Brussels, 26/05/2000 (Agence Europe) - Negotiations over a framework-agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the Commission have entered the final furlong. As EUROPE mentioned last week (see bulletin of 18 May, p.13), the last issues to settle concern access to documents and the discharge procedure.
Regarding access to documents, the compromise reached provides for the rapporteur being able to have access to documents by passing through the chair of the parliamentary committee who is the only person that may ask for and receive documents. This compromise meets the concern of the European Commission of not being confronted with requests coming at it from all sides.
Parliament should also accept the principle of the annual nature of the discharge procedure. It should not therefore be a question in future of re-opening the debate on a whole series of problems linked to earlier exercises, as was the case in the past.
A draft text integrating these two elements now exists, but a few problems of wording remain. The wording of certain provisions relating to the undertakings made by President Prodi or those referring to the Arstelaar Code of Conduct, that applies to members of the European Commission, still need finalising. Parliament would like certain details spelling out, whereas the Commission would like the original wording of the text to be retained. These final details should be raised by Nicole Fontaine and Romano Prodi at their working lunch, on Tuesday 6 June, so as to allow for the framework-agreement to be adopted at the meeting of the Conference of Presidents of the EP's political groups on 8 June.