Procedure completed
2008/2103(INI) Report on a strategy for the future settlement of the institutional aspects of Regulatory Agencies
Lead committee dossier: AFCO/6/61859
Legal Basis RoP 052, RoP 052-p2
| Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | AFCO | PAPASTAMKOS Georgios (PPE-DE) | |
| Opinion | BUDG | HAUG Jutta (PSE) | |
| Opinion | CONT | HERCZOG Edit (PSE) | |
| Opinion | ECON | RYAN Eoin (UEN) | |
| Opinion | ITRE | RÜBIG Paul (PPE-DE) |
Legal Basis RoP 052, RoP 052-p2
Subjects
Activites
-
2008/10/21
Results of vote in Parliament
- Results of vote in Parliament
-
T6-0495/2008
summary
The European Parliament adopted by 619 votes to 25 with 40 abstentions, a resolution on a strategy for the future settlement of the institutional aspects of Regulatory Agencies.The own-initiative report had been tabled for consideration in plenary by Georgios PAPASTAMKOS (EPP-ED, EL) on behalf of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.The resolution notes that the efforts of the Parliament and the Commission to establish a legally binding framework for the operation of the European regulatory agencies have proved fruitless. It also stresses that the draft interinstitutional agreement of 2005 has made no substantial progress owing to the Council's institutional and political opposition, and that the Commission decided to withdraw the proposal for an interinstitutional agreement and to replace it with an invitation to take part in an interinstitutional dialogue, which will result in a common approach. The Commission proposes the setting-up of an interinstitutional working group to draw up a common framework for the regulatory agencies and to define the competence of each of the institutions of the European Union vis-à-vis those agencies.MEPs consider that the Commission's proposal is a commendable initiative but they also consider that the 'common approach' falls short of its expectations of achieving an interinstitutional agreement.Regretting the absence of a general strategy for the creation of EU agencies, the resolution invites the Council and the Commission to work jointly with Parliament to produce a clear, common and coherent framework for the future position of the agencies in the scheme of EU governance. MEPs believe that the priority of the 'common framework' for interinstitutional understanding should be to rationalise the operation and maximise the added value of the regulatory agencies by creating greater transparency, visible democratic control and improved efficiency.The resolution stresses the need to establish parliamentary control over the formation and operation of regulatory agencies, which should consist principally in: (i) submission to Parliament of the annual report by the agencies themselves; (ii) possibly inviting the director of each agency to appear before the competent parliamentary committee during the appointment process; (iii) Parliament granting discharge for the execution of the budgets of those agencies which receive Community funding.The Council and the Commission are called upon to draw up jointly with Parliament the work programme for the interinstitutional working group, as soon as possible, so that it can begin its work in autumn 2008. In their opinion, Parliament should be represented in that group by the chairs or rapporteurs of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, the Committee on Budgets and two other committees with practical experience of oversight of the work of regulatory agencies.Parliament considers that the work programme of the interinstitutional working group should, inter alia, encompass the following points:a statement of the areas on which the horizontal evaluation to be carried out by the Commission by the end of 2009 is to focus; the setting of objective criteria for assessing the need for the agencies, taking into account possible alternative solutions;an assessment, regularly and in a coordinated and coherent manner, of the work and the performance of the agencies, including an external assessment, in particular by means of cost-benefit analyses;an evaluation of whether the agency option is more cost-effective than having the relevant tasks performed by the Commission departments themselves;an assessment of possible benefits lost through having certain activities performed by the regulatory agencies instead of by the Commission's departments; the taking of measures to increase the transparency of the agencies; the setting of boundaries in relation to the independence and supervision of the agencies; the appointment of representatives to the supervisory bodies for the agencies from the Council and the Commission and the interviewing of candidates by the competent parliamentary committee; the appointment of the executive bodies of the agencies, in particular their director, and defining the role of Parliament in this respect; the need for a standard approach among the agencies with regard to the presentation of their activities during the financial year in question, and of their accounts and reports on budgetary and financial management; a standard requirement for directors of all agencies to draw up and sign a declaration of assurance, including reservations where necessary.
