Brussels, 03/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs adopted the report by Jean-Louis Bourlanges (French, EPP) on the hierarchy of standards (see EUROPE of 23 November, p.6). The vote was 12 in favour, 6 against and 3 abstentions. The report proposes regrouping, by renaming them and, in certain cases, introducing new procedures, legal acts into three categories: constitutional, legislative and regulatory. In the first category, there would only be the future Constitutional Treaty in two parts (on the one hand the Constitution with the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and on the other, the provisions governing sectoral policies). Its review could not be impeded by a minority of Member States and would be drafted by a Convention. The legislative category (co-decision and generalised qualified majority voting) would comprise: - the law, compulsory in all its forms and directly applicable; - the framework-law (that would replace the current directives); - organic law (own-resources decisions, financial regulation, electoral system, method of balloting, status of the Court of Justice and Court of Auditors, etc.) that would be adopted more formally (Commission initiative on a European Council mandate and the latter's final adoption of it); - finance laws with a co-decision procedure respecting the specific timeframes of the budgetary procedure. The regulatory category would comprise executing regulations (that do not edict new legal standards) and delegated regulations (that edict technical standards on the powers of the two branches of the legislative authority). This report will be submitted for examination in plenary by the European Parliament at its December session in Strasbourg.