TEC)
The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.
***
Lisbon Treaty changes
The first paragraph of Article 230 TFEU does not change the meaning of its counterpart in Article 197 TEC, but it is shorter and arguably more elegant.
The third paragraph of Article 230 TFEU makes the treaty level addition that the European Council is heard by the EP. This is a codification of existing practice, but it does not exclude further developments.
If the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, the European Council becomes an official institution and it needs its own Rules of Procedure, replacing the meagre Rules for the organisation of the proceedings of the European Council.
The Council has been negligent in its reporting on the preparation of the numerous Lisbon Treaty implementing measures and in enabling a public debate on the draft proposals.
Ralf Grahn
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
European Parliament: Committee Chairs and Delegation Chairs
Article 197 TEC and the possible future Article 14(4) TEU place few restrictions on the European Parliament’s powers to organise its internal work, except for the President and the officers (Bureau).
The Bureau, which consists of the EP President and the fourteen Vice-Presidents with the five (now six) Quaestors in an advisory capacity is the main administrative body. The EP President and the chairs of the political groups convene in the Conference of Presidents to deal with the political and legislative work of the European Parliament.
***
Conference of Committee Chairs
Both at national and European level much of the real legislative work takes place in committees, where the chairs are responsible for the smooth and orderly running of business. Collectively the Committee Chairs constitute the Conference of Committee Chairs, an auxiliary body to the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents.
The composition and the main tasks of the Conference of Committee Chairs is laid down in Rule 26 of the EP’s Rules of Procedure (16th edition, October 2008), available at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+RULES-EP+20081022+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN
Rule 26 Conference of Committee Chairs
1. The Conference of Committee Chairs shall consist of the chairs of all standing or temporary committees and shall elect its chair.
2. The Conference of Committee Chairs may make recommendations to the Conference of Presidents about the work of committees and the drafting of the agenda of part-sessions.
3. The Bureau and the Conference of Presidents may instruct the Conference of Committee Chairs to carry out specific tasks.
***
Parliamentary committees
A quick overview of the European Parliament’s committees is offered on the web page Parliamentary committees:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?id=45&pageRank=5&language=EN
The meeting documents, draft reports and reports of the committees are available to the public. In Eurospeak the committees are known by their acronyms. Here is a list of the committees, from page:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/committeesList.do?language=EN
Standing committees
AFET
Foreign Affairs
Meeting documents
DROI Human Rights
Meeting documents
SEDE Security and Defence
Meeting documents
DEVE
Development
Meeting documents
INTA
International Trade
Meeting documents
BUDG
Budgets
Meeting documents
CONT
Budgetary Control
Meeting documents
ECON
Economic and Monetary Affairs
Meeting documents
EMPL
Employment and Social Affairs
Meeting documents
ENVI
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Meeting documents
ITRE
Industry, Research and Energy
Meeting documents
IMCO
Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Meeting documents
TRAN
Transport and Tourism
Meeting documents
REGI
Regional Development
Meeting documents
AGRI
Agriculture and Rural Development
Meeting documents
PECH
Fisheries
Meeting documents
CULT
Culture and Education
Meeting documents
JURI
Legal Affairs
Meeting documents
LIBE
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Meeting documents
AFCO
Constitutional Affairs
Meeting documents
FEMM
Women's Rights and Gender Equality
Meeting documents
PETI
Petitions
Meeting documents
Temporary committees
CLIM
Climate Change
***
Committee chairs
The members of the Conference of the Committee Chairs are the following:
23 Members found for
Other bodies : Conference of Committee Chairmen
1. GALEOTE, Gerardo
Chairman
2. SARYUSZ-WOLSKI, Jacek
Member
3. BORRELL FONTELLES, Josep
Member
4. MARKOV, Helmuth
Member
5. BÖGE, Reimer
Member
6. BÖSCH, Herbert
Member
7. BERÈS, Pervenche
Member
8. ANDERSSON, Jan
Member
9. OUZKÝ, Miroslav
Member
10. NIEBLER, Angelika
Member
11. McCARTHY, Arlene
Member
12. COSTA, Paolo
Member
13. PARISH, Neil
Member
14. MORILLON, Philippe
Member
15. BATZELI, Katerina
Member
16. GARGANI, Giuseppe
Member
17. DEPREZ, Gérard
Member
18. LEINEN, Jo
Member
19. ZÁBORSKÁ, Anna
Member
20. LIBICKI, Marcin
Member
21. FLAUTRE, Hélène
Member
22. von WOGAU, Karl
Member
23. SACCONI, Guido
Member
***
Conference of Delegation Chairs
The Conference of Delegation Chairs is the collective of the chairs of the standing interparliamentary delegations, and it acts in an advisory capacity to the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents:
Rule 27 Conference of Delegation Chairs
1. The Conference of Delegation Chairs shall consist of the chairs of all standing interparliamentary delegations and shall elect its chair.
2. The Conference of Delegation Chairs may make recommendations to the Conference of Presidents about the work of delegations.
3. The Bureau and the Conference of Presidents may instruct the Conference of Delegation Chairs to carry out specific tasks.
***
Delegations
The web page Delegations presents brief information about interparliamentary contacts outside the European Union; 34 delegations in all:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?id=45&pageRank=6&language=EN
You can link to delegations for European and non-European parliaments.
***
Delegation chairs
Here is a list of the delegation chairs, from page:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/otherBodies/search.do?body=1514&language=EN
38 Members found for
Other bodies : Conference of Delegation Chairmen
1. OBIOLS i GERMÀ, Raimon
Chairman
2. SCHMITT, Pál
Member
3. TRAKATELLIS, Antonios
Member
4. LAGENDIJK, Joost
Member
5. MANN, Erika
Member
6. CATANIA, Giusto
Member
7. RAEVA, Bilyana Ilieva
Member
8. PACK, Doris
Member
9. OOMEN-RUIJTEN, Ria
Member
10. SEVERIN, Adrian
Member
11. MIKKO, Marianne
Member
12. PROTASIEWICZ, Jacek
Member
13. JUKNEVIČIENĖ, Ona
Member
14. ISLER BÉGUIN, Marie Anne
Member
15. HYBÁŠKOVÁ, Jana
Member
16. TRIANTAPHYLLIDES, Kyriacos
Member
17. ITURGAIZ ANGULO, Carlos José
Member
18. PATRIE, Béatrice
Member
19. BEER, Angelika
Member
20. EVANS, Jonathan
Member
21. Ó NEACHTAIN, Seán
Member
22. LIPIETZ, Alain
Member
23. SOUSA PINTO, Sérgio
Member
24. JARZEMBOWSKI, Georg
Member
25. STERCKX, Dirk
Member
26. EVANS, Robert
Member
27. GILL, Neena
Member
28. PODESTÀ, Guido
Member
29. NASSAUER, Hartmut
Member
30. PIRKER, Hubert
Member
31. CHICHESTER, Giles
Member
32. PRODI, Vittorio
Member
33. LOCATELLI, Pia Elda
Member
34. KINNOCK, Glenys
Member
35. SALAFRANCA SÁNCHEZ-NEYRA, José Ignacio
Member
36. PÖTTERING, Hans-Gert
Member
37. SARYUSZ-WOLSKI, Jacek
Member
38. BORRELL FONTELLES, Josep
Member
Ralf Grahn
The Bureau, which consists of the EP President and the fourteen Vice-Presidents with the five (now six) Quaestors in an advisory capacity is the main administrative body. The EP President and the chairs of the political groups convene in the Conference of Presidents to deal with the political and legislative work of the European Parliament.
***
Conference of Committee Chairs
Both at national and European level much of the real legislative work takes place in committees, where the chairs are responsible for the smooth and orderly running of business. Collectively the Committee Chairs constitute the Conference of Committee Chairs, an auxiliary body to the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents.
The composition and the main tasks of the Conference of Committee Chairs is laid down in Rule 26 of the EP’s Rules of Procedure (16th edition, October 2008), available at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+RULES-EP+20081022+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN
Rule 26 Conference of Committee Chairs
1. The Conference of Committee Chairs shall consist of the chairs of all standing or temporary committees and shall elect its chair.
