Brussels, 28/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner President José Manuel Barroso and European Parliament negotiators reached agreement on Wednesday 27 January on the parameters of the renewed framework agreement that will govern relations between these two institutions over the next five years. They agreed on a draft resolution, which the Parliament will adopt on 9 February, setting out the “common principles” for future cooperation between the executive and the directly elected parliament of the EU. Although they have been approved by the two parties, the principles have still to be put into a formal agreement, which, of course, means that there could be difficult negotiation on certain points. Talks will only begin once the new Commission (Barroso II) is in place, probably towards the middle of February. The Commission highlights the positive and constructive spirit with which Barroso engaged in negotiations on the new framework agreement which, it is hoped, will reflect the president's desire to set up a “special partnership” with the EP (he spoke of this in presenting his policy guidelines in September 2009).
The main points of the draft resolution approved by negotiators for the two parties on 27 January (copy of which has been obtained by EUROPE) are:
- Parliament's legislative initiative. This is, in fact, the implementation of Article 225 of the new EU treaty which states that, “The EP may, acting by a majority of its component Members, request the Commission to submit any appropriate proposal on matters which it considers that a Union act is required for the purpose of implementing the Treaties. If the Commission does not submit a proposal, it shall inform the European Parliament of the reasons”. The inter-institutional agreement will state that the Commission will have to respond to every EP initiative under the terms of Article 225 “within three months following adoption”. If it agrees, the Commission will present a legislative proposal at the latest one year later or include the proposal in the following year's work programme. If the Commission does not do what is suggested by the EP, it will have to give detailed reasons for its actions and present them to the plenary session of the EP. The Commission also undertakes to cooperate closely with the EP on possible requests resulting from the “citizens' initiative”, brought in by the Lisbon Treaty.
- Assessment of impact of future legislative proposals. In the forthcoming review of the inter-institutional agreement on better law-making, the Commission undertakes to ensure the procedure for assessing the impact of new legislative proposals is “transparent” and “independent”. On Thursday, leaders of the CDU/CSU Group in the EP, Werner Langen and Markus Ferber, told journalists that this independent assessment would necessarily have to be conducted “outside the Commission”, for example, by university experts or think tanks. Commission sources, however, read the text differently, and note that, in line with the text agreed on Wednesday, the impact assessment “shall be conducted under the responsibility of the Commission”. This does not rule out the Commission's using external experts, the sources said. The text agreed states, too, that these impact assessments should consider several options, including that of not legislating, and that the results have to be published during the consultation of national parliaments, brought in by the new treaty.
- International agreements. The Commission undertakes to involve the EP at every stage of the negotiation of international agreements, providing “immediate and full” information on the talks taking place. The “enhanced association” of the EP will relate, in particular, to trade negotiations and agreements on which EP approval is required (under Article 218 of the new treaty).
- Regular dialogue. The Commission president will have regular dialogue with the EP president on cross-sectoral issues and the main legislative proposals. The Commission president (or a vice-president) will be invited to attend the Conferences of the Presidents of the EP groups when legislative or budgetary matters are to be discussed. Similarly, it is planned that the EP president may be invited to attend meetings of the College of Commissioners. Annual meetings between the College of Commissioners and the EP Conference of the Presidents (and the Conference of Parliamentary committee chairs) have also been provided for, for example, to discuss the implementation of the Commission's annual legislative and work programme. As part of the implementation of this legislative programme, the Commission will make available to the EP all the information and documents which it has on its meetings with national experts (EP experts may also be invited to these meetings). The Commission will also apply the basic principle of equal treatment for the EP and the Council with regard to access to meetings and information, particularly in legislative and budgetary matters.
- Question Hour. Commissioners, including Vice-President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, will be called upon to take part in “question hours” before the EP. The Commission president recently has begun attendance at these question hours.
- Changes in Commission portfolios. If the Commission president plans to shuffle his team around during his mandate and to modify the attribution of portfolios, the EP will be consulted and parliamentary committees concerned will attend hearings of those concerned.
- European External Action Service (EEAS). When the service is created, the Commission will support the EP in its call for transparent procedure for the appointment of the EU's special representatives and ambassadors (Ed: initially, the EP called for the right to a hearing and to approve candidates in the same way as for commissioners). The Commission will also, with the EP, argue in favour of keeping development policy (including EDF) within the scope of Commission competence.
- Hearings for directors of Community agencies. Candidates to the post of executive director of EU regulatory agencies will be heard by the EP.
- Changes in codes of conduct. During the next review of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners, the Commission will consult the EP. In the same way, the Parliament will call for the Commission's opinion when it amends rules of procedure concerning relations with the Commission. (H.B./transl.rt/jl)