Rule 47 : Requests to the Commission for submission of proposals

1.   Parliament may request the Commission, pursuant to Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to submit any appropriate proposal to it for the adoption of a new act or the amendment of an existing act. Parliament shall do so by adopting a resolution on the basis of an own-initiative report drawn up by the committee responsible in accordance with Rule 54. The resolution shall be adopted by a majority of the component Members of Parliament in the final vote. Parliament may, at the same time, set a deadline for the submission of such a proposal.

2.   Any Member may table a proposal for a Union act on the basis of the right of initiative granted to Parliament pursuant to Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Such a proposal may be tabled jointly by up to 10 Members. The proposal shall indicate the legal basis on which it is made and may be accompanied by an explanatory statement of no more than 150 words.

The proposal shall be submitted to the President, who shall verify whether the legal requirements are fulfilled. The President may refer the proposal for an opinion on the appropriateness of the legal basis to the committee responsible for such verification. If the President declares the proposal to be admissible, he or she shall announce it in plenary and refer it to the committee responsible for the subject matter.

Before such referral to the committee responsible for the subject matter, the proposal shall be translated into those official languages which the Chair of that committee considers to be necessary in order for summary consideration to be possible.

The committee responsible for the subject matter shall take a decision on further action within three months of the referral, after giving the authors of the proposal the opportunity to address the committee.

The authors of the proposal shall be named in the title of the report.

3.   Parliament's resolution shall indicate the appropriate legal basis and shall be accompanied by recommendations concerning the content of the required proposal.

4.   Where a proposal has financial implications, Parliament shall indicate how sufficient financial resources can be provided.

5.   The committee responsible for the subject matter shall monitor the progress of preparation of any proposed Union legal act drawn up following a particular request by Parliament.

6.   The Conference of Committee Chairs shall regularly monitor whether the Commission is complying with paragraph 10 of the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making, according to which the Commission is to reply to requests for the submission of proposals within three months by adopting a specific communication stating the intended follow-up actions to be taken. The Conference of Committee Chairs shall regularly report on the results of such monitoring to the Conference of Presidents.