On Monday 21 October, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced an agreement on nine “principles” on which future cooperation between the two EU institutions will be based.
This political agreement marks the start of discussions at the technical level aimed at revising the 2010 interinstitutional framework agreement governing cooperation between the European Parliament and the Commission.
Generally speaking, the agreement announced by Ms Metsola and Ms von der Leyen strengthens the European Parliament’s power of control over the Commission’s actions. MEPs will receive “comprehensive, timely and detailed” information from the Commission, in the name of the principle of equal treatment between the European Parliament and the EU Council. The Commission will have to justify the exceptional cases where it makes legislative proposals that circumvent the European Parliament’s legislative power (Article 122 TFEU), as was the case during the energy crisis (see EUROPE 13317/1). A mechanism for the use of urgent/fast-track decision-making will also be defined.
In the budgetary field, the Commission will present a proposal for a new Interinstitutional Agreement, to be approved by the three institutions, at the same time as the proposal for the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, expected after summer 2025. Ways of improving the flow of information on international agreements, foreign policy and defence will also be explored.
Finally, the Commission undertakes to better ensure follow-up to specific resolutions of the European Parliament (adopted on the basis of Article 225 of the TFEU) asking it to launch a legislative initiative.
According to Ms Metsola’s spokesman, Jüri Laas, it was important that this political agreement, which means “greater scrutiny of the Commission” for MEPs, be sealed “before the hearings and the vote on the new college of Commissioners”. He noted that there was “good will on both sides and we found a way forward on something that has been stuck for years”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)