REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council adapting to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny
8.1.2014 - (COM(2013)0451 – C7‑0198/2013 – 2013/0218(COD)) - ***I
Committee on Legal Affairs
Rapporteur: József Szájer
- DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION
- EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
- OPINION of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
- ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE
- ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS
- ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY
- ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRY, RESEARCH AND ENERGY
- ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNAL MARKET AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
- ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT AND TOURISM
- PROCEDURE
DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION
on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council adapting to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny
(COM(2013)0451 – C7‑0198/2013 – 2013/0218(COD))
(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2013)0451),
– having regard to Article 294(2) and Articles 33, 43(2), 53(1), 62, 64(2), 91, 100(2), 114, 153(2)(b), 168(4)(b), 172, 192(1), 207 and 338(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C7‑0198/2013),
– having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
– having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 16 October 2013[1],
– having regard to the letter from the President of the Committee of the Regions to the President of Parliament of 11 October 2013,
– having regard to the Common Understanding on Delegated Acts, as approved on 3 March 2011 by the Conference of Presidents,
– having regard to the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission[2], in particular point 15 thereof and Annex 1 thereto,
– having regard to its resolution of 5 May 2010 on the power of legislative delegation[3],
– having regard to the report on follow-up on the delegation of legislative powers and control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers, adopted by the Committee on Legal Affairs on 26 November 2013[4],
– having regard to Rules 55 of its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the opinions of the Committee on International Trade, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, and the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A7-0010/2014),
A. Whereas the Commission committed itself to assessing by the end of 2012 how many legislative acts containing references to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny remained in force in order to prepare the appropriate legislative initiatives and thus complete the adaptation to the new legal framework; whereas the announced objective was that, by the end of the seventh term of Parliament, all provisions referring to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny would have been removed from all legislative instruments; whereas the Commission has put forward the proposals fulfilling this commitment, albeit much later than expected;
1. Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;
2. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;
3. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.
Amendment 1 Proposal for a regulation Article 2 – paragraph 2 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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2. The power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time. |
2. The power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period. |
Amendment 2 Proposal for a regulation Article 2 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1 a (new) | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, the period for objections shall be three months, which shall be extended by three months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council, with regard to delegated acts adopted pursuant to the regulations listed in points 816a, 826b, 856c, 866d, 90 to 936e of Section G, and point 956f of Section H, of the Annex. |
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6a Regulation (EC) No 451/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 establishing a new statistical classification of products by activity (CPA) and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3696/93. |
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6b Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008 concerning structural business statistics (recast). |
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6c Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains. |
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6d Regulation (EC) No 1161/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2005 on the compilation of quarterly non-financial accounts by institutional sector. |
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6e Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 of 19 May 1998 concerning short-term statistics; Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995 concerning harmonized indices of consumer prices; Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community; Council Regulation (EEC) No 3924/91 of 19 December 1991 on the establishment of a Community survey of industrial production. |
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6f Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 on the application of international accounting standards. |
Justification | |
Owing to the highly technical and complex nature of the delegated acts in the remit of the ECON Committee, the Institutions informally agreed that the usual scrutiny period would be three months, extendable by further three months. This arrangement needs to be reflected in the current proposal. | |
Amendment 3 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Title – Footnote 1 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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1 For information purposes, legal acts referring to the curtailed time limit pursuant to Article 2(6) are indicated in this Annex with *, legal acts referring to the urgency procedure pursuant to Article 3 are indicated in this Annex with ** and legal acts referring to the urgency procedure pursuant to Article 3 and to the curtailed time limit pursuant to Article 2(6) are indicated in this Annex with ***. |
1 For information purposes, legal acts referring to the curtailed time limit pursuant to Article 2(6) are indicated in this Annex with *, legal acts referring to the urgency procedure pursuant to Article 3 are indicated in this Annex with ** , legal acts referring to the urgency procedure pursuant to Article 3 and to the curtailed time limit pursuant to Article 2(6) are indicated in this Annex with *** and legal acts referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 2(5) are indicated in this Annex with ****. |
Justification | |
See Amendment 2. | |
Amendment 4 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Section F – point 55 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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55. Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste |
