Brussels, 14/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Council should honour the citizens' choice when proposing a candidate for Commission president, to be elected by the European Parliament under the new Lisbon Treaty arrangements, says the European Parliament. In its adoption, on Thursday 13 March (298 votes in favour, 102 against and 25 abstentions), of the report by Paulo Rangel (EPP, Portugal) on the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the Parliament calls for “as many as possible” of the members of the next Commission to be chosen from among MEPs.
The Parliament stresses the need to strengthen democratic legitimacy, independence and the political role of the Commission. “Our proposals aim at strengthening the European Commission's democratic legitimacy, ensuring that the separation of powers in the European Union is properly applied in enabling the European Parliament to exercises power of scrutiny to the full. I believe that this will help to improve the sustainability of the EU democratic process”, said the rapporteur.
He added that the new procedure, whereby the president of the Commission is elected by the European Parliament, “will make the European elections more important, by linking the voters' choice in the elections to the European Parliament more directly to the election of the Commission president".
The Parliament expects the candidates for the presidency of the Commission to play a significant role in the campaign for the European elections, by distributing and promoting in all member states the political programme of their European political party.
The Parliament calls on the European Council to clarify, “in a timely manner and before the elections”, how it will take account of the elections to the European Parliament and honour the citizens' choice when putting forward a candidate for president of the Commission (in the context of consultations to take place between Parliament and the European Council under Declaration 11 annexed to the Lisbon Treaty). Once the candidate has been designated by the European Council, he or she should be asked to present the Parliament with the political guidelines for his or her mandate, followed by a comprehensive exchange of views, before the Parliament elects the proposed candidate for president of the Commission.
Commissioners should be chosen from among MEPs. The Parliament argues that the elected president of the Commission should act more autonomously than has been the case in the past when selecting the other members of the EU's executive body. They urge the president of the Commission to insist with the member states' governments that the lists of candidates for the office of commissioner must enable him or her to compose a gender-balanced College, and allow him or her to “reject any proposed candidate who fails to demonstrate general competence”.
Efficiency and size of the next Commission. The reduction in the Commission's size, envisaged under the Lisbon Treaty, will no longer take effect in 2014, following the European Council decision taken at the request of the Irish government. The Parliament believes that “additional measures” should be taken, including the appointment of commissioners without portfolio or the establishment of a system of vice-presidents of the Commission with responsibilities over major thematic clusters and with competences to coordinate the work of the Commission in the corresponding areas (for the more effective functioning of the Commission, without prejudice to the right to appoint one commissioner per member state and to the voting rights of all commissioners). MEPs call on the next constitutional convention to review the Commission's size, as well as its organisation and functioning.
The Parliament takes the view that in the framework of the forthcoming revision of the Treaties, the majority currently required under Article 234 of the Treaty for a motion of censure against the Commission should be reduced, so that only the simple majority of MEPs at the European Parliament is required (currently, a majority of two thirds of the members is required), “without putting the proper functioning of the institutions at risk”. (LC)