2. The Conference of Committee Chairs may make recommendations to the Conference of Presidents about the work of committees and the drafting of the agenda of part-sessions.
3. The Bureau and the Conference of Presidents may instruct the Conference of Committee Chairs to carry out specific tasks.
***
Parliamentary committees
A quick overview of the European Parliament’s committees is offered on the web page Parliamentary committees:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?id=45&pageRank=5&language=EN
The meeting documents, draft reports and reports of the committees are available to the public. In Eurospeak the committees are known by their acronyms. Here is a list of the committees, from page:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/committeesList.do?language=EN
Standing committees
AFET
Foreign Affairs
Meeting documents
DROI Human Rights
Meeting documents
SEDE Security and Defence
Meeting documents
DEVE
Development
Meeting documents
INTA
International Trade
Meeting documents
BUDG
Budgets
Meeting documents
CONT
Budgetary Control
Meeting documents
ECON
Economic and Monetary Affairs
Meeting documents
EMPL
Employment and Social Affairs
Meeting documents
ENVI
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Meeting documents
ITRE
Industry, Research and Energy
Meeting documents
IMCO
Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Meeting documents
TRAN
Transport and Tourism
Meeting documents
REGI
Regional Development
Meeting documents
AGRI
Agriculture and Rural Development
Meeting documents
PECH
Fisheries
Meeting documents
CULT
Culture and Education
Meeting documents
JURI
Legal Affairs
Meeting documents
LIBE
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Meeting documents
AFCO
Constitutional Affairs
Meeting documents
FEMM
Women's Rights and Gender Equality
Meeting documents
PETI
Petitions
Meeting documents
Temporary committees
CLIM
Climate Change
***
Committee chairs
The members of the Conference of the Committee Chairs are the following:
23 Members found for
Other bodies : Conference of Committee Chairmen
1. GALEOTE, Gerardo
Chairman
2. SARYUSZ-WOLSKI, Jacek
Member
3. BORRELL FONTELLES, Josep
Member
4. MARKOV, Helmuth
Member
5. BÖGE, Reimer
Member
6. BÖSCH, Herbert
Member
7. BERÈS, Pervenche
Member
8. ANDERSSON, Jan
Member
9. OUZKÝ, Miroslav
Member
10. NIEBLER, Angelika
Member
11. McCARTHY, Arlene
Member
12. COSTA, Paolo
Member
13. PARISH, Neil
Member
14. MORILLON, Philippe
Member
15. BATZELI, Katerina
Member
16. GARGANI, Giuseppe
Member
17. DEPREZ, Gérard
Member
18. LEINEN, Jo
Member
19. ZÁBORSKÁ, Anna
Member
20. LIBICKI, Marcin
Member
21. FLAUTRE, Hélène
Member
22. von WOGAU, Karl
Member
23. SACCONI, Guido
Member
***
Conference of Delegation Chairs
The Conference of Delegation Chairs is the collective of the chairs of the standing interparliamentary delegations, and it acts in an advisory capacity to the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents:
Rule 27 Conference of Delegation Chairs
1. The Conference of Delegation Chairs shall consist of the chairs of all standing interparliamentary delegations and shall elect its chair.
2. The Conference of Delegation Chairs may make recommendations to the Conference of Presidents about the work of delegations.
3. The Bureau and the Conference of Presidents may instruct the Conference of Delegation Chairs to carry out specific tasks.
***
Delegations
The web page Delegations presents brief information about interparliamentary contacts outside the European Union; 34 delegations in all:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?id=45&pageRank=6&language=EN
You can link to delegations for European and non-European parliaments.
***
Delegation chairs
Here is a list of the delegation chairs, from page:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/otherBodies/search.do?body=1514&language=EN
38 Members found for
Other bodies : Conference of Delegation Chairmen
1. OBIOLS i GERMÀ, Raimon
Chairman
2. SCHMITT, Pál
Member
3. TRAKATELLIS, Antonios
Member
4. LAGENDIJK, Joost
Member
5. MANN, Erika
Member
6. CATANIA, Giusto
Member
7. RAEVA, Bilyana Ilieva
Member
8. PACK, Doris
Member
9. OOMEN-RUIJTEN, Ria
Member
10. SEVERIN, Adrian
Member
11. MIKKO, Marianne
Member
12. PROTASIEWICZ, Jacek
Member
13. JUKNEVIČIENĖ, Ona
Member
14. ISLER BÉGUIN, Marie Anne
Member
15. HYBÁŠKOVÁ, Jana
Member
16. TRIANTAPHYLLIDES, Kyriacos
Member
17. ITURGAIZ ANGULO, Carlos José
Member
18. PATRIE, Béatrice
Member
19. BEER, Angelika
Member
20. EVANS, Jonathan
Member
21. Ó NEACHTAIN, Seán
Member
22. LIPIETZ, Alain
Member
23. SOUSA PINTO, Sérgio
Member
24. JARZEMBOWSKI, Georg
Member
25. STERCKX, Dirk
Member
26. EVANS, Robert
Member
27. GILL, Neena
Member
28. PODESTÀ, Guido
Member
29. NASSAUER, Hartmut
Member
30. PIRKER, Hubert
Member
31. CHICHESTER, Giles
Member
32. PRODI, Vittorio
Member
33. LOCATELLI, Pia Elda
Member
34. KINNOCK, Glenys
Member
35. SALAFRANCA SÁNCHEZ-NEYRA, José Ignacio
Member
36. PÖTTERING, Hans-Gert
Member
37. SARYUSZ-WOLSKI, Jacek
Member
38. BORRELL FONTELLES, Josep
Member
Ralf Grahn
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
European Parliament: Conference of Presidents ─ political business
The English versions of the current Article 197 TEC and Article 14(4) TEU of the consolidated Lisbon Treaty regulate only that the European Parliament elects its President and its officers from among its members. In other language versions the officers are defined as the Bureau.
The rest of the internal organisation of the European Parliament is left to itself, with the EP Rules of Procedure as the centrepiece.
Among the various 16th editions the one from October 2008 seems to be the latest, available here:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+RULES-EP+20081022+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN
***
Conference of Presidents
Composition
Rule 23 lays down the composition of the Conference of Presidents. The composition highlights the importance of the political groups in the running of parliamentary business. Their chairs are members of the Conference of Presidents, chaired by the EP President. Despite the aim to reach consensus the bottom line is that the largest parliamentary groups dominate, because their chairs vote with their number of MEPs. One non-attached member participates, but without a vote:
Rule 23 Composition of the Conference of Presidents
1. The Conference of Presidents shall consist of the President of Parliament and the chairs of the political groups. The chair of a political group may arrange to be represented by a member of that group.
2. The non-attached Members shall delegate one of their number to attend meetings of the Conference of Presidents, without having the right to vote.
3. The Conference of Presidents shall endeavour to reach a consensus on matters referred to it.
Where a consensus cannot be reached, the matter shall be put to a vote subject to a weighting based on the number of Members in each political group.
***
Duties
The Conference of Presidents is responsible for planning the legislative work and the agendas of the part-sessions, for questions relating to committees, for relations with the Commission and the Council as well as other EU bodies. The Conference maintains relations with national parliaments and non-EU countries and organisations. Seating arrangements and matters relating to the political groups fall within the remit of the Conference:
Rule 24 Duties of the Conference of Presidents
1. The Conference of Presidents shall carry out the duties assigned to it under the Rules of Procedure.
2. The Conference of Presidents shall take decisions on the organisation of Parliament's work and matters relating to legislative planning.
3. The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for matters relating to relations with the other institutions and bodies of the European Union and with the national parliaments of Member States. The Bureau shall name two Vice-Presidents who shall be entrusted with the implementation of the relations with national parliaments. They shall report back regularly to the Conference of Presidents on their activities in this regard.
4. The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for matters relating to relations with non-member countries and with non-Union institutions and organisations.
5. The Conference of Presidents shall draw up the draft agenda of Parliament's part-sessions.
6. The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for the composition and competence of committees, committees of inquiry and joint parliamentary committees, standing delegations and ad hoc delegations.
