Ballot papers for the 2014 European elections should list European political parties as well as national ones, said the Constitutional Affairs Committee on Tuesday. European parties should name their candidates for European Commission President well in advance, to allow themselves time to run an EU-wide campaign on EU issues. National parties should also say which European party they belong to and who they back for Commission President, it added.

In the run-up to the 2014 European Parliament elections, rules on founding and funding EU political parties should be revised to improve their visibility, transparency and effectiveness and enhance the European character of these elections, said the Consitutional Affairs Committee in a negotiating mandate voted on Monday for talks with the Council.

The 2014 European Parliament elections should be held from 22 to 25 May, instead of 5-8 June, says a draft decision backed with an overwhelming majority by the Constitutional Affairs Committee on Monday. This will give the new Parliament more time to prepare for the election of the European Commission President in July 2014.

After the 2014 elections the European Parliament must have 751 members, i.e. 15 fewer seats, so as to comply with the Lisbon Treaty. To keep member state's losses to a minimum, 12 EU countries would each lose one seat, while the others would gain none, under a "pragmatic solution" proposed by the Constitutional Affairs Committee on Tuesday. MEPs also called for an overhaul of voting methods in the Council of Ministers, as part of a future EU treaty reform.

Here is a summary of the priorities of Ireland's Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers, as presented by Irish ministers to European Parliament committees. These presentations were all made in the week of 21-25 January, except for agriculture (31 January).

European political parties should propose candidates for Commission President at the next European elections, which should be moved forward to May 2014, said the Constitutional Affairs Committee on Monday.

A pan-European constituency with transnational lists for European Parliament elections is among the proposals put forward by the Constitutional Affairs Committee on Thursday. MEPs called on the Council and the Commission to join in negotiations to reform the EU electoral system so as to boost voter turnouts.

The draft international agreement on enhanced economic governance lacks measures to promote growth and alone would not solve the crisis, the three EP representatives on the drafting group said on Thursday. The MEPs were nonetheless "cautiously optimistic" that some of their demands would be included in the final version of the text.

The goals of the international agreement for stronger economic governance could be better achieved through normal EU systems and rules, Parliament's representatives on the intergovernmental drafting working group told MEPs at a joint meeting of the Constitutional Affairs and Economic and Monetary Affairs committees on Tuesday.

Parliament's investigatory powers should be extended to include the right to conduct on-the-spot inspections, summon witnesses to testify under oath, access relevant documents and request experts' advice, says a proposal voted by the Constitutional Affairs Committee on Tuesday.