deleted |
Justification | |
The Commission presented a separate proposal for a regulation amending Regulation (EC) 1013/2006 on shipments of waste (see COM(2013)0516), which, inter alia, provides for the use of delegated acts. For reasons of consistency the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) 1013/2006 ought to be aligned in their entirety within the proposed amending regulation. | |
Amendment 5 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Section G – point 81 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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81. Regulation (EC) No 451/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 establishing a new statistical classification of products by activity (CPA) and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3696/93 |
81. Regulation (EC) No 451/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 establishing a new statistical classification of products by activity (CPA) and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3696/93**** |
Justification | |
See Amendment 2. | |
Amendment 6 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Section G – point 82 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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82. Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008 concerning structural business statistics (recast) |
82. Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008 concerning structural business statistics (recast)**** |
Justification | |
See Amendment 2. | |
Amendment 7 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Section G – point 85 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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85. Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains |
85. Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains**** |
Justification | |
See Amendment 2. | |
Amendment 8 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Section G – point 86 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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86. Regulation (EC) No 1161/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2005 on the compilation of quarterly non-financial accounts by institutional sector |
86. Regulation (EC) No 1161/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2005 on the compilation of quarterly non-financial accounts by institutional sector**** |
Justification | |
See Amendment 2. | |
Amendment 9 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Section G – point 90 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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90. Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 of 19 May 1998 concerning short-term statistics |
90. Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 of 19 May 1998 concerning short-term statistics**** |
Justification | |
See Amendment 2. | |
Amendment 10 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Section G – point 91 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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91. Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995 concerning harmonized indices of consumer prices |
91. Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995 concerning harmonized indices of consumer prices**** |
Justification | |
See Amendment 2. | |
Amendment 11 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Section G – point 92 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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92. Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community |
92. Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community**** |
Justification | |
See Amendment 2. | |
Amendment 12 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Section G – point 93 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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93. Council Regulation (EEC) No 3924/91 of 19 December 1991 on the establishment of a Community survey of industrial production |
93. Council Regulation (EEC) No 3924/91 of 19 December 1991 on the establishment of a Community survey of industrial production**** |
Justification | |
See Amendment 2. | |
Amendment 13 Proposal for a regulation Annex – Section H – point 95 | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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95. Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 on the application of international accounting standards |
95. Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 on the application of international accounting standards**** |
Justification | |
See Amendment 2. | |
- [1] Not yet published in the Official Journal.
- [2] OJ L 304, 20.11.2010, p. 47.
- [3] OJ C 81 E, 15.3.2011, p. 6.
- [4] A7-0435/2013.
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
At the moment of the adoption of the Comitology Regulation[1], the European Commission issued the following statement:
"As regards legislative acts in force which currently contain references to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny, the Commission will review the provisions attached to this procedure in each instrument it intends to modify, in order to adapt them in due course according to the criteria laid down in the Treaty. In addition, the European Parliament and the Council will be entitled to signal basic acts they consider important to adapt as a matter of priority.
The Commission will assess the results of this process by the end of 2012 in order to estimate how many legislative acts containing references to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny remain in force. The Commission will then prepare the appropriate legislative initiatives to complete the adaptation. The overall objective of the Commission is that, by the end of the 7th term of the Parliament, all provisions referring to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny would have been removed from all legislative instruments." [2]
In keeping with that statement and further to the announced screening of the existing legislation, the Commission put forward three proposals for a regulation adapting to Article 290 TFEU a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (RPS) [3]. Indeed, the definition of delegated acts given by Article 290(1) TFEU is very similar to the definition of the acts to which the RPS applies, as established by Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC[4], now repealed by Article 12 of the Comitology Regulation. In both cases, the acts in question are of general application and seek to amend or supplement certain non-essential elements of the legislative instrument.
An earlier alignment exercise took place in 2007-2008, after the introduction of the RPS. On that occasion, the Conference of Presidents designated the Committee on Legal Affaires as the lead committee and the specialised committees as opinion-giving committees. The Conference of Committees Chairs, which then endorsed that decision, confirmed its approach vis-à-vis the new alignment proposals and on 19 November 2013 agreed on the modalities of cooperation between the Committee on Legal Affairs and the other committees involved.