7. The Conference of Presidents shall decide how seats in the Chamber are to be allocated pursuant to Rule 32.
8. The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for authorising the drawing up of own-initiative reports.
9. The Conference of Presidents shall submit proposals to the Bureau concerning administrative and budgetary matters relating to the political groups.
***
Suspension or removal of MEP
Among the penalties for serious misconduct, generally decided by the President, is the submission to the Conference of Presidents, pursuant to Rule 18, of a proposal for the Member's suspension or removal from one or more of the elected offices held by the Member in Parliament, according to Rule 147(2)(d).
***
Europarty in breach of f(o)unding principles
Title XI of the Rules of Procedure deal with the relations with Europarties, officially political parties at European level (Rules 198 to 200).
According to Rule 200(1) the Conference of Presidents engages in an exchange of views ahead of a possible decision to refer to the committee responsible the question whether or not a political party at European level is continuing to observe (in particular in its programme and in its activities) the principles upon which the European Union is founded, namely the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.
***
Accountability
Again we see a positive commitment to openness and transparency. The minutes of the Conference of Presidents are distributed to all MEPs.
The minutes are ‘accessible to the public’, but the meaning of that is unclear. My meager efforts to locate these and other internal documents of the European Parliament on its web pages have come to naught:
Rule 28 Accountability of the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents
1. The minutes of the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents shall be translated into the official languages, printed and distributed to all Members of Parliament and shall be accessible to the public, unless the Bureau or the Conference of Presidents exceptionally, for reasons of confidentiality, as laid down in Article 4(1) to (4) of European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, decides otherwise with regard to certain items of the minutes.
2. Any Member may ask questions related to the work of the Bureau, the Conference of Presidents and the Quaestors. Such questions shall be submitted to the President in writing and published in the Bulletin of Parliament within thirty days of tabling, together with the answers given.
***
Who are they?
There is a listing of the members of the Conference of Presidents on the following EP web page:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/otherBodies/search.do?body=1510&language=EN
1.
PÖTTERING, Hans-Gert President
2.
DAUL, Joseph Member
3.
SCHULZ, Martin Member
4.
WATSON, Graham Member
5.
CROWLEY, Brian Member
6.
MUSCARDINI, Cristiana Member
7.
FRASSONI, Monica Member
8.
COHN-BENDIT, Daniel Member
9.
WURTZ, Francis Member
10.
FARAGE, Nigel Member
11.
BELOHORSKÁ, Irena Member
***
The European Parliament should step up its efforts to inform the public of the internal aspects of its work.
Ralf Grahn
The rest of the internal organisation of the European Parliament is left to itself, with the EP Rules of Procedure as the centrepiece.
Among the various 16th editions the one from October 2008 seems to be the latest, available here:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+RULES-EP+20081022+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN
***
Conference of Presidents
Composition
Rule 23 lays down the composition of the Conference of Presidents. The composition highlights the importance of the political groups in the running of parliamentary business. Their chairs are members of the Conference of Presidents, chaired by the EP President. Despite the aim to reach consensus the bottom line is that the largest parliamentary groups dominate, because their chairs vote with their number of MEPs. One non-attached member participates, but without a vote:
Rule 23 Composition of the Conference of Presidents
1. The Conference of Presidents shall consist of the President of Parliament and the chairs of the political groups. The chair of a political group may arrange to be represented by a member of that group.
2. The non-attached Members shall delegate one of their number to attend meetings of the Conference of Presidents, without having the right to vote.
3. The Conference of Presidents shall endeavour to reach a consensus on matters referred to it.
Where a consensus cannot be reached, the matter shall be put to a vote subject to a weighting based on the number of Members in each political group.
***
Duties
The Conference of Presidents is responsible for planning the legislative work and the agendas of the part-sessions, for questions relating to committees, for relations with the Commission and the Council as well as other EU bodies. The Conference maintains relations with national parliaments and non-EU countries and organisations. Seating arrangements and matters relating to the political groups fall within the remit of the Conference:
Rule 24 Duties of the Conference of Presidents
1. The Conference of Presidents shall carry out the duties assigned to it under the Rules of Procedure.
2. The Conference of Presidents shall take decisions on the organisation of Parliament's work and matters relating to legislative planning.
3. The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for matters relating to relations with the other institutions and bodies of the European Union and with the national parliaments of Member States. The Bureau shall name two Vice-Presidents who shall be entrusted with the implementation of the relations with national parliaments. They shall report back regularly to the Conference of Presidents on their activities in this regard.
4. The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for matters relating to relations with non-member countries and with non-Union institutions and organisations.
5. The Conference of Presidents shall draw up the draft agenda of Parliament's part-sessions.
6. The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for the composition and competence of committees, committees of inquiry and joint parliamentary committees, standing delegations and ad hoc delegations.
7. The Conference of Presidents shall decide how seats in the Chamber are to be allocated pursuant to Rule 32.
8. The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for authorising the drawing up of own-initiative reports.
9. The Conference of Presidents shall submit proposals to the Bureau concerning administrative and budgetary matters relating to the political groups.
***
Suspension or removal of MEP
Among the penalties for serious misconduct, generally decided by the President, is the submission to the Conference of Presidents, pursuant to Rule 18, of a proposal for the Member's suspension or removal from one or more of the elected offices held by the Member in Parliament, according to Rule 147(2)(d).
***
Europarty in breach of f(o)unding principles
Title XI of the Rules of Procedure deal with the relations with Europarties, officially political parties at European level (Rules 198 to 200).
According to Rule 200(1) the Conference of Presidents engages in an exchange of views ahead of a possible decision to refer to the committee responsible the question whether or not a political party at European level is continuing to observe (in particular in its programme and in its activities) the principles upon which the European Union is founded, namely the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.
***
Accountability
Again we see a positive commitment to openness and transparency. The minutes of the Conference of Presidents are distributed to all MEPs.
The minutes are ‘accessible to the public’, but the meaning of that is unclear. My meager efforts to locate these and other internal documents of the European Parliament on its web pages have come to naught:
Rule 28 Accountability of the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents
1. The minutes of the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents shall be translated into the official languages, printed and distributed to all Members of Parliament and shall be accessible to the public, unless the Bureau or the Conference of Presidents exceptionally, for reasons of confidentiality, as laid down in Article 4(1) to (4) of European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, decides otherwise with regard to certain items of the minutes.
2. Any Member may ask questions related to the work of the Bureau, the Conference of Presidents and the Quaestors. Such questions shall be submitted to the President in writing and published in the Bulletin of Parliament within thirty days of tabling, together with the answers given.
***
Who are they?
There is a listing of the members of the Conference of Presidents on the following EP web page:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/otherBodies/search.do?body=1510&language=EN
1.
PÖTTERING, Hans-Gert President
2.
DAUL, Joseph Member
3.
SCHULZ, Martin Member
4.
WATSON, Graham Member
5.
CROWLEY, Brian Member
6.
MUSCARDINI, Cristiana Member
7.
FRASSONI, Monica Member
8.
COHN-BENDIT, Daniel Member
9.
WURTZ, Francis Member
10.
FARAGE, Nigel Member
11.
BELOHORSKÁ, Irena Member
***
The European Parliament should step up its efforts to inform the public of the internal aspects of its work.
Ralf Grahn
Monday, 23 February 2009
European Parliament: Bureau ─ spider in the web
Whether you wonder at MEPs’ expenses or the funding debacle of Libertas, the spider in the web is the Bureau of the European Parliament.
***
We have seen that the European Parliament elects its President and its officers among its members (Article 197 TEC; Article 14(4) TFEU in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty).
We have also seen that the English treaty text refers to the constituent parts (officers), whereas other language versions point to the Bureau.
After looking at the different offices ─ President, fourteen Vice-Presidents and five (now six) Quaestors ─ we turn to the internal ruling body of the European Parliament: the Bureau.
