Activities of Ashley FOX related to 2013/2185(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on relations between the European Parliament and the national parliaments PDF (199 KB) DOC (104 KB)
Amendments (37)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
– having regard to its resolution of 28 January 2014 on EU Regulatory Fitness and Subsidiarity and Proportionality - 19th report on Better Lawmaking covering the year 2011
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas under the principle of sincere cooperation the Union and national institutions 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;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas Article 12 of the TEU, covering the activities of national parliaments, fleshes out the principle of sincere cooperation by stating thatand outlines the ways in which the national parliaments should contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the principle of conferral circumscribes the competences of the Union, which are exercised in accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, and whereas the national parliaments seek tohave a particular role in ensureing that draft legislative acts comply with the subsidiarity principle, and whereas the duty to adhere to the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality must also rest with the European institutions;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
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 ofas a useful tool through which they can formally engaginge in ‘political dialogue’ with the European institutions than as a formal legal means of blocking legislatthe legislative process at the European level, and whereas the official transmission of documents to national parliaments encourages not only such formal engagement but also political interest and opinion in the work of the European Union;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
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;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas following the establishment of the Interparliamentary Conference for the CFSP and the CSDP and the Interparliamentary Conference on Economic and Financial Governance, as well as the consolidation of interparliamentary committee meetings’ position as the preferred channel for cooperation, COSAC should focus on its role of making periodic reviews of the general state of the integration procesdialogue between parliamentarians elected at a national and European level, COSAC may have more scope for coordination and exchange of best practice with regard to subsidiarity interventions and other political engagements with the European institutions;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R
Recital R
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S a (new)
Recital S a (new)
Sa. whereas the yellow card procedure has been triggered on two occasions to date, in relation to the Monti II and European Public Prosecutor proposals;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S b (new)
Recital S b (new)
Sb. whereas as of 28 January 2014 national parliaments have submitted a total of 277 reasoned opinions under their new powers, which represents 16% of all submissions received, and whereas 452 draft legislative proposals have been communicated to national parliaments, implying an average response rate of 1 reasoned opinion for every 2 draft legislative proposals;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T
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;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
(a) active involvement in EU law-making (Treaty ratification powers, participation in Conventions under Article 48 of the TEU, scrutiny of national governments, scrutiny of subsidiarity, ability to oppose legislation under exceptional circumstances including the mechanism to monitor and safeguard its application, transposition of EU legislation into national law);
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
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 EUensure adherence to the principle of subsidiarity by the Commission when proposing legislation;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Takes the view, therefore, that subsidiarity compliance monitoring by national parliaments and European institutions should be seen not as a restriction but as a very necessary duty, in that it helps to mould the form and substance of EU legislation to the needs of EU citizenapplicable in the Member States, requiring that decisions be taken as close to the citizens as possible while achieving the policy objectives;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the fact that this mechanism is in practice not only being used as the formal instrument for exercising the rights afforded to national parliaments but also as a channel for consultation and cooperative dialogue between the various institutions in the EU’s multitier system;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Regrets that despite the relative success of the political engagement, the subsidiarity mechanism itself is largely dysfunctional;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Considers that the pressure on time and resources faced by national parliaments when responding to draft proposals forwarded to them by the Commission contributes to the perceived 'democratic deficit' within the EU;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9c. Recalls its adopted position in favour of reforming the subsidiarity mechanism, in order to strengthen its process and to give more rights to national parliaments;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Paragraph 9 d (new)
9d. Considers that as an interim measure the Commission could undertake on its own initiative to extend the deadline for reasoned opinions to be submitted and considered, as part of greater cooperation between the institutions and national parliaments; believes that such an extension should only come into effect where there are legitimate questions about a proposal's compliance with the principle of subsidiarity; recommends therefore that an informal extension to 16 weeks be offered where 3 reasoned opinions have been received within the 8 week period afforded to national parliaments under the Treaties;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Regrets that often the distinction between a reasoned opinion and a contribution can be unclear, and invites the national parliaments and European institutions to agree a set of criteria which can be applied in order to better define these two methods of formal and informal engagement;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 – point c
Paragraph 11 – point c
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Points out that such cooperation cannot be separated fromsits alongside the aim of contributing ‘actively to the good functioning of the Union’ and that interparliamentary meetings and cooperation arrangements therefore need to be better coordinated in order to enhance their effectiveness and quality, as well as the corepresent further opportunity for political discourse; regrets that to date often this discourse takes place in largely empty meeting rooms and consists of a series of pre-prepared interventions; believes that in order to be useful and an effective use of resources these meetings must urgently evolve away from resembling the European Parliament's plenary debates and instead serve as a more dynamic setting for real debate, lest parliamentaribution they make to the integration processans, both national and European, lose interest and instead prioritise other methods of engagement;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
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, prim COSAC should take on a more active role, building on links achieved by national parliament liaison officers based in Brussels, to facilitate exchange of best practices and stronger cooperation between national parliaments, particularily, a forum for discussion of the state of the Unions they look to exercise their rights when examining compliance with the principle of subsidiarity;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Notes that the ‘political dialogue’ (set up under the Barroso Initiative in 2006) and the early warning mechanism are two sides of the same coin; notes the development of wide-ranging relations between national parliaments and the Commission and the establishment of ’enhanced political dialogue’ as part of the European semester for economic policy coordination; resolves to keep a close eye on relations between the Commission and national parliaments;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – point c
Paragraph 24 – point c
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Stresses that interparliamentary cooperation must seek at all times to bring the right people together at the right time to address the right issues in a meaningful way, in order to ensure that the decisions taken in the various areas of responsibility benefit from the ‘added value’ brought by real dialogue and proper debate;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
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;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32