The present draft report is related to a proposal covering 160 legislative acts in various policy areas. The Rapporteur proposed to the opinion-giving committees that the three proposals should be regarded as a package, subject to the same timetable and adopted as soon as possible, so that the alignment exercise can be completed, ideally, by the end of the current legislative term. The present draft report contains a limited number of amendments that were suggested by the specialised committees in their opinions.
- [1] Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13).
- [2] This statement was published in the Official Journal together with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 (OJ L 55 of 28.2.2011, p. 19).
- [3] See COM (2013) 451, 452 and 751 respectively.
- [4] OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
OPINION of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (10.12.2013)
for the Committee on Legal Affairs
on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council adapting to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny
(COM(2013)0451 – C7‑0198/2013 – 2013/0218(COD))
Rapporteur: Sharon Bowles
AMENDMENTS
The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs calls on the Committee on Legal Affairs, as the committee responsible, to take into account the following amendments:
Amendment 1 Proposal for a regulation Article 2 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1a (new) | |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, a delegated act adopted pursuant to the regulations listed in points 81, 82, 85, 86, 90 to 93 of Section G and, with regard to the international financial reporting standards, point 95 of Section H of the Annex6ashall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of three months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by three months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council. |
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___________________ |
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6a 81. Regulation (EC) No 451/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 establishing a new statistical classification of products by activity (CPA) and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3696/93 |
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82. Regulation (EC) No 295/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008 concerning structural business statistics (recast) |
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85. Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains |
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86. Regulation (EC) No 1161/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2005 on the compilation of quarterly non-financial accounts by institutional sector. |
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90. Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 of 19 May 1998 concerning short-term statistics. |
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91. Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995 concerning harmonized indices of consumer prices. |
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92. Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community. |
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93. Council Regulation (EEC) No 3924/91 of 19 December 1991 on the establishment of a Community survey of industrial production |
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95. Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 on the application of international accounting standards |
Justification | |
There is an informal agreement between the institutions that due to the highly technical and complex nature of the delegated acts in the ECON area the usual scrutiny period is three months- extendable by further 3 months. This arrangement needs to be reflected in the current Omnibus proposal. | |
PROCEDURE
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Title |
Adapting a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Article 290 of the TFEU |
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References |
COM(2013)0451 – C7-0198/2013 – 2013/0218(COD) |
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Committee responsible Date announced in plenary |
JURI 4.7.2013 |
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Opinion by Date announced in plenary |
ECON 4.7.2013 |
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Rapporteur Date appointed |
Sharon Bowles 10.9.2013 |
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Date adopted |
9.12.2013 |
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Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
32 0 0 |
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Members present for the final vote |
Burkhard Balz, Jean-Paul Besset, Sharon Bowles, George Sabin Cutaş, Leonardo Domenici, Derk Jan Eppink, Diogo Feio, Elisa Ferreira, Jean-Paul Gauzès, Sven Giegold, Sylvie Goulard, Liem Hoang Ngoc, Syed Kamall, Wolf Klinz, Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Philippe Lamberts, Werner Langen, Ivana Maletić, Hans-Peter Martin, Arlene McCarthy, Marlene Mizzi, Ivari Padar, Alfredo Pallone, Olle Schmidt, Peter Simon, Theodor Dumitru Stolojan, Ivo Strejček, Kay Swinburne, Marianne Thyssen, Ramon Tremosa i Balcells |
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Substitute(s) under Rule 187(2) present for the final vote |
Biljana Borzan, Evelyne Gebhardt |
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ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE
EXPO-COM-INTA D (2013)63427
GFC/sp
Mr Klaus-Heiner Lehne
Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs
Subject: INTA opinion by means of a letter on the RPS alignment package (2013/0218(COD), 2013/0220(COD), 2013/0365(COD))
Dear Mr Lehne,
I am writing on behalf of the INTA Committee to express a series of considerations with respect to the package of three proposals adopted by the Commission to align those numerous legislative instruments still containing provisions under the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (RPS) to the regime of the Lisbon Treaty on delegated and implementing acts.
The INTA Committee welcomes this package. In June, we reached an inter-institutional agreement on the two Trade Omnibuses, thus aligning a large volume of legislation in the field of trade policy to Articles 290 and 291 TFEU. This RPS package constitutes another significant step towards a comprehensive alignment of EU legislation to the new regime of delegated and implemented acts, as required by the Lisbon Treaty since almost four years. This alignment exercise was overdue.
