Further information is required on the procedure in the action for annulment of the decision to renew the glyphosate licence in the EU for five years, an action jointly backed by MEPs from the S&D, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL and EFDD Groups in Strasbourg on 12 December. That is the day when the Commission will formally adopt the renewal decision and will present its proposals in response to the European citizens’ initiative “Stop glyphosate” (see EUROPE 11921).
To bring an action for annulment, the European Parliament has two months and 24 days after publication of the regulatory act in the Official Journal of the EU. The same timescale also applies if it is a member state that brings an action for annulment.
Under the terms of Article 141 of the European Parliament’s rules of procedure, either the Parliamentary environment committee must refer the matter to the legal affairs committee or, alternatively, the legal affairs committee will act on the matter. It is the second option that MEPs Eric Andrieu (S&D France), Marc Tarabella (S&D, Belgium), Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA, France), Piernicola Pedicini (EFDD, Italy) and Anja Hazekamp (GUE/NGL, Netherlands) will call for in Strasbourg on Tuesday 12 December.
Thereafter, it is the president of the European Parliament who will decide to bring the action before the European Court of Justice if he elects to follow the recommendation of the legal affairs committee. Only if there is no agreement between the president and the legal affairs committee does the text go to the plenary session.
Article 263(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) makes provision further for a member state or the European Parliament to bring an action calling for the Court of Justice to annul acts adopted by the Council of the EU “on grounds of lack of competence, infringement of an essential procedural requirement, infringement of the Treaties or of any rule of law relating to their application, or misuse of powers”.
Article 141 of the European Parliament’s rules of procedure is available online at: http://bit.ly/2yP66vR (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)