REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EEC) No 2100/94 as regards the term of office of the President of the Community Plant Variety Office

28.11.2005 - (COM(2005) 0190 – C6-0207/2005 – 2005/0078(CNS)) - *

Committee on Legal Affairs
Rapporteur: Giuseppe Gargani

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EEC) No 2100/94 as regards the term of office of the President of the Community Plant Variety Office

(COM(2005) 0190 – C6-0207/2005 – 2005/0078(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2005) 0190)[1],

–   having regard to Article 308 of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C6-0207/2005),

–   having regard to Rule 51 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (A6-0348/2005),

1.  Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

2.  Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty;

3.  Calls on the Council to notify Parliament if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament

4.  Asks the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to amend the Commission proposal substantially;

5.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

Text proposed by the Commission		Amendments by Parliament

Amendment by Giuseppe Gargani

Amendment 1

RECITAL 1 A (new)

	(1a) Provision should be made for the President of the Office to be appointed on a proposal from the Commission, after hearing the opinion of the representative appointed by the European Parliament, and after obtaining the opinion of the Administrative Council.

Amendment 2 RECITAL 2
(2) Provision should be made to extend this term of office once, after suitable evaluation.	(2) Provision should be made to extend this term of office once, after suitable evaluation and after hearing the representative of the European Parliament.
Amendment 3 ARTICLE 1, PARAGRAPH -1 (new) Article 43, paragraph 1 (Regulation (EC) No. 2100/94)
	Article 43(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 is replaced by the following: 1. The President of the Office shall be appointed by the Council from a list of candidates which shall be proposed by the Commission, after hearing the opinion of the representative appointed by the European Parliament, and after obtaining the opinion of the Administrative Council. Power to dismiss the President shall lie with the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission after obtaining the opinion of the Administrative Council.
Amendment 4 ARTICLE 1 Article 43, paragraph 2, subparagraph 1 (Regulation (EC) No 2100/94)
2. The term of office of the President shall not exceed five years. On a proposal from Commission and after a board of management evaluation and opinion, it may be extended once for a period of not more than five years.	2. The term of office of the President shall not exceed five years. On a proposal from Commission, after hearing the opinion of the representative appointed by the European Parliament and after a board of management evaluation and opinion, it may be extended once for a period of not more than five years.

• [1]  Not yet published in OJ.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The renewal of the terms of office of the directors of the 18 decentralised agencies and bodies set up under the first pillar raises a legal problem which has been identified by the Commission's legal service.

The use of the term 'renewable' in the basic regulations for the various agencies harks back to Article 214(1) of the EC Treaty, on appointing Commission Members, and Articles 223 and 225 on appointing Court of Justice Judges. In neither case, however, may a simplified procedure be applied.

If the same practice were applied, the various agencies would have to follow the lengthy -and expensive - appointment procedure laid down in the basic regulations in order to extend the term of office of their respective directors.

To solve this problem, the Commission has submitted to us 18 proposals for regulations for the purpose of amending the various basic regulations.

Your rapporteur approves the Commission proposals but is taking this opportunity to give Parliament a role in the procedures for the appointment, and renewal of the term of office of, the directors of the agencies in question.

PROCEDURE

Title	Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EEC) No 2100/94 as regards the term of office of the President of the Community Plant Variety
References	COM(2005)0190 – C6-0207/2005 – 2005/0078(CNS)
Date submitted to Parliament	17.6.2005
Committee responsible   Date announced in plenary	JURI 22.6.2005
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)   Date announced in plenary	ENVI 22.6.2005
Not delivering opinion(s)   Date of decision	ENVI 21.6.2005
Enhanced cooperation   Date announced in plenary
Rapporteur(s)   Date appointed	Giuseppe Gargani 15.6.2005
Previous rapporteur(s)
Simplified procedure – date of decision
Legal basis disputed   Date of JURI opinion		/
Financial endowment amended   Date of BUDG opinion		/
European Economic and Social Committee consulted – date of decision in plenary
Committee of the Regions consulted – date of decision in plenary
Discussed in committee	5.9.2005	5.10.2005			22.11.2005
Date adopted	22.11.2005
Result of final vote	+ : – : 0 :		14 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Maria Berger, Bert Doorn, Giuseppe Gargani, Piia-Noora Kauppi, Kurt Lechner, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Aloyzas Sakalas, Rainer Wieland, Nicola Zingaretti, Tadeusz Zwiefka
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Nicole Fontaine, Othmar Karas, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Michel Rocard
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote
Date tabled	28.11.2005
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