The European Parliament will have to apply new rules of procedure from July, particularly for its committees. All the changes linked to the Lisbon Treaty have been postponed to avoid prejudicing the outcome of the Irish referendum.

The changes in the institution’s rules are set out in a report by Richard Corbett (PES, UK), adopted on 6 May in plenary in Strasbourg. This is the last package of internal parliamentary reform, launched by the assembly’s President, German Christian Democrat Hans-Gert Pöttering at the time of his election in January 2007. It was prepared by a special task force headed by German Socialist Dagmar Roth-Behrendt. The two earlier packages concerned plenary work and the treatment of EP reports, and were implemented in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

CHANGES OF NOTE

The changes proposed in this final part of the package concern the possibility to organise joint meetings between EP committees on complex issues that involve the prerogatives of several committees, as was the case with the REACH Regulation. The Greens tried to abolish this article, fearing that such a system may end up involving more rapporteurs – probably one EPP and one PES, they argued – who might present contradictory amendments in plenary, which in the end could weaken Parliament’s position. Their efforts came to nothing, however.

The new rules also give new powers to the Conference of Committee Chairmen. For instance, it will present recommendations for settling conflicts of competences between committees. The role of committees asked to submit an opinion will be strengthened and the role of intergroups, which unofficially bring together MEPs from different groups interested in specific issues, will be clarified. The rules make possible presentation of a proposal to reject a Commission proposal at first reading. Another change of note is introduction of the ‘blue card’, a practice whereby MEPs will raise a blue card to request authorisation to question a fellow member directly in plenary.

Parliament adopted a special amendment to its rules of procedure for the inaugural session, on 14 July, which in theory should have been presided by the oldest MEP, namely French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. MEPs decided in the end that the session would be led by “the outgoing president, or in his absence an outgoing vice-president in order of precedence or, failing him or her, the MEP having held office for the longest period” who would carry out the president’s duties until the new president is elected.

LISBON TREATY

All the amendments relating to the Lisbon Treaty were postponed until a later date to avoid influencing the Irish referendum. These concern important changes introduced by Lisbon, such as the observers’ role given to applicant countries, the establishment of a procedure guaranteeing respect for subsidiarity and proportionality through checks in national parliaments (the ‘yellow card’), and the processes for revising the treaties, electing the Commission president, since this differs from the Nice Treaty, and for approval of the withdrawal of a member state from the Union.

When the time comes, it will be necessary to anticipate the large increase in policy areas being moved to co-decision. The structure of EP committees will have to be adapted since some, such as the committees on civil liberties, agriculture and fisheries, and international trade, will have new powers. Human resources will also have to be reviewed because the workload and time invested in co-decision (legislative) matters will be considerably greater. A parliamentary source notes that the time needed “could be multiplied fourfold because there is a whole element of negotiation that does not exist for a report in consultation”.