This RPS package does not directly cover decision-making in the field of trade policy. The lack of references to RPS in trade legislation is not surprising, as such procedure applied only to legislative acts adopted under codecision, which was not applicable to common commercial policy until the Lisbon Treaty entered into force. And as of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the EP and the Council could no longer provide for new RPS provisions in new basic acts. The legislative acts in trade policy were then aligned through the Trade Omnibus I, addressing decision-making procedures not subject to the Comitology Decision, and the Trade Omnibus II, addressing procedures subject to such decision.
This said, two reasons militate in favour of INTA expressing its perspective on this initiative. First, a limited number of files covered by this alignment are trade-related. This is for instance the case of legislative acts on trade in seal products, on statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment, on dumping and subsidy in the air carriers sector, on specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin, on the approval of motor vehicles, on genetically modified organisms and novel foods, on nutrition and health claims made on foods, and in general on labelling and standardization. Second, INTA should share the experience gathered and the results achieved in negotiating the Trade Omnibuses regarding the regime of delegated and implementing acts. Hence you will find hereinafter the opinion of INTA on a number of horizontal issues, rather than on single legislative files.
The first issue pertains to the duration of the delegation of powers. The three proposals provide to align the RPS provisions of various legislative acts to Article 290 TFEU by conferring to the Commission delegated powers "for an indeterminate period of time". The outcome of the Trade Omnibuses provides instead to grant the delegation of powers to adopt delegated acts for a period of five years, tacitly extendable by a period of identical duration. This represents a reasonable solution: it enhances the legislative scrutiny, as the Commission must submit a report on the exercise of the delegation nine months before the expiry of the conferral, but in no way overburdens the legislators, as the extension is subject to tacit renewal.
The second issue relates to the period available to the Parliament to object to a draft delegated act. The proposals at issue set this period to two months, extendable by two more months. In the Trade Omnibuses negotiations, INTA proposed extending the period of scrutiny by the European Parliament from four months (two plus two) to six months (two plus four). The position of INTA prevailed with respect to certain but not all files. INTA secured a longer period of scrutiny over those delegated acts entailing elements of significant political discretion. So it would appear advisable, rather than proposing a two plus four approach across the board, to pick carefully those files providing for delegated acts involving political discretion, rather than fight uphill for those providing for technical and semi-automatic adjustment to the basic acts.
The third issue concerns the restricted time-limits for opposition to delegated acts in certain situations. The first and third proposals provide that, where there are curtailed time-limits for opposition in accordance with Article 5a(5)(b) of the Comitology Decision, a time-limit for objection of one month would apply, extendable to one more month. In appraising such a facet of the proposal, it must be borne in mind that, under such timelines, the decision-making machinery of the European Parliament might constrict its ability to properly consider and eventually object to delegated acts. While in certain cases such curtailed time-limits may be justified, a limited acceptance of their applicability appears to be justified to safeguard the prerogatives of the European Parliament in the context of delegated acts. It must not be forgotten that an early non-objection procedure is already available for urgent cases, and while such a procedure is complicated and would deserve simplification via an amendment of our Rules of Procedure, its existence in itself questions the necessity of curtailed time-limits.
The fourth and most important issue relates to the fact that the third proposal of the package proposes to align certain legal acts providing for RPS provisions to Article 291 TFEU on implementing acts rather than to delegated acts. As the Commission itself states, the definition of delegated acts under Article 290 TFEU is "very similar" and "correspond in principle to" that of acts which are subject to RPS. Aside from definitional symmetries, as a matter of substance and institutional prerogatives, in particular with respect to the European Parliament, all RPS measures should be aligned with Article 290 TFEU and take the form of delegated acts. As a matter of fact, RPS provisions deal with norms and rules, and rule-making should not be left to implementing acts, where Parliament has no controlling power whatsoever. In a constitutional system based on separation of powers, the executive body should only be able to set rules under a delegation from the legislators. The European Parliament has already spoken on this issue in the 2010 INI report of Mr Szájer on the power of legislative delegation, whereby it insisted “that the co-legislators have the power to decide that the matters previously adopted under the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (RPS) can be adopted either under Article 290 TFEU or under the ordinary legislative procedure”, not through implementing acts. This has just recently been confirmed in the 2013 INI report of Mr Szájer on follow-up on the delegation of legislative powers and control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers, unanimously adopted in JURI on 26 November, according to which "at least all cases previously dealt with under RPS should now be aligned to Article 290 TFEU, as RPS measures are also measures of general scope designed to amend non-essential elements of a basic act, inter alia by deleting some of those elements or by supplementing the basic act by the addition of new non-essential elements". The Commission may be proposing to align certain legal acts providing for RPS provisions to Article 291 TFEU on implementing acts in order to avoid bothersome discussions with the European Parliament, even though all conditions for delegated acts are given. This would appear to be the case, for instance, with respect to Regulation 184/2005 on statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment (where it is proposed to adopt content and periodicity of the quality reports through implementing acts), Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods (where it is proposed to authorise health claims by implementing acts, while several objections have been raised in the European Parliament so far), and Regulation 1829/2003 on genetically modified food and feed (where it is proposed to determine whether a type of food falls within the scope of the regulation, a highly political question, by implementing acts).
