In general, halfway through its term, the European Commission has presented more than 80% of the legislative initiatives it announced when it took up its duties in November 2014, according to a study by the 'research' services of the European Parliament, which was published in July.
Of these initiatives, 40% are reported to have successfully got through the inter-institutional legislative process. This figure reportedly demonstrates that the European institutions collectively produce tangible results, according to the two authors of the study, Étienne Bassot and Wolfgang Hiller.
However, the authors note differences in progress towards the ten political priorities set out by the Commission. They report that practically all proposals aimed at implementing the digital agenda have been tabled, whilst on trade, a number of the projects announced – such as a free-trade agreement with the United States – are at a much less advanced stage. This is also true in the fields of justice and investment, where differences persist between the commitments made and the results achieved.
On Thursday 31 August and Friday 1 September, the College of Commissioners met in seminar to discuss the content of the State of the Union speech to be made by Jean-Claude Juncker at the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday 13 September (see EUROPE 11850).
The European Parliament's study is available at: http://bit.ly/2udKtnU. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)