***
Composition of the Bureau
Elected for two and a half years (Rule 16) the President and the fourteen Vice-Presidents automatically form the Bureau, with the Quaestors in an advisory capacity; Rule 21 of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure (16th edition, October 2008):
Rule 21 Composition of the Bureau
1. The Bureau shall consist of the President and the fourteen Vice-Presidents of Parliament.
2. The Quaestors shall be members of the Bureau in an advisory capacity.
3. Should voting in the Bureau result in a tie, the President shall have a casting vote.
***
Duties of the Bureau
In the internal life of the European Parliament, the Bureau is the spider in the web. Finances, organisation, administration, members’ issues, personnel as well as funding for Europarties and their political foundations are either regulated or decided by the Bureau, as we see from Rule 22:
Rule 22 Duties of the Bureau
1. The Bureau shall carry out the duties assigned to it under the Rules of Procedure.
2. The Bureau shall take financial, organisational and administrative decisions on matters concerning Members and the internal organisation of Parliament, its Secretariat and its bodies.
3. The Bureau shall take decisions on matters relating to the conduct of sittings.
(Official explanation: The term 'conduct of sittings' includes the matter of the conduct of Members within all of Parliament's premises.)
4. The Bureau shall adopt the provisions referred to in Rule 31 concerning non-attached Members.
5. The Bureau shall decide the establishment plan of the Secretariat and lay down regulations relating to the administrative and financial situation of officials and other servants.
6. The Bureau shall draw up Parliament's preliminary draft estimates.
7. The Bureau shall adopt the guidelines for the Quaestors pursuant to Rule 25.
8. The Bureau shall be the authority responsible for authorising meetings of committees away from the usual places of work, hearings and study and fact-finding journeys by rapporteurs.
Where such meetings are authorised, the language arrangements shall be determined on the basis of the official languages used and requested by the members and substitutes of the committee concerned.
The same shall apply in the case of the delegations, except where the members and substitutes concerned agree otherwise.
9. The Bureau shall appoint the Secretary-General pursuant to Rule 197.
10. The Bureau shall lay down the implementing rules relating to European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding and shall, in implementing that Regulation, assume the tasks conferred upon it by these Rules of Procedure.
11. The President and/or the Bureau may entrust one or more members of the Bureau with general or specific tasks lying within the competence of the President and/or the Bureau. At the same time the ways and means of carrying them out shall be laid down.
12. When a new Parliament is elected, the outgoing Bureau shall remain in office until the first sitting of the new Parliament.
***
Who are they?
Who are the ones responsible for the orderly and savoury conduct of EP affairs? Take the rules on MEPs’ expenses, the controls put in place, corrective measures and information to the public. The Bureau is the linchpin.
You can find the composition of the Bureau on the web pages of the European Parliament at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/otherBodies/search.do?body=2370&language=EN
1.
PÖTTERING, Hans-Gert President
2.
KRATSA-TSAGAROPOULOU, Rodi Vice-President
3.
VIDAL-QUADRAS, Alejo Vice-President
4.
ONESTA, Gérard Vice-President
5.
McMILLAN-SCOTT, Edward Vice-President
6.
MAURO, Mario Vice-President
7.
MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ, Miguel Angel Vice-President
8.
COCILOVO, Luigi Vice-President
9.
ROTHE, Mechtild Vice-President
10.
MORGANTINI, Luisa Vice-President
11.
ROURE, Martine Vice-President
12.
dos SANTOS, Manuel António Vice-President
13.
WALLIS, Diana Vice-President
14.
SIWIEC, Marek Vice-President
15.
BIELAN, Adam Vice-President
16.
NICHOLSON, James Quaestor
17.
LULLING, Astrid Quaestor
18.
DE VITS, Mia Quaestor
19.
FRIEDRICH, Ingo Quaestor
20.
FAZAKAS, Szabolcs Quaestor
21.
MULDER, Jan Quaestor
***
Language arrangements
The Rules of Procedure mention a number of specific tasks for the Bureau. All documents of the European Parliament are drawn up in the official languages and the speeches of MEPs are interpreted simultaneously into the other official languages and other languages the Bureau may decide . Interpretation is provided in committees according to wishes of members. If committees or delegations meet outside the EP, the language arrangements can be more flexible, but in case of disagreement the decision is taken by the Bureau (Rule 138).
The Bureau recommends the abolishment or extension of provisional language arrangements (Article 139).
***
Serious misconduct
The President rules on penalties for MEPs guilty of serious misconduct (Rule 147), but the member concerned can lodge an internal appeal to the Bureau (Rule 148).
***
Funding of Europarties and their foundations
The 2009 EU budget for the European Parliament contains non-negligible funds for political parties at European level (10.9 million euros) and their foundations (7.0 million euros).
The main provisions have been laid down by Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding, originally published OJEU 15.11.2003 L 297/1, but amended by Regulation 1524/2007, so this is a link to the consolidated version (of 27 December 2007):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2003R2004:20071227:EN:PDF
More detailed rules were issued by the Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 29 March 2004 laying down the procedures for implementing Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding (OJEU 12.6.2004 C 155/1).
There is a second entry in the Official Journal OJEU 2008 C 252/1, but it was published in the C series, so it should not be an amending decision, only republication for informational purposes:
Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 29 March 2004 laying down the procedures for implementing Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding,
OJEU 3.10.2008 C 252/1.
Anyway, there are the hoops to jump through and the forms to fill out for the political parties and foundations concerned.
As we see, the Decision has been made by the Bureau.
***
Deciding on funding for Europarties
After the provisions on the funding system and its implementation, the EP’s Rules of Procedure regulate the concrete decision making on funds to be distributed to the European level parties and their foundations:
Rule 199 Powers and responsibilities of the Bureau
1. The Bureau shall take a decision on any application for funding submitted by a political party at European level and on the distribution of appropriations amongst the beneficiary political parties. It shall draw up a list of the beneficiaries and of the amounts allocated.
2. The Bureau shall decide whether or not to suspend or reduce funding and to recover amounts which have been wrongly paid.
3. After the end of the budget year the Bureau shall approve the beneficiary political party’s final activity report and final financial statement.
4. Under the terms and conditions laid down in European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 the Bureau may grant technical assistance to political parties at European level in accordance with their proposals. The Bureau may delegate specific types of decisions to grant technical assistance to the Secretary- General.
5. In all the cases set out in the above paragraphs the Bureau shall act on the basis of a proposal from the Secretary-General. Except in the cases set out in paragraphs 1 and 4 the Bureau shall, before taking a decision, hear the representatives of the political party concerned. The Bureau may at any time consult the Conference of Presidents.
6. Where Parliament - following verification - establishes that a political party at European level has ceased to observe the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, the Bureau shall decide that that political party shall be excluded from funding.
***
Libertas controversy
As far as we know from statements to the media, the potential pan-European political party Libertas has fallen foul of these regulations, which its chairman Declan Ganley has interpreted as a conspiracy against Libertas.
In principle, Libertas’ application for status and funds has failed, if I understand correctly, but the Bureau has mandated the EP’s legal services to consider if Libertas should have fulfilled the requirements by the dead-line for the application (1 November 2008) or if irregular or defected “representatives” can be replaced by new ones, which Ganley has offered to do.
***
Budget estimates
The Bureau draws up the preliminary draft estimates of the Euroepan Parliament on the basis of a report by the Secretary-General (Rule 73).
***
Accountability and questions
We have seen that the Bureau has a crucial role in questions of utmost importance to the conduct of the MEPs and the handling of party funding. Therefore the openness, transparency and accountability of the Bureau towards the public are significant.
Rule 28 of the EP’s Rules of Procedure looks promising:
Rule 28 Accountability of the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents
1. The minutes of the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents shall be translated into the official languages, printed and distributed to all Members of Parliament and shall be accessible to the public, unless the Bureau or the Conference of Presidents exceptionally, for reasons of confidentiality, as laid down in Article 4(1) to (4) of European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, decides otherwise with regard to certain items of the minutes.
2. Any Member may ask questions related to the work of the Bureau, the Conference of Presidents and the Quaestors. Such questions shall be submitted to the President in writing and published in the Bulletin of Parliament within thirty days of tabling, together with the answers given.
***
Accessibility?
After navigating a fair number of pages on the European Parliament website, I am less certain if the European Parliament and I understand the same thing when we employ the term ‘accessible’.
By ‘accessible’ I mean information easily found, but I have failed to locate the decisions of the Bureau.
