Activites

• 1996/04/22 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1996/03/27 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0147/1996 summary

    In adopting the VALVERDE LOPEZ report, the European Parliament takes the view that dialogue between the European Council and Parliament must be stepped up, in particular by means of more frequent attendance by the President of the European Council at Parliament's part-sessions and by regularly involving the President of Parliament in the European Council's work. He considers it desirable for the Union's legislative priorities to be laid down by the institutions after the European Council has drawn up its annual report on progress achieved by the Union and drawn up its general political guidelines for the following year. Concerning legislative procedures, Parliament regrets that proposals concerning social, environmental and fiscal policy and company law have been blocked for several years and the fact that the Council has adopted about 50 instruments without consulting either the European Parliament or the national parliaments. It regrets the delay in introducing genuine freedom of movement for persons and considers that the concept of citizenship should be given greater substance by guaranteeing the protection of fundamental rights. Concerning the common foreign and security policy and 'pillar three' (justice and home affairs), Parliament regrets the refusal of the Council to define with Parliament the terms under which Parliament is to be involved in accordance with the new provisions of the TEU. However, it welcomes the progress made with preparations for introducing the single currency and expresses the hope that the Italian Presidency will ensure that progress is made on the vital question of relationships between the currencies of the Member States which will be part of the EMU and of those Member States which will remain outside. �

• 1996/03/14 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1996/02/20 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0060/1996
• 1995/06/16 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1995/04/20 Non-legislative basic document published
  • 06474/1995 summary

    OBJECTIVE: report to the European Parliament by the European Council on the progress achieved by the European Union. CONTENT: the report stresses that 1994 represented a turning point - the year in which the Council endeavoured to specify how the European Community would evolve into the European Union, consolidate Community acquis and prepare the milestones along the path of European development over the next ten years. As far as the implementation of the TEU is concerned, the Council is keen to apply the new provisions which are designed to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the Union, be it the codecision procedure, the principle of subsidiarity or citizenship in its various political and cultural dimensions. The same applies to the chapter on external policy, with the gradual implementation of the CFSP and the development of specific activities on the ground following the adoption of several joint actions or common positions on matters instrumental to peace and stability. Similar efforts are being made with the implementation of "pillar three" (justice and home affairs), although the results are still patchy. In addition to institutional and political aspects, the Council also turned its attention to the development of Community policies, giving priority to the implementation of the programme on growth, competitiveness and employment drawn up in Brussels at the end of 1993. The Corfu and Essen Councils extended the strategy contained in this programme to three priority areas of action: the reform of labour systems, the effective implementation of the trans-European networks and information society skills. At the same time, the Council has turned its attention to the proper working of the internal market, extending the single market principle to new sectors such as energy and telecommunications and continuing in its efforts to adjust sectoral policies. Finally, the Council prepared for the next stage of European development, i.e. the arrival of three new Member States on 1 January 1995, enlargement to the CEECs and Cyprus and Malta and the 1996 IGC on the revision of the Treaties. On the specific point of relations with the European Parliament, the Council noted that the introduction of the codecision procedure involved the creation of new interinstitutional dialogue structures, resulting in the adoption of a number of texts designed to improve collaboration and rationalize relations between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission ("modus vivendi" between the three institutions with regard to implementing measures for acts adopted under the codecision procedure, decision including the modus operandi of Parliament's right of inquiry, interinstitutional agreement on a fast-track procedure for officially codifying legislative texts). The Council enhanced its contacts with the European Parliament by taking part in plenary sessions and committee meetings and responded to the European Parliament's request to be quickly and fully informed of major events in Community life, including within the framework of the CFSP and "pillar three". Finally, the Council stipulated that two European Parliament representatives would take part in the work of the study group in charge of preparing the 1996 IGC.�

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: 06474/1995
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0060/1996
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0147/1996

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)