REPORT on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms (recast)

8.7.2008 - (COM(2007)0736 – C6‑0439/2007 – 2007/0259(COD)) - ***I

Committee on Legal Affairs
Rapporteur: József Szájer
(Recast – Rule 80a of the Rules of Procedure)

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms (recast)

(COM(2007)0736 – C6 0439/2007 – 2007/0259(COD))

(Codecision procedure – recast)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2007)0736),

–   having regard to Article 251(2) and Article 175(1) of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C6‑0439/2007),

–   having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 28 November 2001 on a more structured use of the recasting technique for legal acts[1],

–   having regard to Rules 80a and 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 (A6‑0297/2008),

A. whereas, according to the Consultative Working Party of the Legal Services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the proposal in question does not include any substantive amendments other than those identified as such in the proposal and whereas, as regards the codification of the unchanged provisions of the earlier acts together with those amendments, the proposal contains a straightforward codification of the existing texts, without any change in their substance,

1.  Approves the Commission proposal as adapted to the recommendations of the Consultative Working Party of the Legal Services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission and as amended hereunder;

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 and the Commission.

Amendment  1 Proposal for a directive Article 19 – paragraph 1
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
The Commission shall adopt the  amendments necessary to adapt Annex II, Part A, and Annexes III, IV and V to technical progress and to adapt Annex II, Part C.	The Commission shall adopt the  amendments necessary to adapt Annexes II, III, IV and V to technical progress and to adapt Annex II, Part C.
Justification
Also amendments to Annex II, Part B should be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny.
Amendment  2 Proposal for a directive Article 20
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Amendments to Annex II, Part B, shall be adopted by the Council acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission.	deleted
Justification
Also amendments to Annex II, Part B should be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. Therefore Annex II, Part B should be included in Article 19 and Article 20 should be deleted.

• [1]  OJ C 77, 28.3.2002, p. 1.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission[1] was amended by Council Decision 2006/512/EC of 17 July 2006[2]. Article 5a of amended Decision 1999/468/EC introduced the new 'regulatory procedure with scrutiny' (RPS) for 'measures of a general scope which seek to amend non-essential elements of a basic instrument adopted in accordance with codecision, inter alia by deleting some of those elements or by supplementing the instrument by the addition of new non-essential elements'.

Following the screening of the existing legislation and on-going procedures[3], the European Commission presented inter alia this recast proposal, transformed from a codification in order to incorporate the amendments necessary for the alignment to RPS.

In its decision of 12 December 2007 the Conference of Presidents designated the Committee on Legal Affaires as the lead Committee to deal with this 'comitology alignment' and the specialised committees as opinion-giving committees. The Conference of Committee Chairs agreed on 15 January 2008 on the modalities of cooperation between the Committee on Legal Affairs and the other committees involved.

In view of the fact that the proposed alignment to RPS is not complete, the Committee on Legal Affairs does not propose any amendments apart from those suggested by the sectoral committee with regard to Part B of Annex II.

• [1]  OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
• [2]  OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11.
• [3]  COM(2007)0740.

OPINION of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (20.6.2008)

for the Committee on Legal Affairs

on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms (Recast)
(COM(2007)0736 – C6‑0439/2007 – 2007/0259(COD))

Draftsman: Gyula Hegyi

AMENDMENTS

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety calls on the Committee on Legal Affairs, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following amendments in its report:

Amendment  1 Proposal for a directive Article 19 - paragraph 1
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
The Commission shall adopt the  amendments necessary to adapt Annex II, Part A, and Annexes III, IV and V to technical progress and to adapt Annex II, Part C.	The Commission shall adopt the  amendments necessary to adapt Annexes II, III, IV and V to technical progress and to adapt Annex II, Part C.
Justification
Also amendments to Annex II, Part B should be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny.
Amendment  2 Proposal for a directive Article 20
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Amendments to Annex II, Part B, shall be adopted by the Council acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission.	deleted
Justification
Also amendments to Annex II, Part B should be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. Therefore Annex II, Part B should be included in Article 19 and Article 20 should be deleted.

