BETA


2007/2205(INI) Defence of the prerogatives of the European Parliament before the national courts

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead JURI GARGANI Giuseppe (icon: PPE-DE PPE-DE)
Committee Opinion AFCO LEINEN Jo (icon: PSE PSE)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54

Events

2008/09/29
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2008/08/27
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2008/07/08
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2008/07/08
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 593 votes to 55, with 26 abstentions, a resolution on the defence of the prerogatives of the European Parliament before the national courts.

The own initiative report had been tabled for consideration in plenary by Giuseppe GARGANI (EPP-ED, IT) on behalf of the Committee on Legal Affairs.

The resolution recalls that the European Parliament has no legal personality and that, as a result, it is often impeded in protecting its prerogatives before national courts from problems that are peculiar to its special nature. The European Parliament does not have the same direct instruments with which to defend its prerogatives before the national courts, especially in the event of a national judgment which runs counter to those prerogatives, since the Parliament can neither participate in national legal proceedings nor directly bring an action before the Court of Justice to defend its decisions. The European Parliament cannot even initiate, as a last resort, infringement proceedings (under Article 226 of the EC Treaty) against a Member State, since only the Commission has the power to do so. In order to obviate these problems, it would be advisable to strengthen the measures to protect parliamentary prerogatives, not by amending the EC Treaty but by attempting to extrapolate, from the experience of the national parliaments, remedies that are appropriate to the specific requirements of the European Parliament.

In light of these considerations, MEPs call on the Commission to take account of requests by the European Parliament to bring infringement proceedings against any Member State for breach of parliamentary prerogatives, and asks that it be given a comprehensive statement of reasons by the competent Commissioner should the College of Commissioners decide not to take the action requested.

The resolution suggests that the Statute of the Court of Justice be amended in order to give the European Parliament the right to submit its observations to the Court in all cases in which, directly or indirectly, its prerogatives are called into question, so that the involvement of the European Parliament, where the latter is not formally a party to the proceedings, is not left to the discretion of the Court of Justice as currently provided for under Article 24(2) of the Statute.

The committee responsible is called to prepare an amendment to Rule 121 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure so as to cover all legal proceedings before any court and to provide for a simplified procedure for use where proceedings are brought before the Court of Justice under an expedited or urgent procedure.

Lastly, MEPs believe that it advisable to foster a policy of cooperation between the European Parliament and national courts, and call on the Commission to propose the appropriate legislative measures in order to ensure the full effectiveness of the legal defence by Parliament of its prerogatives.

Documents
2008/07/08
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2008/06/04
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2008/06/04
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2008/05/29
   EP - Vote in committee
Details

The Committee on Legal Affairs adopted the initiative report by Giuseppe GARGANI (EPP-ED, IT) on the defence of the prerogatives of the European Parliament before the national courts.

MEPs invite the Commission to take account of requests by the European Parliament to bring infringement proceedings against any State for breach of parliamentary prerogatives. It also asks that it be given a comprehensive statement of reasons by the competent Commissioner should the College of Commissioners decide not to take the action requested.

The report suggests that the Statute of the Court of Justice be amended in order to give the European Parliament the right to submit its observations to the Court in all cases in which, directly or indirectly, its prerogatives are called into question, so that the involvement of the European Parliament, where the latter is not formally a party to the proceedings, is not left to the discretion of the Court of Justice as currently provided for under Article 24(2) of the Statute.

The committee responsible is invited to prepare an amendment to Rule 121 of the Rules of Procedure so as to cover all legal proceedings before any court and to provide for a simplified procedure for use where proceedings are brought before the Court of Justice under an expedited or urgent procedure.

Lastly, MEPs consider it advisable to foster a policy of cooperation between the European Parliament and national courts and invite the Commission to propose the appropriate legislative measures in order to ensure the full effectiveness of the legal defence by Parliament of its prerogatives.

2008/05/28
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2008/04/18
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2008/02/27
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2007/09/27
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2007/09/27
   EP - Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament
2007/09/10
   EP - GARGANI Giuseppe (PPE-DE) appointed as rapporteur in JURI
2007/06/26
   EP - LEINEN Jo (PSE) appointed as rapporteur in AFCO

Documents

Votes

Rapport Gargani A6-0222/2008 - résolution #

2008/07/08 Outcome: +: 593, -: 55, 0: 26
DE IT FR ES PL RO HU EL PT BE NL AT BG SK LT CZ FI IE LV DK SI EE LU CY MT SE GB
Total
91
62
67
46
44
32
19
22
20
17
24
16
15
13
12
21
13
12
8
13
6
6
6
6
4
16
63
icon: PPE-DE PPE-DE
256
2

Denmark PPE-DE

1

Estonia PPE-DE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg PPE-DE

3

Malta PPE-DE

2
icon: PSE PSE
187

Lithuania PSE

2

Czechia PSE

2

Finland PSE

2

Ireland PSE

1

Estonia PSE

3

Luxembourg PSE

For (1)

1

Malta PSE

2
icon: ALDE ALDE
90
2

Austria ALDE

1

Ireland ALDE

For (1)

1

Latvia ALDE

1

Slovenia ALDE

2

Estonia ALDE

2

Luxembourg ALDE

For (1)

1

Cyprus ALDE

Abstain (1)