The fifth issue regards experts meeting in the context of the preparation of delegated acts. A declaration is attached to the Trade Omnibuses whereby the Commission recalls "the commitment it has taken in paragraph 15 of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission to provide to the Parliament full information and documentation on its meetings with national experts within the framework of its work on the preparation of delegated acts". This should serve as a minimum benchmark for any negotiations on delegated acts, while any improvements with respect to automatic invitation to such meetings by Parliament experts would of course be welcomed.
The sixth issue addresses the fact that the third proposal of the package proposes that certain legal acts be aligned individually and at a later stage, with no commitment regarding the timeline. For instance, a regulation on statistics on external trade with non-EU countries containing references to RPS is currently being aligned through a separate proposal. It is difficult to identify the reason why such proposals are singled out and subject to a separate exercise. It is therefore important to at least set a deadline for their separate substantial revision. It is not acceptable that RPS measures should continue to exist more than four years after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.
I trust that the opinion of the INTA Committee, as expressed through this letter, might be useful for the proceedings of the JURI Committee. INTA remains available to share the experience accumulated in the process of adapting trade legislation in the Trade Omnibuses exercise.
Yours sincerely,
Vital Moreira
Cc: József Szájer, MEP, JURI Rapporteur (EPP)
ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS
MK/ch
D(2013)62115
Mr. Klaus-Heiner Lehne
Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs
ASP 10E205
Subject: Opinion in the form of a letter on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council adapting to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a number of legal acts for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny - 2013/0218 (COD) - (COM (2013)451 final)
Dear Chair,
At its meeting of 9 December 2013 the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, taking into account your letter of 20.11.2013 on the JURI timetable to deal with the three "omnibuses" as a package, decided to deliver an opinion in the form of a letter to the JURI committee on the above proposal "Omnibus I" and agreed on the conclusions below.
The EMPL Committee concluded recently a first reading agreement with the Council under the ordinary legislative procedure on the directive on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields) (XXth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC), entered into force on 1st July 2013, which provides for the delegated acts regime. No alignement is therefore needed for this Directive, included in the Commission explanatory statement as one of the basic acts under RPS currently under revision.
The EMPL Committee agrees with the analysis by the Commission that, according to the criteria laid down in the TFEU, the legislative instruments referring to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (RPS) listed in the annex of the proposal provide for a transformation of the RPS into delegated acts. The EMPL Committee further agrees with the list of the legislative acts in the annex of the Commission proposal, i.e. Section B: Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion containing 20 legal acts and section G: Statistics containing 3 legal acts related to labour force data.
The EMPL Committee agrees with the Commission on the method of adaptation of the legislative instruments still referring to the RPS (reference to in Article 5a of the Comitology Decision) to empower the Commission to adopt delegated acts. Nevertheless, it considers important that the delegated acts regime provide for a specific time indication as regards the delegation of power conferred to the Commission, namely as regards the legal instruments in the field of the EMPL competence.
In this respect, I would like therefore, on behalf of the EMPL Committee, to ask you that the lead committee JURI provides in its report for a period of five years as regards the period of time conferred to the Commission to adopt delegated acts (Article 2 (2)).
The EMPL committee is also of the opinion that the Commission should establish a report on the exercise of the delegation of power; it proposes therefore the following addition to Article 2(2) of the Commission proposal:
"The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period."
