Activities of Sajjad KARIM related to 2017/2010(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the Annual Reports 2015-2016 on subsidiarity and proportionality PDF (379 KB) DOC (66 KB)
Amendments (22)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
– having regard to the decision of the President of the European Commission of 14 November 2017 on the establishment of a Task Force on Subsidiarity, Proportionality and "Doing Less More Efficiently",
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas subsidiarity and proportionality are relevantessential considerations in the context of retrospective evaluations, which assess whether EU actions are actually delivering the expected results in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, coherence, relevance and EU added value;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas in 2014, three national chambers (the Danish Folketing, the Dutch Tweede Kamer and the UK House of Lords) issued reports with detailed proposals on how the role of national parliaments could be strengthened in the decision making process;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses the importance of the European Union only acting where it can add value in order to reduce the "democratic deficit";
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Calls on the Task Force on Subsidiarity, Proportionality and "Doing Less More Efficiently", when evaluating international regulatory cooperation, to fully evaluate the European Union's relative competitiveness;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines that subsidiarity and proportionality are fundamental principles that the EU institutions should take into consideration when exercising EU competences in order to ensure that the EU adds value; recalls that these principles are aimed at enhancing the functioning of the Union by ensuring that actions are always taken at the most appropriate level of government; draws attention to the fact that these principles can be distorted to serve Eurosceptic ends and emphasises that the EU institutions should be vigilant in order to avoid and counteract this risk;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. NotWelcomes the initiative announced by the President of the Commission Jean- Claude Junker during his State of the Union Address 2017 to create a Task Force dedicated to Subsidiarity and Proportionality and headed by Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, which will include Members of the European Parliament and of national parliaments; invites the Commission to provide Parliament with more complete information about the proposed organisation and competences of this Task Force;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Strongly supports the objectives of that Task Force, in particular, how to better apply the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality in the work of the Union's institutions, notably regarding the preparation and implementation of Union legislation and policies and the identification of policy areas where decision making and implementation could be redelegated in whole or in part and definitively returned to Member States;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Task Force to take into account recommendations put forward in previously adopted European Parliament reports, including proposals for impact assessments on subsidiarity and proportionality at the end of the legislative process to assess whether these principles have been sufficiently complied with, an evaluation of the number of national parliament responses required to trigger a "yellow card" or "orange card" procedure and the requests of some national parliaments to extend the eight week period in which they can issue a reasoned opinion under Article 6 of Protocol No 2;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. NoteRegrets the Commission’s methodology in the 2015 and 2016 Annual reports, within which statistics are used to classify reasoned opinions submitted by national parliaments on a package of proposals as one single reasoned opinion, rather than a reasoned opinion on each of the individual proposals;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the adoption by the Commission in May 2015 of a new Better Regulation package to ensure, inter alia, that the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality are applied in a more integrated andrespected in a comprehensive manner; considers that the new Better Regulation framework should be a tool for the European Union to deliver legislationact in full compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality; stresses, notwithstanding the above, that, while it should provide for detailed tests of compliance with these principles so that the European Union only acts where it adds value, it should not give rise to unnecessary delays in the adoption of the relevant legislation;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. PraiseSupports the Commission’s commitment to ‘evaluate first’ before considering potential legislative changes; considers, in this respect, that the European Union and the authorities of the Member States should work closely together to ensure better monitoring, measurement and evaluation of the actual impact of EU regulation on the economy, social structurecitizens and environment in the Member States;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Underlines that impact assessments are a tool designed to assist the thorough evaluation of several different policy options before putting forward a proposal to the co-legislators; highlights, therefore, the importance of stakeholder consultation at the earliest possible stage in the legislative process to ensure that a thorough analysis of the impact of each policy option has been carried out; notes, furthermore, the importance of providing more detailed explanatory memoranda to support policy