REPORT on amendment of Rule 48 (2) of Parliament's Rules of Procedure on own-initiative reports

24.11.2011 - (2011/2168(REG))

Committee on Constitutional Affairs
Rapporteur: Stanimir Ilchev

PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

on amendment of Rule 48 (2) of Parliament's Rules of Procedure on own-initiative reports

(2011/2168(REG))

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Conference of Presidents' decision of 7 April 2011 on own-initiative reports,

–   having regard to the letter of 26 April 2011 from the President of the European Parliament to the Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs,

–   having regard to Rules 211 and 212 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (A7-0399/2011),

1.   Takes note of the Conference of Presidents' decision of 7 April 2011 stating that own-intiative reports drawn up on the basis of annual activity and monitoring reports listed in Annexes 1 and 2 to the Conference of Presidents' decision of 12 December 2002 as contained in Annex XVIII to its Rules of Procedure ("the 2002 Decision") are to be considered as strategic reports within the meaning of the last sentence of Rule 48(2), and instructs its Secretary-General to incorporate the decision into Annex XVIII;

2.   Takes the view that Article 2(4) of the 2002 Decision has become obsolete as a result of its decision of 13 November 2007 on the amendment of Parliament's Rules of Procedure in light of the Statute for Members[1], and instructs its Secretary-General to adapt Annex XVIII accordingly;

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

4.   Points out that the amendments will enter into force on the first day of the next part-session;

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

Amendment  1 Parliament's Rules of Procedure Rule 48 - paragraph 2
Present text	Amendment
2. Motions for resolutions contained in own-initiative reports shall be examined by Parliament under the short presentation procedure set out in Rule 139. Amendments to such motions for resolutions shall only be admissible for consideration in plenary if tabled by the rapporteur to take account of new information or by at least one-tenth of the Members of Parliament. Political groups may table alternative motions for resolutions in accordance with Rule 157(4). This paragraph shall not apply in cases where the subject of the report qualifies for a key debate in plenary, where the report is drawn up pursuant to the right of initiative referred to in Rule 41 or 42, or where the report can be considered a strategic report according to the criteria set out by the Conference of Presidents	2. Motions for resolutions contained in own-initiative reports shall be examined by Parliament under the short presentation procedure set out in Rule 139. Amendments to such motions for resolutions shall only be admissible for consideration in plenary if tabled by the rapporteur to take account of new information or by at least one-tenth of the Members of Parliament. Political groups may table alternative motions for resolutions in accordance with Rule 157(4). This paragraph shall not apply in cases where the subject of the report qualifies for a key debate in plenary, where the report is drawn up pursuant to the right of initiative referred to in Rule 41 or 42, or where the report has been authorised as a strategic report.
Amendment  2 Parliament's Rules of Procedure Rule 163 - paragraph 2 a (new)
Present text	Amendment
	2a. This Rule shall not apply to own- initiative reports, with the exception of those referred to in the last sentence of Rule 48(2).
Amendment  3 Parliament's Rules of Procedure Rule 167 - paragraph 1 - subparagraph 1 a (new)
Present text	Amendment
	When voting takes place on any own-initiative report, with the exception of those referred to in the last sentence of Rule 48(2), the roll call vote may only be requested for the final vote.

• [1]  OJ C 282 E, 6.11.2008, p.106.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

At its meeting of 7 April 2011 the Conference of Presidents approved a series of recommendations set out in a note submitted by the political group coordination concerning the treatment of own-initiative report.

With the view of improving the treatment of own-initiative report, in particular at plenary stage, the Conference of Presidents decided that INI report drawn up on the basis of annual activity and monitoring reports (as listed in Annexes 1 and 2 to Annex XVIII of the rules of procedure) should be handled as strategic reports in the sense of the last sentence of Rule 48(2) of the Rules of procedure.

The Conference of Presidents also decided, at the same meeting, to invite our committee to examine the question of whether, having regard to the objectives of the last revision of the Rules of Procedure on this issue, Rules 163 and 167 should apply to INI reports.

By letter of the 26 April 2011 the President of the European Parliament asked our committee to ensure the appropriate follow-up of those decisions.

As the recommendations adopted by the Conference of Presidents considers that " the decision on whether an INI report is strategic or not in the sense of the last sentence of Rule 48(2) of the Rules of Procedure shall be carried out (...) by the Conference of Presidents at the authorisation stage by using a more political interpretation of the Decision of the Conference of Presidents of 12 December 2002 as amended (Annex XVIII of the Rules of Procedure)" your rapporteur considers that the last sentence of Rule 48 (2) should be adapted accordingly.

Regarding the question of whether Rules 163 and 167 should apply to INI reports, the report considers that split vote should be allowed only for own-initiative reports referred to in the last sentence of Rule 48(2).. Request for roll call vote should only be allowed for the final vote, with the exception of the reports referred to in the last sentence of Rule 48(2).

Finally, as Annex XVIII of the Rules of Procedure reproduce a decision of the Conference of Presidents of 12 December 2002, your rapporteur considers that the modification of this Annex is of the competence of the Conference of Presidents and therefore AFCO can only take note of the decision taken and instruct the Secretary General to adapt the Annex accordingly. He also takes the chance of this report to instruct the Secretary General to adapt Annex XVIII in accordance with a previous Parliament decision.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

Date adopted	22.11.2011
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	19 1 2
Members present for the final vote	Andrew Henry William Brons, Carlo Casini, Andrew Duff, Ashley Fox, Giuseppe Gargani, Matthias Groote, Roberto Gualtieri, Enrique Guerrero Salom, Gerald Häfner, Daniel Hannan, Stanimir Ilchev, Constance Le Grip, Morten Messerschmidt, Paulo Rangel, Algirdas Saudargas, György Schöpflin, József Szájer, Rafał Trzaskowski
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	John Stuart Agnew, Zuzana Brzobohatá, Dimitrios Droutsas, Marietta Giannakou, Alain Lamassoure, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo