On Thursday 17 December, by a large majority (429 votes in favour, 85 against, 182 abstentions) the European Parliament adopted without amendment the ‘Szájer’ draft report on reforming Member States’ control over the European Commission’s implementing powers, submitted by the Committee on Legal Affairs.
MEPs are radically changing the way certain committees made up of Member State representatives will be able to adopt implementing acts, for example the controversial renewal of glyphosate by the PAFF Committee in November 2017 (see EUROPE 11913/1).
In an amendment tabled by Pascal Durand (Renew Europe, France) and adopted by a comfortable majority (450 votes in favour, 224 against, 21 abstentions), the European Parliament advocates qualified majority rule in all cases when voting on sensitive issues, i.e. those affecting human and animal health and consumer protection.
“A Commission decision to authorise sensitive materials that directly impact on human and animal health or feed, such as certain GMOs or pesticides, will no longer be possible without a clear qualified majority of Member States. And the Commission will no longer be able to authorise, on its own, products that would not have this support”, said Mr Durand. He welcomed a “ major step forward for democracy and transparency” after three years of deadlock in the European Parliament since the presentation of the Commission’s initial proposal in February 2017, due to the rapporteur’s lack of progress (see EUROPE 11725/14).
The aim is to “put an end to the policy of Member States burying their head in the sand”, which, by abstaining or not taking part in the vote in a committee, ultimately leaves it to the Commission to decide when it does not have the legitimacy to do so, a parliamentary source said. The source referred to lobbies that had been caught off guard by the Parliament’s position, as they had only come forward a week before the plenary vote.
According to the European Parliament, the positions of States that abstain or do not participate in the vote will no longer be taken into account, although any decision will still have to be taken by a double majority (55% of Member States and 65% of the total EU population).
MEPs also call for greater transparency of decisions taken on sensitive matters. After each vote, the positions of the Member States will have to be made public on a register accessible online, whereas currently only the final result of the vote is disclosed.
Before the vote on this report, a debate should have taken place in plenary. But the resignation of the Hungarian Christian Democrat József Szájer, who had participated in a sex party despite the health measures against Covid-19 (see EUROPE 12613/42), made this debate impossible.
The Parliament has also adopted its negotiating mandate with the EU Council, which is not ready to negotiate.
See the report: https://bit.ly/3r5RLnH (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)