BETA

48 Amendments of Jo LEINEN related to 2013/2185(INI)

Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
B. whereas under the principle of sincere cooperation the Union and national institutionMember States assist each other, in full mutual respect, in carrying out tasks which flow from the Treaties and whereas the latter institutions facilitate the achievement of the Union's tasks and refrain from any measures that could jeopardise the attainment of the Union's objectives;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
C. whereas Article 12 of the TEU, covering the activities of national parliaments, fleshes out the principle of sincere cooperation by stating that the national parliaments should contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
G. whereas the European Parliament and the national parliaments are, in their respective spheres, the pillars of the Union's two-fold democratic legitimacy, the former as the institution in which EU citizens are directly represented and the latter as the national institutions to which the governments represented in the Council are directly accountable;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
H. whereas, accordingly, the national parliaments taken together do not form a ‘third chamber’ in the EU’s constitutional set-up, but instead serve to make the Union’s second chamber, the Council, more democratic;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
I. whereas the national parliaments’ competences in connection with the subsidiarity principle are viewed by most of those parliaments more as a means of engaging in ‘political dialogue’ with the European institutions than as a formal legal means of blocking legislation;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
L. whereas this approach on the part of national parliaments should be turned to good account by also taking proper notice of national parliament opinions dealing with matters other than compliance with the subsidiarity principle;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
M. whereas, furthermore, it is important for each national parliament, or each chamber thereof, to forge closer links – in particular in connection with the early warning mechanism – with regional parliaments that have legislative powers;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
N. whereas the inclusion of national parliaments in a European parliamentary system needs to be properly regulated with a view to building a Union that is ever more integrated, democratic, transparent and close to the people;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
P. whereas, what is more, at the current stage in the integration process, although they do not have a direct legislative role at Union level, the national parliaments have their own special role to play in bolstering ‘European awareness’ in the Member States and bringing citizens closer to the EU;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S
S. whereas although the national parliaments’ role and contribution are clear under the new institutional set-up stemming from the Lisbon Treaty, the new provisions have been implemented in the absence of a clear overall institutional vision;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S a (new)
Sa. whereas the changes made to its Rules of Procedure have taken into account the Lisbon Treaty provisions on the role of national parliaments in the EU;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T
T. whereas this is due in part to the fact that the role of the EU Speakers’ Conference as a political driving force in interparliamentary relations still needs to be more clearly defined and placed on a more formal institutional footing;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital U
U. whereas, almost five years after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, with a view to future Conventions, relations between the European Parliament and the national parliaments now need be consolidated and properly organised in order to avoid duplication and to help to give greater democratic legitimacy to the European integration process, as well as to ensure that democratic scrutiny is exercised in a timely manner and at the level at which decisions are taken and implemented and that everyone all parties in the legislative process receive the information they require;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
2. Points out the two-fold democratic legitimacy of the Union, as a union of peoplecitizens and of sMember States, is embodied, in the EU legislative process, by the European Parliament and the Council; believes that, if the Member States are to be represented in a unitary, fully democratic manner in the EU, the stances taken by national governments in the Council must reflect the views of their national parliaments; stresses that, by guiding and scrutinising the work of their governments, national parliaments help to make the Council more democraticshould take in due account the views of their national parliaments;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses that proper legitimacy and accountability must be ensured at national and EU levels by national parliaments and the European Parliament respectively; recalls the principle set out in the conclusions of the December 2012 European Council meeting that 'throughout the process, the general objective remains to ensure democratic legitimacy and accountability at the level at which decisions are taken and implemented';
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
3. Calls, to this end, for national parliaments to (a) improve their guidance and scrutiny procedures, with a view to achieving greater consistency, (b) provide ministers and national governments with prior guidance on their work within the Council, (c) scrutinise the stances taken by ministers and national governments within the Council, and (d) play an effective role in providing guidance on and scrutinising the implementation of directives and regulations, and for Council deliberations on legislative acts to be made more transparent;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recognizes the role played by the European Parliament committees and National Parliaments committees through the EU legislative process;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
5. Believes that the lack of transparency of Council deliberations on legislative acts preventsmakes it difficult for governments from beingto be genuinely accountable to their national parliaments;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that only two 'yellow cards' - and no 'orange cards' at all – have been shown in the subsidiarity scrutiny process to date, and points out that the purpose of the early warning mechanism is not to block the European decision-making process but to improve the quality of EU legislationmake sure that the EU acts in the framework of its competences;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
7. Takes the view, therefore, that subsidiarity compliance monitoring by national parliaments and European institutions should be seen not as an undue restriction but as a very necessary duty, in that it helps to mould the form and substamechanism to guarantee the competences of EU legislation to the needs of EU citiznational parliaments;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
8. Believes that the early warning mechanism should be viewed and used as a key means ofone of the tools for ensuring proactive cooperation between European and national institutions;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the fact that this mechanism is in practice being also used as a channel for consultation and cooperative dialogue between the various institutions in the EU's multitier system;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
