*** modified Monday September 4, 3:00 pm ***
The MEPs on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) are not expected to debate, on Thursday 7 September, the draft report concocted by Guy Verhofstadt (Renew Europe, Belgian), Sven Simon (EPP, German), Gabriele Bischoff (S&D, German), Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, German) and Helmut Scholz (The Left, German) setting out detailed proposals for reforming the institutional architecture of the European Union (see EUROPE 13226/20). Having taken part in the negotiations but not approving the content of the proposals put forward, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (ECR, Polish) has asked for his name to be removed from the draft report in protest.
There is still uncertainty over the timetable (vote in the AFCO on 12 October, in plenary at the beginning of November?) that the European Parliament will follow to adopt its position, the aim of which is to maintain pressure on the EU Council to decide whether to convene a Convention to revise the European treaties, an initiative already called for twice by Parliament.
The fact remains that the AFCO working group’s suggestions, largely inspired by the results of the Conference on the Future of Europe, are particularly ambitious in terms of strengthening the competences attributed to the Union, simplifying decision-making procedures in the Council of the EU and increasing the democratic legitimacy of actions undertaken at EU level, according to a draft report dated 17 August, of which EUROPE has obtained a copy. They will fuel the debate on the need for the EU27 to reform the EU before accepting new member countries, perhaps as early as 2030, as suggested by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
In particular, the six MEPs recommend that the EU be given exclusive powers to protect the environment and biodiversity and to combat climate change. In their view, the Union should have shared competences in public health, civil protection, industry and education. The EU’s current shared competences in energy, foreign affairs, security and defence and the protection of external borders should also be increased.
To strengthen the Union’s capacity to act, the number of policy areas in which the EU Council decides by a majority of Member States and the use of the ordinary legislative procedure (co-decision) should be increased “considerably”, says the European Parliament task force, citing the adoption of European sanctions on foreign policy issues and taxation. It also suggests that the EU Council should take decisions by simple majority (a majority of countries representing at least 50% of the population) rather than by qualified majority (two-thirds of countries representing at least 50% of the population).
The EU Council would also be required to publish all its positions on legislative texts adopted under the ordinary procedure.
The European Parliament is also reiterating an old demand for the creation of a right of legislative initiative for the Parliament, a power that the EU Council has always refused to grant it, with a few exceptions, such as the EU Electoral Law. It also wants to play a role in detecting cases of breaches of the Treaties that could be brought before the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). And it believes it should play a co-legislative role in the adoption of the multiannual financial framework, the duration of which would be reduced from seven to five years.
Still on the institutional front, the six MEPs want the European Parliament to be empowered to propose to the EU Council who should chair the European Commission.
This increase in powers at EU level would be accompanied by greater democratic control at national level, with a strengthening of the principle of subsidiarity, which could involve sub-national assemblies (creation of a green card mechanism).
MEPs make recommendations on a number of emblematic EU policies. They advocate, for example, the drafting of a protocol on social progress. Protection against discrimination would be extended to gender, social origin, language and minority status. MEPs also say that the ‘Article 7 TEU’ procedure should be strengthened by simplifying decision-making in the EU Council and giving the CJEU a role as arbiter.
In the field of defence, the Union could have a permanent European military contingent capable of rapid deployment. Joint initiatives would be taken for the purchase and production of armaments by strengthening the powers of the European Defence Agency.
As for the management of migratory flows, the working group suggests increased measures to combat illegal immigration, as well as the development of common standards governing the granting of long-term visas and residence permits in order to limit abuses. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)