REPORT on the amendment of Rules 3 and 4 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure

14.9.2006 - (2005/2036(REG))

Committee on Constitutional Affairs
Rapporteur: Borut Pahor

PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

on the amendment of Rules 3 and 4 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure

(2005/2036(REG))

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its decision of 14 December 2004 on the verification of credentials[1] and notably paragraph 6 thereof,

–   having regard to the letter from its Secretary General dated 15 February 2005,

–   having regard to Rules 201 and 202 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A6‑0274/2006),

1.  Decides to amend its Rules of Procedure as shown below;

2.  Points out that these amendments will enter into force on the first day of the next part-session pursuant to Rule 202(3) of its Rules of Procedure;

3.  Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Council and Commission, for information.

Present text	Amendments
Amendment 1 Rule 3, paragraph -1 (new)
	-1. Following elections to the European Parliament, the President shall invite the competent authorities of the Member States to notify Parliament without delay of the names of the elected Members so that all Members may take their seats in Parliament with effect from the opening of the first sitting following the elections.
	At the same time, the President shall draw the attention of those authorities to the relevant provisions of the Act of 20 September 1976 and invite them to take the necessary measures to avoid any incompatibility with the office of Member of the European Parliament.
(This amendment partly reproduces the wording of the current Rule 3(6), which will be deleted if this amendment is adopted)
Amendment 2 Rule 3, paragraph -1 a (new)
	-1a. Every Member whose election has been notified to Parliament shall make a written declaration, before taking his seat in Parliament, that he does not hold any office incompatible with that of Member of the European Parliament, within the meaning of Article 7(1) and (2) of the Act of 20 September 1976. Following general elections this declaration shall be made where possible no later than six days prior to Parliament's constitutive session. Until such time as a Member's credentials have been verified or a ruling has been given on any dispute, and provided that he has previously signed the above-mentioned written declaration, the Member shall take his seat in Parliament and on its bodies and shall enjoy all the rights attaching thereto.
	Where it is established from facts verifiable from sources available to the public that a Member holds an office incompatible with that of Member of the European Parliament, within the meaning of Article 7(1) and (2) of the Act of 20 September 1976, Parliament, upon information provided by its President, shall establish that there is a vacancy.
(This amendment partly reproduces the wording of the current Rule 3(5), which will be deleted if this amendment is adopted)
Amendment 3 Rule 3, paragraph 2, subparagraph 2
It shall not be possible to confirm the validity of the mandate of a Member unless the written declarations required on the basis of Article 7 of the Act of 20 September 1976 and Annex I to these Rules have been made.	It shall not be possible to confirm the validity of the mandate of a Member unless the written declarations required under this Rule and Annex I to these Rules have been made.
Amendment 4 Rule 4, paragraph 4
4. Incompatibilities resulting from national legislation shall be notified to Parliament, which shall take note thereof.	4. Where the competent authority of a Member State notifies the President of the end of the term of office of a Member of the European Parliament pursuant to the provisions of the law of that Member State, as a result either of incompatibilities within the meaning of Article 7(3) of the Act of 20 September 1976 or withdrawal of the mandate within the meaning of Article 13(3) of that Act, the President shall inform Parliament that the mandate ended on the date communicated by the Member State and invite the Member State to fill the vacant seat without delay.
Where the competent authorities of the Member States or of the Union or the Member concerned notify the President of an appointment to an office incompatible with the office of Member of the European Parliament, the President shall inform Parliament, which shall establish that there is a vacancy.	Where the competent authorities of the Member States or of the Union or the Member concerned notify the President of an appointment or election to an office incompatible with the office of Member of the European Parliament pursuant to Article 7(1) and (2) of the Act of 20 September 1976, the President shall inform Parliament, which shall establish that there is a vacancy.
Amendment 5 Rule 4, paragraph 6, indent 2
- in the event of appointment to an office incompatible with the office of a Member of the European Parliament, either in respect of national electoral law, or in respect of Article 7 of the Act of 20 September 1976: the date notified by the competent authorities of the Member States or of the Union or by the Member concerned.	- in the event of appointment or election to an office incompatible with the office of a Member of the European Parliament, within the meaning of Article 7(1) or (2) of the Act of 20 September 1976: the date notified by the competent authorities of the Member States or of the Union or by the Member concerned.
Amendment 6 Rule 4, paragraph 7
7. When Parliament has established that a vacancy exists, it shall inform the Member State concerned thereof.	7. When Parliament has established that a vacancy exists, it shall inform the Member State concerned thereof and invite it to fill the seat without delay.
Amendment 7 Rule 11, interpretation
If a question relating to the verification of credentials is raised when the oldest Member is in the Chair, he shall refer the matter to the committee responsible for the verification of credentials.	The oldest Member shall exercise the powers of the President referred to in Rule 3(-1a), second subparagraph. Any other matter relating to the verification of credentials that is raised when the oldest Member is in the Chair shall be referred to the committee responsible for the verification of credentials.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