PROCEDURE

Title	Contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms (recast version)
References	COM(2007)0736 – C6-0439/2007 – 2007/0259(COD)
Committee responsible	JURI
Opinion by        Date announced in plenary	ENVI 19.2.2008
Drafts(wo)man        Date appointed	Gyula Hegyi 6.3.2008
Discussed in committee	5.5.2008
Date adopted	3.6.2008
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	55 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Georgs Andrejevs, Margrete Auken, Liam Aylward, Pilar Ayuso, Irena Belohorská, Johannes Blokland, John Bowis, Frieda Brepoels, Martin Callanan, Dorette Corbey, Magor Imre Csibi, Chris Davies, Avril Doyle, Mojca Drčar Murko, Edite Estrela, Anne Ferreira, Matthias Groote, Françoise Grossetête, Cristina Gutiérrez-Cortines, Satu Hassi, Gyula Hegyi, Marie Anne Isler Béguin, Christa Klaß, Eija-Riitta Korhola, Peter Liese, Jules Maaten, Roberto Musacchio, Riitta Myller, Péter Olajos, Miroslav Ouzký, Vladko Todorov Panayotov, Vittorio Prodi, Frédérique Ries, Dagmar Roth-Behrendt, Guido Sacconi, Carl Schlyter, Horst Schnellhardt, Richard Seeber, Kathy Sinnott, Bogusław Sonik, María Sornosa Martínez, Antonios Trakatellis, Anja Weisgerber, Åsa Westlund, Anders Wijkman, Glenis Willmott
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Inés Ayala Sender, Iles Braghetto, Bairbre de Brún, Genowefa Grabowska, Rebecca Harms, Henrik Lax, Johannes Lebech, Miroslav Mikolášik, Alojz Peterle

ANNEX: OPINION IN LETTER FORM OF THE LEGAL SERVICES' CONSULTATIVE WORKING PARTY

OPINION

FOR THE ATTENTION OF           THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

                                                       THE COUNCIL

                                                       THE COMMISSION

Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms

COM(2007)0736 final of 29.11.2007 - 2007/0259(COD)

Having regard to the Inter-institutional Agreement of 28 November 2001 on a more structured use of the recasting technique for legal acts, and in particular to point 9 thereof, the Consultative Working Party, consisting of the respective legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, met on 12 December 2007 for the purpose of examining, among others, the aforementioned proposal submitted by the Commission.

At that meeting[1], an examination of the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council recasting Council Directive 90/219/EEC of 23 April 1990 on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms resulted in the Consultative Working Party’s establishing, by common accord, that the proposal does not comprise any substantive amendments other than those identified as such therein or in the present opinion. The Working Party also concluded, as regards the codification of the unchanged provisions of the earlier act with those substantive amendments, that the proposal contains a straightforward codification of the existing text, without any change in its substance.

C. PENNERA                                  J.-C. PIRIS                 C.-F. DURAND

Jurisconsult                                       Jurisconsult                  actg. Director General

• [1]  The Consultative Working Party had at its disposal the English, French and German language versions of the proposal and worked on the basis of the English version, being the master-copy language version of the text under discussion.

PROCEDURE

Title	Contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms (recast version)
References	COM(2007)0736 – C6-0439/2007 – 2007/0259(COD)
Date submitted to Parliament	29.11.2007
Committee responsible        Date announced in plenary	JURI 19.2.2008
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)        Date announced in plenary	ENVI 19.2.2008
Rapporteur(s)        Date appointed	József Szájer 19.12.2007
Date adopted	26.6.2008
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	24 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Carlo Casini, Titus Corlăţean, Bert Doorn, Monica Frassoni, Giuseppe Gargani, Neena Gill, Othmar Karas, Piia-Noora Kauppi, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Hans-Peter Mayer, Manuel Medina Ortega, Hartmut Nassauer, Aloyzas Sakalas, Francesco Enrico Speroni, Diana Wallis, Rainer Wieland, Jaroslav Zvěřina, Tadeusz Zwiefka
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Sharon Bowles, Vicente Miguel Garcés Ramón, Jean-Paul Gauzès, Eva Lichtenberger, József Szájer, Ieke van den Burg