- 2008/10/20 Debate in Parliament
- 2008/09/17 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
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2008/09/11
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
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2008/04/24
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
Documents
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0354/2008
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0495/2008
| Amendments | Dossier |
| 41 |
2008/2103(INI)
2008/06/17
CONT
6 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Notes that despite general support from Parliament and the Commission, negotiations with the Council on this draft agreement stalled during 2006, with doubts raised as to whether the use of an interinstitutional agreement was legally appropriate;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Agrees that the establishment of agencies
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8a (new) 8a. Is of the opinion that all agencies should give, together with their establishment plan, an overview of their permanent and temporary staff, as well as an overview of the number of contract staff and national experts, and the changes in relation to the previous two years;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Calls on the Commission to merge the administrative functions of the smaller agencies in order to create the critical mass required to enable the agencies satisfactorily to comply with current rules on public procurement and with the Financial Regulation and the Staff Regulations.
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 b (new) Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 11 - point 4 a (new) • The need to conduct a rolling review of the need for existing agencies and to establish criteria to decide when a regulatory agency has fulfilled its purpose and can be wound up.
source: PE-407.949
2008/07/03
BUDG
12 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Welcomes the Commission's intention to stimulate an interinstitutional dialogue on the future of European Union agencies and their place in European governance; is convinced that the time has come to decide on the general direction European governance should take and considers an interinstitutional working group a viable structure for the constructive and output oriented debate that is necessary for this purpose; underlines that all major actors from the institutional and legislative sphere, heads of agencies, as well as representatives of the budgetary authority have to participate in this working group to guarantee satisfactory results;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 19 19.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 19 a (new) 19 a. Recalls that the agencies' actions need to be governed by clear lines of accountability, in line with the provisions of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities; highlights the agencies' obligations concerning the discharge procedure;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 20 20. Considers it, in addition, of the highest importance to try to define some common rules for the presentation of the agencies' budgets with the aim of making budgetary indicators, such as implementation rates of the agencies or the individual shares making up their revenue and expenditure, more transparent and comparable;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Welcomes the Commission's intention to launch a thorough horizontal evaluation of the regulatory agencies, examining the real implications of their creation and operation in the Union; believes that, in that framework, coherent evaluation rules need to be established;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Recalls that the EU agencies have been set up in successive waves in order to meet specific needs on a case-by-case basis and that they were thus created in an uncoordinated manner without a common framework; notes, however, that none of the efforts made over the past few years to establish some common rules and principles to be applied to all agencies have been very successful; regrets the time lost and calls on the Council to make every possible effort to achieve progress in this area;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Considers, therefore, the Commission's decision to withdraw its proposal for this IIA a pragmatic step that might at the same time create an opportunity to search for other solutions which need to be found as a matter of urgency; is convinced that, for the sake of transparency, some kind of a horizontal framework is necessary for the agencies, despite their
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Wishes to reiterate the importance of securing on a systematic basis at interinstitutional level the application of the procedure laid down in Point 47 of the IIA of 17 May 2006 and stresses the need to ensure appropriate follow up of the Joint Statement of 13 July 2007 by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on decentralised agencies;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Insists that, in addition, for the agencies already in existence,
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Concludes that if, as a result of evaluation exercises, cost-effectiveness and efficiency of decentralised administration are not guaranteed, the European Union should not shy away from reversing the current tendency for outsourcing Commission tasks and should establish clear rules for terminating the mandate of decentralised agencies; takes the view, however, that where efficiency and cost- effectiveness is proven, agencies should continue to operate with appropriate and sufficient budgetary support;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 18 18. Points out that,
source: PE-409.528
2008/07/09
ECON
21 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Highlights the important role that regulatory agencies can play as distinct and auxiliary bodies of the Community institutions and the Member States with legal personality for the continuous performance of specific tasks in the area of EU competences and in the area of cooperation within the EU;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 c (new) 3c. Declares that in order to ensure democratic control of the regulatory agencies effective legal, economic, political and citizens' control are required;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Reiterates that all agencies must have a proper democratic accountability towards the EU institutions, must be established with respect for the Meroni judgement