1

Sweden ALDE

2
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
34

Italy Verts/ALE

2

Spain Verts/ALE

1

Romania Verts/ALE

1

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Sweden Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

United Kingdom Verts/ALE

3
icon: UEN UEN
33

Lithuania UEN

2

Ireland UEN

3

Denmark UEN

Against (1)

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
36

France GUE/NGL

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Portugal GUE/NGL

2

Netherlands GUE/NGL

2

Finland GUE/NGL

Against (1)

1

Ireland GUE/NGL

Against (1)

1

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2

Sweden GUE/NGL

2

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

Against (1)

1
icon: NI NI
23

Italy NI

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Austria NI

2

Bulgaria NI

Abstain (1)

1

Czechia NI

Against (1)

1

United Kingdom NI

Abstain (1)

6
icon: IND/DEM IND/DEM
15

France IND/DEM

Abstain (1)

1

Poland IND/DEM

3

Greece IND/DEM

1

Netherlands IND/DEM

2

Czechia IND/DEM

Abstain (1)

1

Ireland IND/DEM

For (1)

1

Denmark IND/DEM

Against (1)

1
AmendmentsDossier
21 2007/2205(INI)
2008/04/18 JURI 5 amendments...
source: PE-405.717
2008/04/28 AFCO 8 amendments...
source: PE-405.887
2008/05/07 AFCO 8 amendments...
source: PE-405.993

History

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

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  • date: 2008-04-18T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE405.717 title: PE405.717 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP
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  • date: 2007-09-27T00:00:00 type: Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament body: EP
  • date: 2008-05-29T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP summary: The Committee on Legal Affairs adopted the initiative report by Giuseppe GARGANI (EPP-ED, IT) on the defence of the prerogatives of the European Parliament before the national courts. MEPs invite the Commission to take account of requests by the European Parliament to bring infringement proceedings against any State for breach of parliamentary prerogatives. It also asks that it be given a comprehensive statement of reasons by the competent Commissioner should the College of Commissioners decide not to take the action requested. The report suggests that the Statute of the Court of Justice be amended in order to give the European Parliament the right to submit its observations to the Court in all cases in which, directly or indirectly, its prerogatives are called into question, so that the involvement of the European Parliament, where the latter is not formally a party to the proceedings, is not left to the discretion of the Court of Justice as currently provided for under Article 24(2) of the Statute. The committee responsible is invited to prepare an amendment to Rule 121 of the Rules of Procedure so as to cover all legal proceedings before any court and to provide for a simplified procedure for use where proceedings are brought before the Court of Justice under an expedited or urgent procedure. Lastly, MEPs consider it advisable to foster a policy of cooperation between the European Parliament and national courts and invite the Commission to propose the appropriate legislative measures in order to ensure the full effectiveness of the legal defence by Parliament of its prerogatives.
  • date: 2008-06-04T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2008-222&language=EN title: A6-0222/2008
  • date: 2008-07-08T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=15156&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2008-07-08T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2008-327 title: T6-0327/2008 summary: The European Parliament adopted by 593 votes to 55, with 26 abstentions, a resolution on the defence of the prerogatives of the European Parliament before the national courts. The own initiative report had been tabled for consideration in plenary by Giuseppe GARGANI (EPP-ED, IT) on behalf of the Committee on Legal Affairs. The resolution recalls that the European Parliament has no legal personality and that, as a result, it is often impeded in protecting its prerogatives before national courts from problems that are peculiar to its special nature. The European Parliament does not have the same direct instruments with which to defend its prerogatives before the national courts, especially in the event of a national judgment which runs counter to those prerogatives, since the Parliament can neither participate in national legal proceedings nor directly bring an action before the Court of Justice to defend its decisions. The European Parliament cannot even initiate, as a last resort, infringement proceedings (under Article 226 of the EC Treaty) against a Member State, since only the Commission has the power to do so. In order to obviate these problems, it would be advisable to strengthen the measures to protect parliamentary prerogatives, not by amending the EC Treaty but by attempting to extrapolate, from the experience of the national parliaments, remedies that are appropriate to the specific requirements of the European Parliament. In light of these considerations, MEPs call on the Commission to take account of requests by the European Parliament to bring infringement proceedings against any Member State for breach of parliamentary prerogatives, and asks that it be given a comprehensive statement of reasons by the competent Commissioner should the College of Commissioners decide not to take the action requested. The resolution suggests that the Statute of the Court of Justice be amended in order to give the European Parliament the right to submit its observations to the Court in all cases in which, directly or indirectly, its prerogatives are called into question, so that the involvement of the European Parliament, where the latter is not formally a party to the proceedings, is not left to the discretion of the Court of Justice as currently provided for under Article 24(2) of the Statute. The committee responsible is called to prepare an amendment to Rule 121 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure so as to cover all legal proceedings before any court and to provide for a simplified procedure for use where proceedings are brought before the Court of Justice under an expedited or urgent procedure. Lastly, MEPs believe that it advisable to foster a policy of cooperation between the European Parliament and national courts, and call on the Commission to propose the appropriate legislative measures in order to ensure the full effectiveness of the legal defence by Parliament of its prerogatives.
  • date: 2008-07-08T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
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Defence of the prerogatives of the European Parliament before the national courts
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