Based on earlier posts and this one I have come across a few areas, where I think that the European Parliament should step up its efforts to inform the public.
The European Parliament should post all the regulations concerning the European election procedures visibly (both permanently and on its election web pages).
The European Parliament’s decisions concerning MEPs’ allowances, control and the deliberate suppression of information including audit reports have been deplorable. The Bureau is the main responsible for the harm done to the EP’s reputation.
The Bureau’s minutes should be posted visbly on the EP’s web pages.
This includes decisions and documentation with regard to the Libertas funding controversy.
Ralf Grahn
***
We have seen that the European Parliament elects its President and its officers among its members (Article 197 TEC; Article 14(4) TFEU in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty).
We have also seen that the English treaty text refers to the constituent parts (officers), whereas other language versions point to the Bureau.
After looking at the different offices ─ President, fourteen Vice-Presidents and five (now six) Quaestors ─ we turn to the internal ruling body of the European Parliament: the Bureau.
***
Composition of the Bureau
Elected for two and a half years (Rule 16) the President and the fourteen Vice-Presidents automatically form the Bureau, with the Quaestors in an advisory capacity; Rule 21 of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure (16th edition, October 2008):
Rule 21 Composition of the Bureau
1. The Bureau shall consist of the President and the fourteen Vice-Presidents of Parliament.
2. The Quaestors shall be members of the Bureau in an advisory capacity.
3. Should voting in the Bureau result in a tie, the President shall have a casting vote.
***
Duties of the Bureau
In the internal life of the European Parliament, the Bureau is the spider in the web. Finances, organisation, administration, members’ issues, personnel as well as funding for Europarties and their political foundations are either regulated or decided by the Bureau, as we see from Rule 22:
Rule 22 Duties of the Bureau
1. The Bureau shall carry out the duties assigned to it under the Rules of Procedure.
2. The Bureau shall take financial, organisational and administrative decisions on matters concerning Members and the internal organisation of Parliament, its Secretariat and its bodies.
3. The Bureau shall take decisions on matters relating to the conduct of sittings.
(Official explanation: The term 'conduct of sittings' includes the matter of the conduct of Members within all of Parliament's premises.)
4. The Bureau shall adopt the provisions referred to in Rule 31 concerning non-attached Members.
5. The Bureau shall decide the establishment plan of the Secretariat and lay down regulations relating to the administrative and financial situation of officials and other servants.
6. The Bureau shall draw up Parliament's preliminary draft estimates.
7. The Bureau shall adopt the guidelines for the Quaestors pursuant to Rule 25.
8. The Bureau shall be the authority responsible for authorising meetings of committees away from the usual places of work, hearings and study and fact-finding journeys by rapporteurs.
Where such meetings are authorised, the language arrangements shall be determined on the basis of the official languages used and requested by the members and substitutes of the committee concerned.
The same shall apply in the case of the delegations, except where the members and substitutes concerned agree otherwise.
9. The Bureau shall appoint the Secretary-General pursuant to Rule 197.
10. The Bureau shall lay down the implementing rules relating to European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding and shall, in implementing that Regulation, assume the tasks conferred upon it by these Rules of Procedure.
11. The President and/or the Bureau may entrust one or more members of the Bureau with general or specific tasks lying within the competence of the President and/or the Bureau. At the same time the ways and means of carrying them out shall be laid down.
12. When a new Parliament is elected, the outgoing Bureau shall remain in office until the first sitting of the new Parliament.
***
Who are they?
Who are the ones responsible for the orderly and savoury conduct of EP affairs? Take the rules on MEPs’ expenses, the controls put in place, corrective measures and information to the public. The Bureau is the linchpin.
You can find the composition of the Bureau on the web pages of the European Parliament at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/otherBodies/search.do?body=2370&language=EN
1.
PÖTTERING, Hans-Gert President
2.
KRATSA-TSAGAROPOULOU, Rodi Vice-President
3.
VIDAL-QUADRAS, Alejo Vice-President
4.
ONESTA, Gérard Vice-President
5.
McMILLAN-SCOTT, Edward Vice-President
6.
MAURO, Mario Vice-President
7.
MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ, Miguel Angel Vice-President
8.
COCILOVO, Luigi Vice-President
9.
ROTHE, Mechtild Vice-President
10.
MORGANTINI, Luisa Vice-President
11.
ROURE, Martine Vice-President
12.
dos SANTOS, Manuel António Vice-President
13.
WALLIS, Diana Vice-President
14.
SIWIEC, Marek Vice-President
15.
BIELAN, Adam Vice-President
16.
NICHOLSON, James Quaestor
17.
LULLING, Astrid Quaestor
18.
DE VITS, Mia Quaestor
19.
FRIEDRICH, Ingo Quaestor
20.
FAZAKAS, Szabolcs Quaestor
21.
MULDER, Jan Quaestor
***
Language arrangements
The Rules of Procedure mention a number of specific tasks for the Bureau. All documents of the European Parliament are drawn up in the official languages and the speeches of MEPs are interpreted simultaneously into the other official languages and other languages the Bureau may decide . Interpretation is provided in committees according to wishes of members. If committees or delegations meet outside the EP, the language arrangements can be more flexible, but in case of disagreement the decision is taken by the Bureau (Rule 138).
The Bureau recommends the abolishment or extension of provisional language arrangements (Article 139).
***
Serious misconduct
The President rules on penalties for MEPs guilty of serious misconduct (Rule 147), but the member concerned can lodge an internal appeal to the Bureau (Rule 148).
***
Funding of Europarties and their foundations
The 2009 EU budget for the European Parliament contains non-negligible funds for political parties at European level (10.9 million euros) and their foundations (7.0 million euros).
The main provisions have been laid down by Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding, originally published OJEU 15.11.2003 L 297/1, but amended by Regulation 1524/2007, so this is a link to the consolidated version (of 27 December 2007):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2003R2004:20071227:EN:PDF
More detailed rules were issued by the Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 29 March 2004 laying down the procedures for implementing Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding (OJEU 12.6.2004 C 155/1).
There is a second entry in the Official Journal OJEU 2008 C 252/1, but it was published in the C series, so it should not be an amending decision, only republication for informational purposes:
Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 29 March 2004 laying down the procedures for implementing Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding,
OJEU 3.10.2008 C 252/1.
Anyway, there are the hoops to jump through and the forms to fill out for the political parties and foundations concerned.
As we see, the Decision has been made by the Bureau.
***
Deciding on funding for Europarties
After the provisions on the funding system and its implementation, the EP’s Rules of Procedure regulate the concrete decision making on funds to be distributed to the European level parties and their foundations:
Rule 199 Powers and responsibilities of the Bureau
1. The Bureau shall take a decision on any application for funding submitted by a political party at European level and on the distribution of appropriations amongst the beneficiary political parties. It shall draw up a list of the beneficiaries and of the amounts allocated.
2. The Bureau shall decide whether or not to suspend or reduce funding and to recover amounts which have been wrongly paid.
3. After the end of the budget year the Bureau shall approve the beneficiary political party’s final activity report and final financial statement.
4. Under the terms and conditions laid down in European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 the Bureau may grant technical assistance to political parties at European level in accordance with their proposals. The Bureau may delegate specific types of decisions to grant technical assistance to the Secretary- General.
5. In all the cases set out in the above paragraphs the Bureau shall act on the basis of a proposal from the Secretary-General. Except in the cases set out in paragraphs 1 and 4 the Bureau shall, before taking a decision, hear the representatives of the political party concerned. The Bureau may at any time consult the Conference of Presidents.
6. Where Parliament - following verification - establishes that a political party at European level has ceased to observe the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, the Bureau shall decide that that political party shall be excluded from funding.
***
Libertas controversy
As far as we know from statements to the media, the potential pan-European political party Libertas has fallen foul of these regulations, which its chairman Declan Ganley has interpreted as a conspiracy against Libertas.
In principle, Libertas’ application for status and funds has failed, if I understand correctly, but the Bureau has mandated the EP’s legal services to consider if Libertas should have fulfilled the requirements by the dead-line for the application (1 November 2008) or if irregular or defected “representatives” can be replaced by new ones, which Ganley has offered to do.