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Considers it to be of the utmost importance to strengthen the role of the Parliament in the functioning of agencies, guaranteeing its participation in the processes of appointment and removal of the members responsible as well as the exercise of regular and systematic control over the fulfilment of the remit entrusted to them;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Questions the necessity of establishing regulatory agencies when they do not add value in areas already covered by national or independent regulatory agencies; believes,
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Calls for the adoption of clear rules for the evaluation of regulatory agencies' work; believes that cost-benefit analyses are a helpful tool for assessing the work and the performance of the agencies;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Is of the view that the transparency of the regulatory agencies must be ensured, in particular as regards their functioning, the disclosure and accessibility of information, and the programming and accountability of their actions;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 b (new) 5b. Considers that participation in the activity of the regulatory agencies will have to be ensured by formally structuring the processes of consultation and dialogue with the stakeholders;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 c (new) 5c. Advocates that the principles of good administration must be ensured by a common approach regarding personnel selection processes, budgeting and resources administration, efficient management and performance evaluation;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Supports the Commission's decision not to propose any new regulatory agencies until the end of 2009 when an evaluation to this end
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1b. Emphasises that regulatory agencies must be established in line with uniform criteria and that their design and functioning must comply with the common principles of institutional balance, good governance and good administration;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Supports the Commission's decision not to propose any new regulatory agencies until an evaluation to this end is complete;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6a. Calls for cooperation among regulatory agencies within the EU and for consideration, in the annual horizontal report on the agencies, of the possibility of consolidating those agencies with similar responsibilities so that they can function jointly, as well as abolishing those that have lost their raison d'être;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 c (new) 1c. Points out that the set up of a regulatory agency must be established through a legislative act and justified on grounds of necessity, efficacy and proportionality; when undertaking a mission in the area of shared competences between the EU and the Member States, it must also be justified according to the principle of subsidiarity;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Believes that for regulatory agencies to have a legitimate role in the EU they must adhere to a framework incorporating a clear mandate and an efficient administrative and executive structure; considers that the force of their acts derives from the underlying legislative act that created the agencies and that these acts will not have legislative character unless they are subsequently adopted by the institutions through the appropriate legislative procedure;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Believes that for regulatory agencies to have a legitimate role in the EU they must adhere to a common framework incorporating a clear mandate and an efficient administrative and executive structure;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Echoes the concern of the Commission that, in the absence of a clear framework and clearly defined mandates, regulatory agencies may stray into areas
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Echoes the concern of the Commission that, in the absence of a c
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Highlights that the principles of good governance require that the following be fully guaranteed: independence, democratic control, transparency and the participation of stakeholders in the functioning of the regulatory agency;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3b. Recalls that independence regarding the functioning of the agency must be based on the following conditions: suitability and the competence of its members, the objectivity and impartiality of their performance, the prohibition of any instruction or recommendation, the existence of strict rules to avoid incompatibilities and conflicts of interest, the need for a very high level of loyalty and transparency, the periodical rotation and the possibility of removing its members, the establishment of rules and codes with the stakeholders, the pursuit of illegal behaviour or any other interferences, and the establishment of other appropriate mechanisms;
source: PE-409.597
2008/07/10
AFCO
2 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Urges the Commission to submit the conclusions of the horizontal evaluation of the regulatory agencies promptly, before the
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13. Calls on the President and the Conference of Presidents to give priority to the question of the composition of the working group proposed by the Commission and considers it appropriate that the European Parliament be represented in that group by the chairmen or rapporteurs of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, the Committee on Budgets and two other committees with practical experience of oversight over the work of regulatory agencies;
source: PE-409.633
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