1.   In its decision of 14 December 2004 on the verification of credentials[2] Parliament stated that "the amendments made to the Act of 20 September 1976 by Council Decision 2002/772/EC, Euratom of 25 June 2002 and 23 September 2002 have highlighted the inadequacy of the provisions contained in Rules 3 and 4 of the Rules of Procedure, particularly as regards the adoption of measures for the verification of cases of clear incompatibility (in accordance with Article 7 of the Act of 20 September 1976) with effect from the European Parliament’s constituent sitting". The Committee on Constitutional Affairs has been asked to examine "the question of the amendment of Rules 3 and 4 of the Rules of Procedure in order for them to be adapted to the Act of 20 September 1976, as amended, and for provisions to be laid down that will enable Parliament to act on any clear cases of incompatibility, so that all Members of Parliament can take their seats with effect from the constituent sitting".

2.   The European Parliament's power to verify the credentials of its Members flows from Article 12 of the above mentioned Act, according to which Parliament shall take note of the results declared officially by the Member States and shall rule on any disputes which may arise out of the provisions of this Act other than those arising out of the national provisions to which the Act refers. In other words: the Act confers upon the European Parliament a responsibility to ensure the legality of its composition insofar as the implementation of the provisions of this Act is concerned.

3.   Parliament's Rules of Procedure should therefore provide for the appropriate procedural instruments to be able to ensure, at any moment, that Parliament is acting in its legal composition.

4.   Some practical difficulties have been encountered in the implementation of the provisions of the Act, notably owing to the fact that, in some cases, the competent authorities of the Member States have notified the names of the elected candidates only belatedly, and in connection with the amendment to Article 7 of the Act, stipulating the incompatibility of the office of Member of European Parliament with that of member of a national parliament.

5.   In part, the proposals developed in this report enshrine in the Rules best practice as developed by Parliament's administration[3]. Insofar as they are innovative, they are designed to provide instruments which are both simple to apply and fully respect the statutory rights and the dignity of elected Members of Parliament. Additionally, for the sake of transparency, a rearrangement of the relevant provisions is proposed, following the chronological order of the different steps of the procedure.

6.   Amendment 1 implements the existing practice of addressing the Member States' authorities in order to draw attention to the need for timely notification in order to ensure the proper functioning of the newly elected Parliament as from its constituent session. Additionally, it would appear appropriate that Member States be reminded of their responsibility to verify the absence of any incompatibility prior to making any notification.

7.   Amendment 2 suggests an innovation with the aim of avoiding the situation where an elected Member holding an incompatible office can participate in Parliament's decisions. According to the terms of the proposed amendment, the declaration presently required under Rule 3(2), second subparagraph, stating that the Member does not hold any office which under Article 7 of the Act of 20 September 1976 is incompatible with that of a Member of the European Parliament, would have to be delivered by each Member prior to taking his seat in Parliament. The right to take his seat in Parliament and on its bodies and to enjoy all the rights attaching thereto would be subject to the prior delivery of this declaration. The provision laid down in Rule 3(2), second subparagraph, stating that in the absence of such a declaration the validity of the mandate cannot be confirmed, would remain in force. It appears, however, appropriate to reduce the scope of this declaration to incompatibilities pursuant to Article 7(1) and (2), because in the event of incompatibilities which are provided for in the law of a Member State in accordance with Article 7(3), Parliament is acting upon due notification by the competent authority of that Member State (see amendment 4).