***
Budget estimates
The Bureau draws up the preliminary draft estimates of the Euroepan Parliament on the basis of a report by the Secretary-General (Rule 73).
***
Accountability and questions
We have seen that the Bureau has a crucial role in questions of utmost importance to the conduct of the MEPs and the handling of party funding. Therefore the openness, transparency and accountability of the Bureau towards the public are significant.
Rule 28 of the EP’s Rules of Procedure looks promising:
Rule 28 Accountability of the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents
1. The minutes of the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents shall be translated into the official languages, printed and distributed to all Members of Parliament and shall be accessible to the public, unless the Bureau or the Conference of Presidents exceptionally, for reasons of confidentiality, as laid down in Article 4(1) to (4) of European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, decides otherwise with regard to certain items of the minutes.
2. Any Member may ask questions related to the work of the Bureau, the Conference of Presidents and the Quaestors. Such questions shall be submitted to the President in writing and published in the Bulletin of Parliament within thirty days of tabling, together with the answers given.
***
Accessibility?
After navigating a fair number of pages on the European Parliament website, I am less certain if the European Parliament and I understand the same thing when we employ the term ‘accessible’.
By ‘accessible’ I mean information easily found, but I have failed to locate the decisions of the Bureau.
Based on earlier posts and this one I have come across a few areas, where I think that the European Parliament should step up its efforts to inform the public.
The European Parliament should post all the regulations concerning the European election procedures visibly (both permanently and on its election web pages).
The European Parliament’s decisions concerning MEPs’ allowances, control and the deliberate suppression of information including audit reports have been deplorable. The Bureau is the main responsible for the harm done to the EP’s reputation.
The Bureau’s minutes should be posted visbly on the EP’s web pages.
This includes decisions and documentation with regard to the Libertas funding controversy.
Ralf Grahn
Saturday, 21 February 2009
European Parliament: Officers or Bureau?
In addition to its President, the European Parliament elects ‘its officers’ from among its members.
Interestingly, the treaty in English seems to refer to a different Chapter of the Rules of Procedure than other language versions.
It is hard to see that this difference could lead to harmful results in practice, but perhaps the European Parliament helps to bring the English text of the treaty in line with the other language versions next time around.
***
Treaty provisions
The first paragraph of the current Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) provides that:
The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its Members.
In the Treaty of Lisbon this paragraph is formally deleted when Article 197 TEC is amended; formally because exactly the same wording appears first in Article 9a(4) of the Treaty on European Union in the original version and then as Article 14(4) TEU in the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty.
***
Officers?
The generic English term ‘officers’ seems to leave everything to the European Parliament, but interestingly other language versions give the impression that the drafters had something a bit more specific in mind.
Here are six language versions for comparison, chosen for the sake of convenience from Article 14(4) of the Treaty on European Union as published in the consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115):
Spanish
4. El Parlamento Europeo elegirá a su Presidente y a la Mesa de entre sus diputados.
German
(4) Das Europäische Parlament wählt aus seiner Mitte seinen Präsidenten und sein Präsidium.
English
4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.
French
4. Le Parlement européen élit parmi ses membres son président et son bureau.
Finnish
4. Euroopan parlamentti valitsee jäsentensä keskuudesta puhemiehen ja puhemiehistön.
Swedish
4. Europaparlamentet ska välja sin ordförande och sitt presidium bland sina ledamöter.
***
EP Rules of Procedure
Terminology
Chapter 2 of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure (16th edition, October 2008) is called Officers of Parliament.
In Spanish the Chapter heading is ‘De los mandatos’, in German ‘Amtsträger des Parlaments’, in French ‘Mandats’, in Finnish ‘Parlamentin toimihenkilöt’ and in Swedish ‘Uppdrag’.
In Spanish Chapter 3 is called ‘De los órganos y funciones’, in German ‘Organe und Aufgaben’, in French ‘Organes et fonctions’, in Finnish ‘Parlamentin elimet ja niiden tehtävät’, in Swedish ‘Organ och uppgifter’.
In five of the sampled languages the treaty provisions, Article 197 TEC and Article 14 TEU, refer to the “praesidium”, “Bureau” or words to that effect in Chapter 3. Only the English treaty text, which employs the word ‘officers’ seems to refer to Chapter 2.
It is hard to imagine any harmful consequences arising out of this, because the ‘officers’ form the ‘Bureau’, but five treaty versions are consistent in what they refer to, whereas the English treaty text is not:
Spanish
Articulo 21 Composición de la Mesa
Articulo 22 Funciones de la Mesa
German
Artikel 21 Zusammensetzung des Präsidiums
Artikel 22 Aufgaben des Präsidiums
English
Rule 21 Composition of the Bureau
Rule 22 Duties of the Bureau
French
Article 21 Composition du Bureau
Article 22 Fonctions du Bureau
Finnish
21 artikla Puhemiehistön kokoonpano
22 artikla Puhemiehistön tehtävät
Swedish
Artikel 21 Presidiets sammansättning
Artikel 22 Presidiets uppgifter
***
After this linguistic detour we are going to look at the officers and the composition of the Bureau.
Ralf Grahn
Interestingly, the treaty in English seems to refer to a different Chapter of the Rules of Procedure than other language versions.
It is hard to see that this difference could lead to harmful results in practice, but perhaps the European Parliament helps to bring the English text of the treaty in line with the other language versions next time around.
***
Treaty provisions
The first paragraph of the current Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) provides that:
The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its Members.
In the Treaty of Lisbon this paragraph is formally deleted when Article 197 TEC is amended; formally because exactly the same wording appears first in Article 9a(4) of the Treaty on European Union in the original version and then as Article 14(4) TEU in the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty.
***
Officers?
The generic English term ‘officers’ seems to leave everything to the European Parliament, but interestingly other language versions give the impression that the drafters had something a bit more specific in mind.
Here are six language versions for comparison, chosen for the sake of convenience from Article 14(4) of the Treaty on European Union as published in the consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115):
Spanish
4. El Parlamento Europeo elegirá a su Presidente y a la Mesa de entre sus diputados.
German
(4) Das Europäische Parlament wählt aus seiner Mitte seinen Präsidenten und sein Präsidium.
English
4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.
French
4. Le Parlement européen élit parmi ses membres son président et son bureau.
Finnish
4. Euroopan parlamentti valitsee jäsentensä keskuudesta puhemiehen ja puhemiehistön.
Swedish
4. Europaparlamentet ska välja sin ordförande och sitt presidium bland sina ledamöter.
***
EP Rules of Procedure
Terminology
Chapter 2 of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure (16th edition, October 2008) is called Officers of Parliament.
In Spanish the Chapter heading is ‘De los mandatos’, in German ‘Amtsträger des Parlaments’, in French ‘Mandats’, in Finnish ‘Parlamentin toimihenkilöt’ and in Swedish ‘Uppdrag’.
In Spanish Chapter 3 is called ‘De los órganos y funciones’, in German ‘Organe und Aufgaben’, in French ‘Organes et fonctions’, in Finnish ‘Parlamentin elimet ja niiden tehtävät’, in Swedish ‘Organ och uppgifter’.
In five of the sampled languages the treaty provisions, Article 197 TEC and Article 14 TEU, refer to the “praesidium”, “Bureau” or words to that effect in Chapter 3. Only the English treaty text, which employs the word ‘officers’ seems to refer to Chapter 2.
It is hard to imagine any harmful consequences arising out of this, because the ‘officers’ form the ‘Bureau’, but five treaty versions are consistent in what they refer to, whereas the English treaty text is not:
Spanish
Articulo 21 Composición de la Mesa
Articulo 22 Funciones de la Mesa
German
Artikel 21 Zusammensetzung des Präsidiums
Artikel 22 Aufgaben des Präsidiums
English
Rule 21 Composition of the Bureau
Rule 22 Duties of the Bureau
French
Article 21 Composition du Bureau
Article 22 Fonctions du Bureau
Finnish
21 artikla Puhemiehistön kokoonpano
22 artikla Puhemiehistön tehtävät
Swedish
Artikel 21 Presidiets sammansättning
Artikel 22 Presidiets uppgifter
***
After this linguistic detour we are going to look at the officers and the composition of the Bureau.