choices; highlights that in instances when thorough impact assessments have not been carried out by the Commission, the proposals have, in several cases, later been withdrawn or substantially amended;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Invites national parliaments to clearly indicate from the outset that their submission is a reasoned opinion under Protocol (No 2) to the Treaties and the legislative proposal(s) it refers to, to clearly state the reasons for which it considers that the proposal breaches the subsidiarity principle, to include a brief summary of the argumentation, and to respect the eight- week time limit from the date of transmission of the relevant draft legislative act; notes that this will facilitate a timely and adequate treatment of reasoned opinions by all the institutions involv, as far as possible; notes that in some circumstances the eight-week deadline cannot be respected by national parliaments and that this should not lead to opinions not being considered;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Is of the opinion that, since the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, the involvement of national parliaments in EU affairs has developed significantly, including through their linking up with other national parliaments; encourages national parliaments to continue and further reinforce inter-parliamentary contacts, also on bilateral basis, as a means of enhancing cooperation between Member States, and to do so with a European vision and in a European spirit, based on the rule of law and fundamental rightsbased on considering where the EU can add value; underlines that these contacts can facilitate an exchange of best practices concerning the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Draws attention to the fact that in 2016 14 chambers of 11 national parliaments submitted reasoned opinions on the proposal for a Directive amending Directive 96/71/EC of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services3 , thus reaching the threshold of one third of the votes required by Article 7(2) of Protocol (No 2) to the Treaties to trigger the so-called ‘yellow card’ procedure; recalls that the arguments put forward by the national parliaments were widely debated in Parliament with the Commission; notes that the Commission engaged with national parliaments within the framework of COSAC; noteregrets that the Commission issued a communication in which it gave extensive reasons for maintaininged the proposal4 ; considers that, with the reasons set out therein, the Commission fully complied with its obligation to give reasons for its decisionnonetheless, despite the concerns raised by national parliaments; _________________ 3 COM(2016)0128. 4 Communication of 20.7.2016 from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the National Parliaments on the proposal for a Directive amending the Posting of Workers Directive, with regard to the principle of subsidiarity, in accordance with Protocol No 2 (COM(2016)0505).
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Recalls that the ‘yellow card’ procedure has been triggered twice in the past (once in 2012 and once in 2013), which, together with this new ‘yellow card’ procedure, proves that the system functions and that national parliaments can easily and in a timely fashionnational parliaments are keen to participate in the subsidiarity debate when they wish to do sos;
Amendment 55 #
14. Recalls that, according to Article 7 of Protocol (No 2) to the Treaties, the European institutions should take account of the reasoned opinions issued by national parliaments or by a chamber of a national parliament; observes that the Commission has put in place procedures to ensure that it provides national parliaments with substantive and political responses in a timely manner; calls on the Commission to systematically forward its replies to reasoned opinions to the European Parliament so that these can be considered;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Takes note of the changes proposed by some national parliaments to the subsidiarity control mechanism; welcomes the conclusion reached by COSAC that any improvement to the subsidiarity control mechanism should not entail Treaty change; notes that an extension of the eight-week time limit in which national parliaments can issue a reasoned opinion would require an amendment of the Treaties or the Protocols thereto; notes that exclusions in addition to the month of August for the calculation of the eight- week period would unnecessarily slow down the legislative process and the adoption of important legislation;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recalls the possibilities of obtainStresses the importance of promoting access to the impact assessments and roadmaps prepared by the Commission, of participating in public and/or stakeholder consultations organised by the Commission and/or the European Parliament, and of making suggestions through the REFIT platform ‘Lighten the load: Suggestions’;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Notes, in relation to the above, that in 2015 20 parliamentary chambers co- signed or supported the first ‘green card’ initiative on food waste, and that in July 2016 nine parliamentary chambers co- signed the second ‘green card’ inviting the Commission to submit a legislative proposal implementing corporate social responsibility principles at European level; observes that some of the suggestions in the first ‘green card’ initiative were subsequently reflected in the revised Circular Economy package adopted by the Commission in December 2015; observes, therefore, that national parliaments already play a constructive role in the institutional framework and that there is no need, at this point in time, to create new institutional and administrative structures, which would make the whole process unnecessarily complicated;