The European Parliament’s Conference of Group Presidents unanimously backed a deal, on 1 July, struck between Parliament and Commission negotiators on the framework agreement governing relations between the two institutions.

The agreement was reached when the EP working party and Interinstitutional Relations Commissioner Maros Sefcovic met, on 29 June in Brussels, for their 11th negotiating session. Before the meeting, the only remaining sticky issue was to find a compromise on the role to be given to MEPs in international negotiations. This related to the application of the new provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, which oblige the Commission to inform Parliament fully and immediately on negotiations for the conclusion of international agreements. In February, José Manuel Barroso made a commitment at a plenary session to enforce this principle just ahead of the appointment of his new team.

On this issue, the major concession the EP obtained, despite the Commission having previously expressed reservations about such a development, was to have an observer’s seat at international conferences and also at preparatory meetings. Another achievement concerns access to information: the Parliament will be able to scrutinise the entire process from start to finish.

With regard to programming, revised provisions state that the Commission will have to get the EP’s consent in the early stages so that when the work programme is ready the Parliament will already have had its say.

Additional improvements were achieved, from the Parliament’s point of view, on issues concerning information on Commission meetings with national experts on EU legislation as well as on the use of soft law, Parliament’s access to classified and confidential information, new rules for the participation of commissioners in election campaigns, a review of all pending proposals at the beginning of a new Commission’s mandate, and a commitment by the Commission on adaptation of the acquis communautaireto the new regime of delegated acts.

The agreement has been sent to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO), which will draft a report on it after the summer break. It needs to be adopted later by the plenary.

Background

The relations between the Parliament and the Commission have been governed by a framework agreement since 1990. This agreement is updated every five years. The last update occurred in 2005. The current update is guided by the new institutional architecture under the Lisbon Treaty, with the establishment of two equal legislative and budgetary branches. The agreement defines the political responsibilities of each institution towards the other and sets rules on the flow of information between them.