On Wednesday 31 January, the Conference of Presidents of the Political Groups (CoP) of the European Parliament is due to invite the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) to finalise a series of measures designed to make parliamentary work more efficient and more attractive.
These measures, which already received initial political endorsement last December, are the result of a process of reflection conducted throughout 2023 by a special working group made up of representatives of the main political groups, in five areas: - the plenary session; - legislative work; - EU budget; - external relations; - scrutiny.
They require a reform of the European Parliament’s rules of procedure, which must be approved by the plenary before the end of the current legislative cycle, although certain measures will gradually be put into practice, notably the organisation of plenary debates.
Among the working group’s recommendations is the creation of a procedure that will enable conflicts of competence to be managed more quickly by assigning a dossier to one or more parliamentary committees. Additional resources will be committed to ensuring greater oversight of the implementation of the EU budget, and a new format for hearings will enable the European Parliament to examine major dossiers in depth. Drawing on the experience gained with the Covid-19 pandemic and Russian military aggression in Ukraine, a revised urgency procedure will make it easier to deal with cases more quickly, without undermining the contribution of expertise or democratic legitimacy.
With regard to the organisation of the plenary session, a new format ('Parliament statement') will make it possible to link a debate on a political issue to a vote on a resolution and/or a report on the issue. Question Time could also concern the entire College of European Commissioners, or just some of them.
Some of the recommendations of the European Parliament’s internal working group concern areas where the political groups have the final say, such as external action. This includes the organisation of some forty parliamentary delegations with countries or regions around the world. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)