The committees of the European Parliament are designed to examine proposals in detail before the matter is dealt with by the full Parliament. They comprise Standing Committees and occasional Temporary Committees or Committees on Inquiry.
Each committee is composed to reflect the overall political balance of the Parliament as a whole, with seats allocated to each of the political Groups in proportion to their size. Each committee also has substitute members who may vote in place of an absent full member from their political Group.
Standing Committees generally produce reports for consideration by Parliament in its debates. These can be on legislative proposals from the European Commission, or "own initiative reports" on a matter which the committee wishes to take up. Reports are usually drafted by a rapporteur, who is appointed by the committee, selected from amongst its members. The rapporteur's draft is voted on by the committee, typically with amendments being tabled and voted on. The report as adopted by the committee is then presented to the full Parliament for debate and vote.
Chairs and Vice Chairs
Each committee elects its own Chair and Vice Chairs. Traditionally, political groups in the Parliament have reached an agreement to share such posts among them (while excluding extremist parties) in proportion to their size (calculated according to the D'Hondt method). Committee members have usually, but not always, followed the recommendations of the political Groups.[1]
Legislative reports
Before drafting legislative proposals, the European Commission will consult the various standing committees before formamlly submitting its proposal to the Parliament and the Council to initiate the European Union legislative procedure.
At the start of the legislative procedure, Parliament designates one committee as the responsible committee, though other committees may submit their own opinions to it. Occasionally, when the subject matter cuts across the responisibilties of more than one committee, joint committee meetings can be provided for or, exceptionally, an ad hoc committee to deal with a specific legislative proposal.
Reports on legislative proposals normally comprise draft amendments to the legislative proposal and a draft resolution containing a recommendation to accept or reject the proposal. These are voted on by Parliament, along with any amendments tabled by political groups or one-twentieth of the individual members.
The same committee(s) will be responsible in any second or third reading of the proposal, and will also provide the members who represent Parliament in any inter-institutional negotiations with the Council seeking to reconcile the position of the two institutions which jointly constitute the EU legislature.
Non-legislative reports and Own-Initiative Reports
Committees are also able to produce non-legislative reports relevant to their competence. The appointed rapporteur is responsible for preparing the report, and presenting it to Parliament on the committee's behalf. These reports must include a motion for a resolution, an explanatory statement, and must also outline financial implications. These can be own initiative reports requesting the Commission to draft legislative prpopsals for consideration by the Parliament and the Council. Before drawing up any such report, a committee must obtain the permission of the Conference of Presidents. The Conference of Presidents has two months to make a decision, and any reasons for withholding permission must always be stated.
Cross-committee co-operation
When drawing up a report, a committee may ask the opinion of another committee on the matter, particularly if it is felt that a proposed amendment would fall into the interests of another committee. The committee asked for an opinion will be named as such in the final report. The chair and drafter of the secondary committee may be invited to take part in any committee discussions held by the primary committee, where the meeting deals with the matter that the secondary committee is advising on.
Amendments that are proposed by the secondary committee will be voted on by the committee responsible for producing the report.
If the Conference of Presidents decides that a requested report falls equally to two committees, both committees will agree upon a joint timetable, and shall work together in producing the report.
List of standing committees
This is a list of standing committees along with the respective chairperson as of July 2024.
Under Rule 213 of its rules of procedure, the Parliament may at any time set up special committees for specific reports for an initial period of no longer than 12 months. Examples of such special committees have been:
The temporary committee on the Echelon interception system (2000–01)
Special Committee on the EU authorisation procedure for pesticides (2018)
Special committee on foreign interference in the democratic processes of the European Union (2020–23)
Committees of Inquiry
The European Parliament was granted the right to create temporary committees of inquiry under Article 226 of the 1993 Maastricht Treaty. This in fact recognised an existing practice, as the Parliament had created nine committees of inquiry in the period between the introduction of direct elections in 1979 and the inclusion of this legal basis in the treaty. They were:
Conference of Committee Chairs and Conference of Delegation Chairs
Two bodies in the Parliament are the Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC) and the Conference of Delegation Chairs (CDC). The Conference of Committee Chairs is the political body in Parliament that organises cooperation between the committees and consists of the chairs of all the standing and special committees. The Conference of Delegation Chairs is the political body in Parliament that periodically considers all matters concerning the smooth running of interparliamentary delegations and delegations to the joint parliamentary committees. They may make recommendations to the Conference of Presidents and can be instructed to carry out particular tasks by the Bureau or Conference of Presidents.[8][9]
References
↑ "The Parliamentary Committees" in The European Parliament (10th ed, 2024) Corbett, Jacobs and Neville, John Harper Publishing, ISBN978-1-7391436-5-7
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