10. Believes, given that subsidiarity scrutiny is a dynamic process, that reasoned opinions delivered by national parliaments should be viewed by the institutions not least as an opportunity to gain a clearer picture of how best to achieve the objectives set for legislative acts, and calls on the Commission to reply promptly and fully to reasoned opinions and contributions sent in by national parliaments;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 – point d
(d) promote cooperation with the parliaments of non-EU countries;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
12. Views interparliamentary meetings as places where EU policies and national policies come together and feed off each other, to the benefit of both; believes that a key function of such meetings is to allow national parliaments to take account of the European perspective in national debates, and the European Parliament to take account of the national perspective in European debates; reiterates that the aim of such cooperation is not to form a new joint parliamentary body for inclusion in the Union’s current decision-making set- up, as this would be both ineffective and undemocratic and unconstitutional;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
13. Draws attention the fact that the novel European interparliamentary system that is in the process of taking shape is in need of a legal framework and of more formal procedures, to be established jointly with the national parliaments, in order to move forward with the process of ‘parliamentarising’ the European Union and consolidate the multitier parliamentary system;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Welcomes the actions that - following the recommendations of the steering group on relations with national parliaments - have been taken since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon to intensify cooperation between national parliaments and the European Parliament, in particular the planning and the increase of the number of interparliamentary committee meetings (50 since 2010), the information to members and relevant political bodies of national parliament submissions (reasoned opinions and contributions), the introduction of videoconferences, the promotion of bilateral visits, technical improvements to the InterParliamentary EU information eXchange (IPEX); the increase in collaborative projects within the framework of the European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD); visits of administrative officials and exchange of information and of best practices; believes that these actions help to make interparliamentary relations more efficient and more focused, whilst contributing to parliamentary democratisation;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
15. Believes that the development of formal interparliamentary conferencemeetings should be based on common ground rulepractical arrangements which make allowance for the special features of each type of conference;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
17. Draws attention to the need forTakes note of the role of the EU Speakers' Conference to lend greater political impetus to and shape interparliamentary cooperation, in keeping with the remit for each conference and meetingin the interparliamentary cooperation;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
18. Points out, furthermore, thatEncourages the effectiveness of interparliamentary committee meetings are more effective and calls for closer cooperation between rapporteurs on specific legislative issues;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Welcomes the effective meetings between political groups and European political parties to be held as part of the arrangements for EU interparliamentary cooperation;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
19. Believes that, not least in the light of the new interparliamentary conferences on the CFSP/CSDP and economic and financial governance, COSAC should take on a more specialist role as, primarily, a forum for discussion of the state of the Uncan act as a forum for discussion;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
21. Stresses that interparliamentary cooperation must be open and inclusive and voices its concern about restricted interparliamentary meetings, to which some parliaments are not invited, being organised without proper consultation in order to adopt positions on EU affairs which are not consensus-based; points out that this practice is contrary to the spirit and letter of the Treaties, as is interparliamentary cooperation conducted at administrative level;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
23. Calls for a careful appraisal to be made of relations between the Commission and national parliaments and calls, in accordance with the spirit of the Treaties, for the European Parliament to be more closely involved in those relations;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – introductory part
24. Proposes that an interparliamentary agreementunderstanding should be concluddeveloped between the national parliaments and the European Parliament, to form the basis for organised,an efficient cooperation pursuant to Article 9 of Protocol No 1 to the Lisbon Treaty and Rule 130 of its own rules of procedure and to cover, inter alia:;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point a
(a) the basic features of interparliamentary cooperation;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point b
(b) common ground rules;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point c
(c) the European issues, both general and sector-specific, that are of shared interest;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point d
(d) exchanges of information, documents and best practice;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point e
(e) reciprocal arrangements facilitating interparliamentary relations;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
25. Calls for regular, effective meetings between political groups and European political parties to be held as part of the arrangements for EU interparliamentary cooperation;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
26. Notes the changes made to its Rules of Procedure in order to take account of the Lisbon Treaty provisions on the role of national parliaments in the EU;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
27. Suggests that a budget line be created in order to provide support for appropriate and effective interparliamentary cooperation at committee and rapporteur level on specific legislative issues;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
29. Believes that COSAC should serve primarily as a forum for in-depth discussion of the state of the Union, with a view to the gradual integration of the peoples and states of Europe;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
30. Proposes that COSAC should also take a detailed look at difficulties experienced by national parliaments in exercising the prerogatives conferred on them by the Lisbon Treaty;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
31. Calls for the conferences on the CFSP/CSDP and economic and financial government to continue;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)
31a. Recalls that with respect to the conference on economic governance, which is based on Article 13 of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance, an agreement reached by the EU Speakers in their Conference in Nicosia in April 2013 provides for a number of arrangements for that conference and for a review of these arrangements to be completed in 2015 in the Rome EU Speakers' Conference; takes the view accordingly that any procedure for adoption of practical arrangements for the conference on economic governance prior to that review would be premature and should therefore be avoided;
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
32. Calls for arrangements ensuring effective interparliamentary cooperation on Eurojust and Europol to be introduced;deleted
2014/03/04
Committee: AFCO