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Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament
8th parliamentary term - April 2015
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TITLE II  : LEGISLATIVE, BUDGETARY AND OTHER PROCEDURES
CHAPTER 6  : CONCLUSION OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE

Rule 73  : Interinstitutional negotiations in legislative procedures

1.    Negotiations with the other institutions aimed at reaching an agreement in the course of a legislative procedure shall be conducted having regard to the Code of Conduct laid down by the Conference of Presidents (1).

2.    Such negotiations shall not be entered into prior to the adoption by the committee responsible, on a case-by-case basis for every legislative procedure concerned and by a majority of its members, of a decision on the opening of negotiations. That decision shall determine the mandate and the composition of the negotiating team. Such decisions shall be notified to the President, who shall keep the Conference of Presidents informed on a regular basis.

The mandate shall consist of a report adopted in committee and tabled for later consideration by Parliament. By way of exception, where the committee responsible considers it duly justified to enter into negotiations prior to the adoption of a report in committee, the mandate may consist of a set of amendments or a set of clearly defined objectives, priorities or orientations.

3.    The negotiating team shall be led by the rapporteur and presided over by the Chair of the committee responsible or by a Vice-Chair designated by the Chair. It shall comprise at least the shadow rapporteurs from each political group.

4.    Any document intended to be discussed in a meeting with the Council and the Commission ("trilogue") shall take the form of a document indicating the respective positions of the institutions involved and possible compromise solutions and shall be circulated to the negotiating team at least 48 hours, or in cases of urgency at least 24 hours, in advance of the trilogue in question.

After each trilogue the negotiating team shall report back to the following meeting of the committee responsible. Documents reflecting the outcome of the last trilogue shall be made available to the committee.

Where it is not feasible to convene a meeting of the committee in a timely manner, the negotiating team shall report back to the Chair, the shadow rapporteurs and the coordinators of the committee, as appropriate.

The committee responsible may update the mandate in the light of the progress of the negotiations.

5.    If the negotiations lead to a compromise, the committee responsible shall be informed without delay. The agreed text shall be submitted to the committee responsible for consideration. If approved by a vote in committee, the agreed text shall be tabled for consideration by Parliament in the appropriate form, including compromise amendments. It may be presented as a consolidated text provided that it clearly displays the modifications to the proposal for a legislative act under consideration.

6.    Where the procedure involves associated committees or joint committee meetings, Rules 54 and 55 shall apply to the decision on the opening of negotiations and to the conduct of such negotiations.

In the event of disagreement between the committees concerned, the modalities for the opening of negotiations and the conduct of such negotiations shall be determined by the Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs in accordance with the principles set out in those Rules.

(1)See Annex XX.
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