8.   As the relevant facts in a case of incompatibility are generally a matter of public knowledge, a preliminary declaration of this kind appears to be a sufficient safeguard for ensuring that no Member holding an incompatible office sits in Parliament. On the other hand, in the event that a Member declines to deliver such a declaration before taking his seat, this is a sufficient ground for suspecting that there might be a case of incompatibility, thus justifying preventing the Member in question from enjoying his rights until he has delivered the declaration or the matter has been clarified otherwise.

9.   The second innovation in Amendment 2 is an explicit power conferred on the President of Parliament to inform Parliament when it is established from facts verifiable from sources available to the public that a Member holds an incompatible office. In compliance with the provisions of the Act of 20 September 1976 this would allow Parliament to establish that a vacancy exists.

10. Amendment 3 proposes only a technical adjustment as the declaration in question is not necessarily required by the Act of 20 September 1976. This requirement is a procedural rule which Parliament has legitimately established in its Rules of Procedure in order to correctly implement the provisions of the Act.

11. Amendments 4, 5 and 6 merely seek to adapt the provisions of Parliament's Rules of Procedure to the provisions of the Act of 20 September 1976, as amended by the decisions of 25 June and 23 September 2002.

12. Amendment 7 suggests an interpretation of Rule 11 concerning the oldest Member, allowing him to propose to Parliament to settle any clear case of incompatibility should it arise in the course of its Constitutive sitting.

  2005/2036(REG)

• [1]  OJ C 226 E, 15.9.2005, p. 51.
• [2]  OJ C 226 E, 15.9.2005, p. 51; rapporteur: Giuseppe Gargani, A6-0043/2004.
• [3]  The practice which is presently followed is outlined in a note by Parliament's services, published in the notice to members PE 368.027 v01-00.

OPINION of the Committee on Legal Affairs (17.7.2006)

for the Committee on Constitutional Affairs

on the amendment of Rules 3 and 4 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure
(2005/2036(REG))

Draftsman: Giuseppe Gargani

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

Your draftsman agrees on the whole with the approach taken by the rapporteur of the committee responsible. Your draftsman considers that the European Parliament's right to verify the credentials of its own Members, as enshrined in Article 12 of the Act of 20 September 1976 (as subsequently amended) should be fully reflected in the European Parliament's Rules of Procedure, so as to ensure that Parliament is acting as a lawfully constituted body at all times.

Your draftsman is in favour of the methods suggested by the rapporteur to remedy the practical difficulties (particularly with regard to relations with national authorities) which have arisen under the existing rules.

However, your draftsman suggests certain modifications of Rule 3 of the Rules of Procedure which should be taken into consideration to ensure that the new rules on the verification of credentials are sufficiently flexible and comprehensive.

Amendment 1 seeks to draw the attention of the Member States' authorities to the need for timely notification of the names of the Members, while amendment 2 concerns the content and effects of the declaration currently required under the second subparagraph of Rule 3(2).

With regard to the latter amendment, it should be clarified, firstly, that incompatibility exists only in the cases specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 7 of the 1976 Act, and not in any additional cases specified in national law (see Article 7(3) of the 1976 Act).

Secondly, while on the one hand failure to submit the declaration in question disqualifies the Member from exercising his powers, on the other hand a deadline is provided to allow Members a period of reflection, to coincide with the first ordinary sitting after the notification of the election of the Member in question. This amendment is intended to ensure by a set deadline that Parliament's plenary is lawfully constituted.

Thirdly, if the declaration is not signed by the deadline set, or, more generally, in the event of clear incompatibility, it is proposed that a procedure be applied for officially declaring the seat vacant.

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on Legal Affairs calls on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following amendments in its report:

Present text	Amendments by Parliament
Amendment 1 Rule 3, paragraph -1 (new)
	-1. Following the elections to Parliament, the President shall invite the competent authorities of the Member States to notify Parliament without delay of the names of the elected Members so that all Members may take their seats in Parliament with effect from the opening of the first sitting following the elections.
	At the same time, the President shall draw the attention of those authorities to the relevant provisions of the Act of 20 September 1976 and invite them to take the necessary measures to avoid any incompatibility with the office of Member of the European Parliament.

(This amendment partly reproduces the wording of the current Rule 3(6), which will be deleted if this amendment is adopted.)

Amendment 2 Rule 3, paragraph -1 a (new)
	-1a. Every Member whose election has been notified to Parliament shall make a written declaration, before taking his seat in Parliament, that he does not hold any office incompatible with that of a Member of the European Parliament, within the meaning of Article 7(1) and (2) of the Act of 20 September 1976. Until such time as a Member's credentials have been verified or a ruling has been given on any dispute, and provided that he has previously signed the above-mentioned written declaration, the Member shall take his seat in Parliament and on its bodies and shall enjoy all the rights attaching thereto. Where no such declaration has been signed before the first ordinary sitting after the notification of the election of the Member concerned, the second subparagraph of this paragraph shall apply.
	In the event of clear incompatibility within the meaning of Article 7(1) and (2) of the Act of 20 September 1976, the President shall inform Parliament, which shall establish that a vacancy exists.

(This amendment partly reproduces the wording of the current Rule 3(5), which will be deleted if this amendment is adopted.)

Amendment 3 Rule 11, interpretation
If a question relating to the verification of credentials is raised when the oldest Member is in the chair, he shall refer the matter to the committee responsible for the verification of credentials.	The oldest Member shall exercise the powers of the President referred to in the second subparagraph of Rule 3, paragraph -1a. Any other question relating to the verification of credentials raised when the oldest Member is in the chair shall be referred to the committee responsible for the verification of credentials.

PROCEDURE

Title	Amendment of Rules 3 and 4 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure
Procedure number	2005/2036(REG)
Committee responsible	AFCO
Opinion by   Date announced in plenary	JURI 6.4.2006
Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary
Draftsman   Date appointed	Giuseppe Gargani 19.4.2006
Previous drafts(wo)man
Discussed in committee	21.2.2006		13.7.2006
Date adopted	13.7.2006
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	20 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Maria Berger, Carlo Casini, Monica Frassoni, Giuseppe Gargani, Piia-Noora Kauppi, Katalin Lévai, Hans-Peter Mayer, Aloyzas Sakalas, Daniel Strož, Diana Wallis, Rainer Wieland, Tadeusz Zwiefka
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Hiltrud Breyer, Manuel Medina Ortega, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Michel Rocard
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote	Sharon Bowles, Mieczysław Edmund Janowski, Peter Liese, Miroslav Mikolášik
Comments (available in one language only)	...

PROCEDURE

Title

Amendment of Rules 3 and 4 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure

Procedure number

2005/2036(REG)

Proposal(s) for amendment considered

Committee responsible   Date announced in plenary

AFCO 28.4.2005

Date of decision to draw up report

20.4.2005

Date authorisation announced in plenary

28.4.2005

Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)   Date announced in plenary

JURI 6.4.2006

Not delivering opinion(s)   Date of decision

Rapporteur(s)   Date appointed

Borut Pahor 20.4.2005

Previous rapporteur(s)

Discussed in committee

14.9.2005

22.2.2006

3.5.2006

Date adopted

11.9.2006

Result of final vote

+ - 0

9 0 0

Member(s) present for the final vote

Carlos Carnero González, Andrew Duff, Ingo Friedrich, Genowefa Grabowska, Daniel Hannan, Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann, Rihards Pīks, Johannes Voggenhuber

Substitute(s) present for the final vote

Gérard Onesta

Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote

Date tabled

14.9.2006

Comments (available in one language only)