The modifications proposed above are inspired from the first reading agreement with the Council on the electromagnetic field directive mentioned above.
On behalf of the EMPL Committee, I would be grateful if the JURI Committee would take these points into account in its further work on the proposed regulation.
In doing so, however, I would also like to draw the JURI Committee's attention to the fact that, due to the late presentation by the Commission of the present "omnibuses" proposals, there is a risk that the end of the delegation of powers to the Commission would always overlap with the end of the legislature and that Parliament will always have to examine the Commission report and the possible extension of the delegation in the last year of its mandate. This would have as a consequence that the EP power of scrutiny of the delegated acts would be undermined. Accordingly, the EMPL Committee calls on the JURI Committee to identify the appropriate ways to avoid such risk while establishing a timeframe of five years for the delegation of powers to the Commission.
In the perspective of a possible horizontal approach, I would also like to call on the JURI Committee, as the committee responsible, to involve the sectorial committees in the establishment of a common approach on these issues.
Finally, I would like to inform you that the "Omnibus III" proposal has not yet been formally referred to the EMPL Committee, and that the committee will thus adopt its opinion only at its 17 December meeting.
Yours sincerely,
Pervenche Berès
Copy: Mr József Szájer
ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
The Chairman
IPOL-COM.ENVI D (2013) 62886
Mr Klaus-Heiner LEHNE
Chairman
Committee on Legal Affairs
ASP 10E205
European Parliament
Brussels
Dear Chairman,
In your letter of 20 November 2013 you asked the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety to provide its opinion regarding the omnibus proposals for adapting a number of legal acts providing for the regulatory procedure.
Concerning the proposal for a regulation ‘Adapting to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny’ - 2013/0218(COD), the Coordinators of the ENVI Committee at their meeting of 28 November 2013 agreed to state the Committee’s opinion as follows:
1. The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety is on the whole satisfied with the Commission proposal on the adaption of existing provisions providing for the regulatory procedure for scrutiny to the delegated acts regime for the legal acts included in the Annex of the proposal and falling in the remit of the Committee.
2. The Committee points out that regarding the Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 on shipments of waste, which is included in the omnibus proposal under point 55 of the Annex, the Commission has presented a separate proposal for an amending regulation (COM(2013)0516 of 11 July 2013 - 2013/0239(COD)). This proposal also includes, inter alia, provisions providing for delegated acts. The Committee is currently drawing up its report on this proposal. The rapporteur, Mr Bart Staes, in his draft report considers that for reasons of consistency the comitology provisions in Regulation (EC) 1013/2006 ought to be aligned in their entirety within the proposed amending regulation on shipments of waste.[1]
In the light of the above, Regulation (EC) 1013/2006 should be deleted from the omnibus proposal. The Committee suggests including an amendment to this end in the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs, as outlined in the annex to this letter.
Yours sincerely,
Matthias GROOTE
Annex
Annex
Suggestion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety for the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs on the proposal Adapting to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny - 2013/0218(COD)
Amendment 1
Proposal for a regulation
Annex - point 55
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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55. Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste |
deleted |
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- [1] Amendment 29, PR - PE522.903v03-00
ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRY, RESEARCH AND ENERGY
COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRY, RESEARCH AND ENERGY
The Chairwoman
Mr Klaus-Heiner Lehne
Chairman
Committee on Legal Affairs
European Parliament
Ref.: IPOL-COM-ITRE D(2013) 63850
VA/py
Strasbourg,
Subject: Adapting a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Article 290 of the TFEU-2013/0218(COD)
Adapting a number of legal acts in the area of Justice providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Article 290 of the TFEU - 2013/0220(COD)
Adaptation to Article 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union of a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny - 2013/0365(COD)
Dear Chairman,
Thank you for your letter of 20 November showing your interest in receiving input from our Committee to the omnibuses adapting an important number of pieces of legislation to Articles 290 and 291 of the TFEU.
As a point of principle I oppose to any adaptation of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Article 291 and deplore that the Commission proposes for some legal acts this adaptation without detailed and individual justification.
Concerning the proposed Regulation adapting to Article 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (2013/0365(COD)), I would therefore propose to delete the 2 files in ITRE competence[1] from Annex II (implementing acts) and to add them in Annex I (delegated acts).
