Granting the European Parliament “a general direct right of initiative would consolidate the democratic legitimacy of the Union”, says Paulo Rangel (EPP, Portugal) in his draft report on the European Parliament’s right of initiative dated 13 August. In his view, in a forthcoming revision of the treaties, Parliament “as the only directly elected EU institution, should be granted the right to propose legislation, as national parliaments may”.
Wishing to reassure the other EU co-legislative institutions, Mr Rangel believes that a direct right of initiative for Parliament “would not exclude the possibility of the Commission retaining a concurrent right or keeping a monopoly of initiative in certain areas, such as the budget”. The EU Council could also “in exceptional areas, have a monopoly of initiative”, he adds.
At present, MEPs have a direct right of initiative on a limited number of issues, including the composition of Parliament, the EU electoral law, the status of the European Ombudsman, the triggering of an ‘Article 7’ procedure on the respect of the EU’s fundamental values. The rapporteur suggests that a specific interinstitutional agreement should be drawn up to clarify the responsibilities of the interinstitutional trio in the context of legislative procedures arising from Parliament’s right of initiative.
Mr Rangel also welcomed the attitude of the ‘von der Leyen’ Commission, which almost always reacts in a timely manner when Parliament asks it to take action in a specific area through the adoption of parliamentary resolutions based on Article 225 TFEU. Areas such as digital finance, digital services regulation, artificial intelligence, and the fight against deforestation are mentioned.
Granting a direct right of initiative to Parliament was a campaign promise of the Christian Democrat family in the May 2019 European elections. The ‘von der Leyen’ Commission has committed itself to respond within three months to any request for a Parliament legislative initiative based on Article 225 (see EUROPE 12338/3).
See the draft report: https://bit.ly/3yn8xkY (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)