Press release

On working time, telecom regulation, the economic recovery plan and on the supervision of banking and insurance companies, the outcome of the talks will show whether new laws are enacted in the next few weeks and what form they will take.

 

 

In most areas of policy where the EU has a role, legislation can only be adopted if both the European Parliament and national ministers meeting in the Council approve the same text.  This “co-decision” procedure can involve up to three formal stages with the Parliament and Council each officially adopting their positions and, usually, getting closer to a text both sides can agree on.  The process can be speeded up if a text can be agreed informally – and this is what MEPs and the Council presidency aim to do, with the assistance of the Commission, in so-called “trialogue” discussions.  On the Parliament side, it is usually the leading MEPs on each subject who take part: the rapporteur and their “shadows” from the other political groups.  If a dossier reaches the stage of formal negotiations in the Conciliation Committee, an EP Vice-President leads the Parliament delegation.  See the link below for an explanation of the whole co-decision procedure.

 

 

The European Commission is proposing a new funding programme to support energy projects with the dual aim of boosting the economy to help counter the current downturn and to improve the sustainability of Europe’s energy supplies.  Parliament and Council are currently trying to find an agreement so the programme can be adopted at first reading at the May plenary session.  The key issue still to be resolved is the list of potential projects and especially how the programme can support energy efficiency measures. Parliament's Industry Committee says that funds uncommitted by a certain date should be invested in energy saving projects such as "smart cities" instead of being returned to Member States. 

 

 

 

The 21-24 April plenary session is due to see the first reading votes on two pieces of legislation aimed at improving the supervisory arrangements for the financial sector, specifically banking (capital requirements) and insurance (Solvency II).  Key issues include how to ensure there is a overall supervisory view taken of cross-border financial groups and the future interaction of national supervisory bodies and the EU bodies that aim to ensure coherence between them.  On Solvency II, a joint text has been agreed between MEPs and the Council presidency.  On capital requirements, there has been progress in discussions and Parliament is waiting to hear from the Council on its position.

 

Negotiations are ongoing on a new regulation to improve the transparency and independence of credit rating agencies. The main issues are: how to avoid conflicts of interest, plus the registration and supervision of agencies to operating in the EU, and use of non-EU ratings.

 

 

 

A second reading vote is due to be held in May on legislation on both the economic regulation and consumer protection aspects of telecom networks.  MEPs have been aiming to strengthen and guarantee a user's right to a connection to the public communications network at a fixed location, by cable or wireless, and at an affordable price.  Progress has been made in the negotiations, but there are still issues being discussed, including the re-allocation to services other than broadcasting of the spectrum dividend released by the switchover to digital TV.

 

Parliament and Council also still have to agree on the kind of body which could impose restrictions on a user's Internet access. For the EP, the Internet is an essential tool for the practical exercise of certain fundamental rights.

 

 

 

A proposed law updating EU rules limiting, in the interests of their health, the hours that employees can be obliged to work is almost at the end of the full legislative process and it is not yet clear if agreement can be reached. 

 

Parliament has been pushing for derogations to the 48 hour average week to be phased out, but for flexibility to be provided by calculating the average over a year – there is so far no deal with Council on this key issue.  There is also no agreement on how exactly to treat “on-call” time, mainly an issue for medical staff. 

 

Formal negotiations in the Conciliation Committee failed to break the deadlock, and now informal talks between the Council and Parliament are taking place to see if there is scope for a final formal session to reach an agreement, or whether the new law is dropped altogether, leaving the existing rules in force for the moment.  Some aspects of the old rules, including the on-call time issue, need to be changed following Court of Justice decisions – if the current proposal fails, the Commission will have to deal with these via a new proposal.