Furthermore, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Commission has - in parallel - proposed to amend the second file in the context of the telecom single market proposal[2] and ITRE is currently defining its position, including with respect to the delegation of powers.
Due to the importance of this package, I would be grateful if you could keep my committee regularly informed about the process, if the negotiations with the Council were to start during this parliamentary term.
Yours sincerely,
Amalia SARTORI
cc.: Legislative coordination
- [1] 1) Decision No 626/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2008 on the selection and authorisation of systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS)
Article 9(3)*
2) Directive No 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services (Framework Directive)
Article 9b(3)
Article 10(4)
Article 15(4)
Article 17(6)a
Article 19(4)2 - [2] REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL laying down measures concerning the European single market for electronic communications and to achieve a Connected Continent, and amending Directives 2002/20/EC, 2002/21/EC and 2002/22/EC and Regulations (EC) No 1211/2009 and (EU) No 531/2012
ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNAL MARKET AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
JT/gf
D(2013)63959
Mr Klaus-Heiner Lehne
JURI Chairman
ASP 10 E 205
Subject: Adapting a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Article 290 of the TFEU - 2013/0218(COD) - COM(2013) 451 final
Adaptation to Articles 290 and 291 of the TFEU of a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny - 2013/0365(COD) - COM(2013) 751 final
Dear Chair,
In response to your letter of 22 November 2013, in which you requested, by 12 December 2013, the opinions from other committees on the above-named recent legislative proposals, please find below the considerations of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection with regard to the acts that it is responsible for.
The first proposal, adopted by the Commission on 27 June 2013 (COM(2013)451), contains nine acts under IMCO competence, listed in the Annex under points 31, 34, 35, 36, 38, 46, 94, 137 and 160. The proposed adaptation of relevant provisions, to the effect that the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (RPS) is replaced by the appropriate provisions on delegated acts, is satisfactory and there is therefore no need to table any amendments to this proposal.
However, the second proposal - adopted by the Commission on 30 October 2013 (COM(2013)751) suggests, inter alia, that three specific RPS provisions (two under point 2 and one under point 6 of Annex II) be replaced by empowering the Commission to adopt implementing acts. This should only be accepted if it is confirmed that such measures do not fulfil the conditions of Article 290 of the TFEU.
The legal act in question in the first of these cases is the Universal Service Directive 2002/22/EC, and in particular, its specific provisions allowing the Commission to adopt 'technical implementing measures' to ensure effective access to '112' services in the Member States (Article 26(7)) and effective implementation of the '116' numbering range (Article 27a(5)). Since the Commission has not made use of this possibility yet (which would have been the case under the current provisions with an RPS procedure), it is not possible to rule out that the content of such measures, despite the fact that they are called "technical implementing measures", would in fact rather qualify as delegated acts.
The other act concerned is Directive 2006/42/EC on machinery, where a single measure 'restricting the placing on the market of machinery' was adopted in 2011 and, in addition to the wording in Article 9, this seems to be a measure which is sufficiently general to qualify as a delegated act.
The Commission's proposal also contains an alignment of RPS provisions to the delegated acts' regime in Directive 2009/81/EC on defence procurement. In one case (Article 68(1)), this concerns a revision of thresholds synchronous to a corresponding threshold revision of another legal act on public procurement, which is already aligned to the delegated acts regime. In the other case (Article 69(2)), this concerns the possibility of applying an urgency procedure, which remains unchanged. The IMCO Committee can agree to these proposals.
In view of the above considerations, I would therefore be grateful if the Committee on Legal Affairs could include amendments in its draft report on COM(2013)751 final that move the relevant references from Annex II to Annex I (where the other RPS provisions of the Universal Service Directive and Directive on machinery are listed under points 2 and 8, in order for them to be replaced by delegated acts) and keep IMCO informed of any further developments.
Yours sincerely,
Malcolm Harbour CBE
ANNEX - LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT AND TOURISM
TRAN/D/2013/59561
Mr Klaus-Heiner Lehne
Chairman
Committee on Legal Affairs
ASP 10E205
European Parliament
Subject: Adapting a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Article 290 of the TFEU- 2013/0218(COD)
Adapting a number of legal acts in the area of Justice providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Article 290 of the TFEU - 2013/0220(COD)
Adaptation to Article 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union of a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny - 2013/0365(COD)
Dear Chairman,
Thank you for your letter of 20 November showing your interest in receiving input from our Committee to the omnibuses adapting an important number of pieces of legislation to Articles 290 and 291 of the TFEU.