Ralf Grahn
European Parliament: President
Ahead of the European elections between 4 and 7 June 2009 there are people who want to know more about the European Parliament than short and simple messages convey.
We take a closer look at the internal organisation of the European Parliament, starting with its President.
***
Treaty provisions
The first paragraph of the current Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) provides that:
The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its Members.
In the Treaty of Lisbon this paragraph is formally deleted when amending Article 197 TEC; formally because exactly the same wording appears in. first Article 9a(4) of the Treaty on European Union in the original version, and then as Article 14(4) TEU in the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty.
***
Autonomy
The treaty provisions express that the European Parliament sets its internal rules autonomously, within the limits of the treaties.
This offers the European Parliament wide discretion with regard to its internal organisation.
The treaties (rather self-evidently) make it clear that the European Parliament has to have a President.
***
President or Speaker?
Less obvious but given is that this leading figure is called President in the English version, not for instance Speaker.
If we look at a few language versions of Article 14(4) TEU, we get the following results:
Spanish
4. El Parlamento Europeo elegirá a su Presidente y a la Mesa de entre sus diputados.
German
(4) Das Europäische Parlament wählt aus seiner Mitte seinen Präsidenten und sein Präsidium.
English
4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.
French
4. Le Parlement européen élit parmi ses membres son président et son bureau.
Finnish
4. Euroopan parlamentti valitsee jäsentensä keskuudesta puhemiehen ja puhemiehistön.
Swedish
4. Europaparlamentet ska välja sin ordförande och sitt presidium bland sina ledamöter.
***
Three of the versions, two belonging to founding member states, use comparable expressions domestically and with regard to the European Parliament.
The French Assemblée nationale (National Assembly) has a Président, and the European Parliament uses the same term. The Deutscher Bundestag (Germany’s Parliament) has a Bundestagspräsident, so the national terminology and the EP terms are in line. The lower house in Spain (Congreso de los Diputados) has a Presidente.
None of the other three were among the initial member states of the ECSC and the EEC. There are small variations in the terms employed:
The UK House of Commons is led by the Speaker, but the EP has a President.
The Finnish version uses ’puhemies’ meaning Speaker, in line with national parliamentary custom.
The Swedish treaty version has opted for ‘ordförande’, the general term for Chair(man), although the Swedish Parliament has a ‘talman’ (Speaker).
***
EP Rules of Procedure
The EP’s Rules of Procedure (16th edition, October 2008) have more on the President of the European Parliament:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+RULES-EP+20081022+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN
According to Rule 11(1), at the first sitting after the European elections and any other sitting held for the purpose of electing the President and the Bureau, the oldest MEP present takes the Chair until the President has been elected.
***
Nominations
Rule 12 provides that the President has to be nominated by a political group or by at least forty members. The President is elected by secret ballot.
The rule favours a package to be negotiated in advance, because the second paragraph expresses the wish to achieve a fair representation of member states and political views when electing the President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors:
Rule 12 Nominations and general provisions
1. The President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors shall be elected by secret ballot, in accordance with the provisions of Rule 162. Nominations shall be with consent. They may only be made by a political group or by at least forty Members. However, if the number of nominations does not exceed the number of seats to be filled, the candidates may be elected by acclamation.
2. In the election of the President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors, account should be taken of the need to ensure an overall fair representation of Member States and political views.
***
Election of President
Rule 13 gives more details about the election of the President:
Rule 13 Election of President - opening address
1. The President shall be elected first. Nominations shall be handed before each ballot to the oldest Member, who shall announce them to Parliament. If after three ballots no candidate has obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast, the fourth ballot shall be confined to the two Members who have obtained the highest number of votes in the third ballot. In the event of a tie the elder candidate shall be declared elected.
2. As soon as the President has been elected, the oldest Member shall vacate the Chair. Only the elected President may deliver an opening address.
***
Term of office
The term of office of the President is two and a half years (Rule 16), meaning that the EP normally elects a President twice during its five year term.
***
Duties of the President
The President directs the activities of the European Parliament, presides over the proceedings and represents the Parliament:
Rule 19 Duties of the President
1. The President shall direct all the activities of Parliament and its bodies under the conditions laid down in these Rules and shall enjoy all the powers necessary to preside over the proceedings of Parliament and to ensure that they are properly conducted.
2. The duties of the President shall be to open, suspend and close sittings; to rule on the admissibility of amendments, on questions to the Council and Commission, and on the conformity of reports with these Rules; to ensure observance of these Rules, maintain order, call upon speakers, close debates, put matters to the vote and announce the results of votes; and to refer to committees any communications that concern them.
3. The President may speak in a debate only to sum up or to call speakers to order. Should he wish to take part in a debate, he shall vacate the Chair and shall not reoccupy it until the debate is over.
4. Parliament shall be represented in international relations, on ceremonial occasions and in administrative, legal or financial matters by the President, who may delegate these powers.
(Explanation: Rule 19(1) can be interpreted as meaning that the powers conferred by that Rule include the power to call an end to the excessive use of motions such as points of order, procedural motions, explanations of vote and requests for separate, split or roll-call votes where the President is convinced that these are manifestly intended to cause and will result in a prolonged and serious obstruction of the procedures of the House or the rights of other Members.
The powers conferred by this Rule include the power to put texts to the vote in an order other than that set out in the document to be voted on. By analogy with the provisions of Rule 155(7), the President may seek the agreement of Parliament before doing so.)
***
In coming posts we look at the EP officers.
Ralf Grahn
We take a closer look at the internal organisation of the European Parliament, starting with its President.
***
Treaty provisions
The first paragraph of the current Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) provides that:
The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its Members.
In the Treaty of Lisbon this paragraph is formally deleted when amending Article 197 TEC; formally because exactly the same wording appears in. first Article 9a(4) of the Treaty on European Union in the original version, and then as Article 14(4) TEU in the consolidated version of the Lisbon Treaty.
***
Autonomy
The treaty provisions express that the European Parliament sets its internal rules autonomously, within the limits of the treaties.
This offers the European Parliament wide discretion with regard to its internal organisation.
The treaties (rather self-evidently) make it clear that the European Parliament has to have a President.
***
President or Speaker?
Less obvious but given is that this leading figure is called President in the English version, not for instance Speaker.
If we look at a few language versions of Article 14(4) TEU, we get the following results:
Spanish
4. El Parlamento Europeo elegirá a su Presidente y a la Mesa de entre sus diputados.
German
(4) Das Europäische Parlament wählt aus seiner Mitte seinen Präsidenten und sein Präsidium.
English
4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.
French
4. Le Parlement européen élit parmi ses membres son président et son bureau.
Finnish
4. Euroopan parlamentti valitsee jäsentensä keskuudesta puhemiehen ja puhemiehistön.
Swedish
4. Europaparlamentet ska välja sin ordförande och sitt presidium bland sina ledamöter.
***
Three of the versions, two belonging to founding member states, use comparable expressions domestically and with regard to the European Parliament.
The French Assemblée nationale (National Assembly) has a Président, and the European Parliament uses the same term. The Deutscher Bundestag (Germany’s Parliament) has a Bundestagspräsident, so the national terminology and the EP terms are in line. The lower house in Spain (Congreso de los Diputados) has a Presidente.
None of the other three were among the initial member states of the ECSC and the EEC. There are small variations in the terms employed:
The UK House of Commons is led by the Speaker, but the EP has a President.
The Finnish version uses ’puhemies’ meaning Speaker, in line with national parliamentary custom.
The Swedish treaty version has opted for ‘ordförande’, the general term for Chair(man), although the Swedish Parliament has a ‘talman’ (Speaker).
***
EP Rules of Procedure
The EP’s Rules of Procedure (16th edition, October 2008) have more on the President of the European Parliament:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+RULES-EP+20081022+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN
According to Rule 11(1), at the first sitting after the European elections and any other sitting held for the purpose of electing the President and the Bureau, the oldest MEP present takes the Chair until the President has been elected.
***
Nominations
Rule 12 provides that the President has to be nominated by a political group or by at least forty members. The President is elected by secret ballot.
The rule favours a package to be negotiated in advance, because the second paragraph expresses the wish to achieve a fair representation of member states and political views when electing the President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors:
Rule 12 Nominations and general provisions
1. The President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors shall be elected by secret ballot, in accordance with the provisions of Rule 162. Nominations shall be with consent. They may only be made by a political group or by at least forty Members. However, if the number of nominations does not exceed the number of seats to be filled, the candidates may be elected by acclamation.
2. In the election of the President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors, account should be taken of the need to ensure an overall fair representation of Member States and political views.
***
Election of President
Rule 13 gives more details about the election of the President:
Rule 13 Election of President - opening address
1. The President shall be elected first. Nominations shall be handed before each ballot to the oldest Member, who shall announce them to Parliament. If after three ballots no candidate has obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast, the fourth ballot shall be confined to the two Members who have obtained the highest number of votes in the third ballot. In the event of a tie the elder candidate shall be declared elected.
2. As soon as the President has been elected, the oldest Member shall vacate the Chair. Only the elected President may deliver an opening address.
***
Term of office
The term of office of the President is two and a half years (Rule 16), meaning that the EP normally elects a President twice during its five year term.
***
Duties of the President
The President directs the activities of the European Parliament, presides over the proceedings and represents the Parliament:
Rule 19 Duties of the President
1. The President shall direct all the activities of Parliament and its bodies under the conditions laid down in these Rules and shall enjoy all the powers necessary to preside over the proceedings of Parliament and to ensure that they are properly conducted.
2. The duties of the President shall be to open, suspend and close sittings; to rule on the admissibility of amendments, on questions to the Council and Commission, and on the conformity of reports with these Rules; to ensure observance of these Rules, maintain order, call upon speakers, close debates, put matters to the vote and announce the results of votes; and to refer to committees any communications that concern them.
3. The President may speak in a debate only to sum up or to call speakers to order. Should he wish to take part in a debate, he shall vacate the Chair and shall not reoccupy it until the debate is over.
4. Parliament shall be represented in international relations, on ceremonial occasions and in administrative, legal or financial matters by the President, who may delegate these powers.
(Explanation: Rule 19(1) can be interpreted as meaning that the powers conferred by that Rule include the power to call an end to the excessive use of motions such as points of order, procedural motions, explanations of vote and requests for separate, split or roll-call votes where the President is convinced that these are manifestly intended to cause and will result in a prolonged and serious obstruction of the procedures of the House or the rights of other Members.
The powers conferred by this Rule include the power to put texts to the vote in an order other than that set out in the document to be voted on. By analogy with the provisions of Rule 155(7), the President may seek the agreement of Parliament before doing so.)
***
In coming posts we look at the EP officers.
Ralf Grahn
European Parliament: Internal organisation and relations between the institutions
Both the existing treaties and the EU Treaty of Lisbon contain basic provisions on the internal organisation of the European Parliament and on the EP’s relations with the other institutions: the Commission and the Council.
In this blog post we present the treaty changes, but ahead of the European elections in June 2009 we will then continue by taking a closer look at the detailed provisions in a number of posts.
***
Current treaty
Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) contains bare bones provisions on two areas concerning the European Parliament:
a) internal organisation, and
b) relations with the Commission and the Council.
The text of Article 197 TEC is from the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134:
Article 197 TEC
The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its Members.
Members of the Commission may attend all meetings and shall, at their request, be heard on behalf of the Commission.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Council in its Rules of Procedure.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon formally deleted the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC on the internal organisation of the European Parliament and amended two of the three other paragraphs (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102):
185) Article 197 shall be amended as follows:
(a) the first paragraph shall be deleted;
(b) the second paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.’;
(c) the fourth paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.’.
***
I used the words formally deleted with regard to the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC, because if we look at Article 9a(4) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) we find the following text (OJEU page 17):
4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.’.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
This means that we have two strands to follow in the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115).
The main provisions on the institutions are located in Title III of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 9a TEU (ToL) has been renumbered Article 14 TEU in the consolidated version (OJEU page 22 to 23). The whole Article is presented here as background, although the fourth paragraph will be our point of departure:
Article 14 TEU
1. The European Parliament shall, jointly with the Council, exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall exercise functions of political control and consultation as laid down in the Treaties. It shall elect the President of the Commission.
2. The European Parliament shall be composed of representatives of the Union's citizens. They shall not exceed seven hundred and fifty in number, plus the President. Representation of citizens shall be degressively proportional, with a minimum threshold of six members per Member State. No Member State shall be allocated more than ninety-six seats.
The European Council shall adopt by unanimity, on the initiative of the European Parliament and with its consent, a decision establishing the composition of the European Parliament, respecting the principles referred to in the first subparagraph.
3. The members of the European Parliament shall be elected for a term of five years by direct universal suffrage in a free and secret ballot.
4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.
***
The European Parliament’s relations with the Commission and the Council remained in slightly amended form in Article 197 (ToL), which was renumbered Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty (OJEU page 151):
Article 230 TFEU
(ex Article 197, second, third and fourth paragraph, TEC)
The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.
***
After this general presentation of the changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty we are going to dedicate a few blog posts to the internal organisation of the European Parliament before we turn to the inter-institutional relations.
Ralf Grahn
In this blog post we present the treaty changes, but ahead of the European elections in June 2009 we will then continue by taking a closer look at the detailed provisions in a number of posts.
***
Current treaty
Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) contains bare bones provisions on two areas concerning the European Parliament:
a) internal organisation, and
b) relations with the Commission and the Council.
The text of Article 197 TEC is from the latest consolidated version of the treaties, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) 29.12.2006 C 321 E/134:
Article 197 TEC
The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its Members.
Members of the Commission may attend all meetings and shall, at their request, be heard on behalf of the Commission.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down by the Council in its Rules of Procedure.
***
Original Lisbon Treaty (ToL)
Article 2, point 185 of the original Treaty of Lisbon formally deleted the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC on the internal organisation of the European Parliament and amended two of the three other paragraphs (OJEU 17.12.2007 C 306/102):
185) Article 197 shall be amended as follows:
(a) the first paragraph shall be deleted;
(b) the second paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.’;
(c) the fourth paragraph shall be replaced by the following:
‘The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.’.
***
I used the words formally deleted with regard to the first paragraph of Article 197 TEC, because if we look at Article 9a(4) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) we find the following text (OJEU page 17):
4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.’.
***
Consolidated Lisbon Treaty
This means that we have two strands to follow in the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115).
The main provisions on the institutions are located in Title III of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 9a TEU (ToL) has been renumbered Article 14 TEU in the consolidated version (OJEU page 22 to 23). The whole Article is presented here as background, although the fourth paragraph will be our point of departure:
Article 14 TEU
1. The European Parliament shall, jointly with the Council, exercise legislative and budgetary functions. It shall exercise functions of political control and consultation as laid down in the Treaties. It shall elect the President of the Commission.
2. The European Parliament shall be composed of representatives of the Union's citizens. They shall not exceed seven hundred and fifty in number, plus the President. Representation of citizens shall be degressively proportional, with a minimum threshold of six members per Member State. No Member State shall be allocated more than ninety-six seats.
The European Council shall adopt by unanimity, on the initiative of the European Parliament and with its consent, a decision establishing the composition of the European Parliament, respecting the principles referred to in the first subparagraph.
3. The members of the European Parliament shall be elected for a term of five years by direct universal suffrage in a free and secret ballot.
4. The European Parliament shall elect its President and its officers from among its members.
***
The European Parliament’s relations with the Commission and the Council remained in slightly amended form in Article 197 (ToL), which was renumbered Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty (OJEU page 151):
Article 230 TFEU
(ex Article 197, second, third and fourth paragraph, TEC)
The Commission may attend all the meetings and shall, at its request, be heard.
The Commission shall reply orally or in writing to questions put to it by the European Parliament or by its Members.
The European Council and the Council shall be heard by the European Parliament in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the European Council and those of the Council.
***
After this general presentation of the changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty we are going to dedicate a few blog posts to the internal organisation of the European Parliament before we turn to the inter-institutional relations.
Ralf Grahn
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