In this regard, I would be grateful if the Committee on Legal Affairs could take into consideration the following amendments:
· To proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council adapting to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (2013/0218 (COD)):
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Amendment 1 |
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Proposal for a regulation |
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Article 2 – paragraph 2 |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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2. The power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time.
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2. The power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
The Commission shall draw up a report in the respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for period of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period. |
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Or. [en] |
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· To proposal for a Regulation adapting to Article 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (2013/0365(COD)):
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Amendment 1 |
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Proposal for a regulation |
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Recital 5 |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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(5) It is necessary to adapt to Article 291 of the TFEU a number of legal acts already in force which provide for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny and which fulfil the criteria of Article 291(2) of the TFEU. |
Deleted
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Or. [en] |
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Amendment 2 |
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Proposal for a regulation |
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Article 2 – paragraph 2 |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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2. The power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time.
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2. The power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
The Commission shall draw up a report in the respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for period of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period. |
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Or. [en] |
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Amendment 3 |
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Proposal for a regulation |
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Annex II – letter g |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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G. Mobility and Transport 18. Regulation (EC) No 725/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on enhancing ship and port facility security Article 10(3)** 19. Council Directive 97/70/EC of 11 December 1997 setting up a harmonised safety regime for fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over Article 8(a) First indent
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Deleted
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Or. [en] |
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Amendment 4 |
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Proposal for a regulation |
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Annex I – letter h – point 27a (new) |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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27a (new)Regulation (EC) No 725/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on enhancing ship and port facility security Article 10(3)**
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Or. [en] |
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Amendment 5 |
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Proposal for a regulation |
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Annex I – letter h – point 27b (new) |
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Text proposed by the Commission |
Amendment |
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27b(new) Council Directive 97/70/EC of 11 December 1997 setting up a harmonised safety regime for fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over Article 8(a) First indent |
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Or. [en] |
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Due to the importance of this package, I would be grateful if you could keep my committee regularly informed about the process, if the negotiations with the Council were to start during this parliamentary term.
Yours sincerely,
Brian Simpson
Cc.: Legislative coordination
PROCEDURE
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Title |
Adapting a number of legal acts providing for the use of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny to Article 290 of the TFEU |
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References |
COM(2013)0451 – C7-0198/2013 – 2013/0218(COD) |
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Date submitted to Parliament |
27.6.2013 |
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Committee responsible Date announced in plenary |
JURI 4.7.2013 |
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Committee(s) asked for opinion(s) Date announced in plenary |
ECON 4.7.2013 |
EMPL 4.7.2013 |
ENVI 4.7.2013 |
ITRE 4.7.2013 |
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IMCO 4.7.2013 |
TRAN 4.7.2013 |
LIBE 4.7.2013 |
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Not delivering opinions Date of decision |
ENVI 28.11.2013 |
ITRE 8.7.2013 |
IMCO 17.10.2013 |
TRAN 8.7.2013 |
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LIBE 9.7.2013 |
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Rapporteur(s) Date appointed |
József Szájer 1.7.2013 |
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Discussed in committee |
26.11.2013 |
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Date adopted |
17.12.2013 |
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Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
22 1 0 |
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Members present for the final vote |
Raffaele Baldassarre, Sebastian Valentin Bodu, Françoise Castex, Christian Engström, Marielle Gallo, Giuseppe Gargani, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Antonio López-Istúriz White, Antonio Masip Hidalgo, Alajos Mészáros, Bernhard Rapkay, Evelyn Regner, Dimitar Stoyanov, Rebecca Taylor, Alexandra Thein, Cecilia Wikström, Tadeusz Zwiefka |
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Substitute(s) present for the final vote |
Eva Lichtenberger, József Szájer, Axel Voss |
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Substitute(s) under Rule 187(2) present for the final vote |
Silvia Costa, Jürgen Klute, Kay Swinburne |
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Date tabled |
8.1.2014 |
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