European Parliament Rules of Procedure

KEY POINTS

The rules cover the following aspects of parliamentary life.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs):

• must exercise their mandate independently;
• enjoy certain privileges and immunities;
• must respect the Statute for MEPs and other legal obligations, including:
  • standards of conduct,
  • a Code of Conduct regarding integrity and transparency, contained in Annex I, which covers aspects such as conflicts of interest and the declaration of private interests, assets and gifts received and meetings held with interest representatives, and
  • a Code of Appropriate Behaviour for MEPs in exercising their duties, contained in Annex II.

Parliamentary officers

MEPs elect the president, 14 vice-presidents and five quaestors by secret ballot for a term of 2.5 years.

• The president:
  • directs all the activities of the Parliament and its various operations;
  • represents the Parliament;
  • ensures observance of the rules and maintains order;
  • opens, suspends and closes sittings, chairs the debates and supervises voting;
  • rules on the admissibility of amendments, of other texts put to the vote and of parliamentary questions; and
  • refers to parliamentary committees matters that concern them.
• Vice-presidents have specific responsibilities and replace the president when necessary.
• Quaestors are responsible for administrative and financial matters directly concerning MEPs.
• The Bureau consists of the president and 14 vice-presidents. The quaestors are members of the Bureau in an advisory capacity. The Bureau decides on financial, organisational and administrative matters affecting the Parliament. It is also responsible for the application of the Statute for MEPs.
• The Conference of Presidents consists of the president and the chairs of the political groups (see below). It organises the Parliament’s political work and decides legislative planning.
• The Conference of Committee Chairs consists of the chairs of all standing and special parliamentary committees. It may make recommendations on committee work and plenary session agendas.
• The Conference of Delegation Chairs consists of the chairs of all Parliament delegations to parliaments elsewhere in the world. It may make recommendations on the work of the delegations.
• Political groups are formed by MEPs on the basis of their political affinities. A minimum of 23 MEPs, elected in at least a quarter of EU Member States, is required to form a group. They receive financial and administrative support depending on their size.
  • Some MEPs do not belong to a political group. They receive support for their parliamentary activities.
  • Individual MEPs from different political groups may form a cross-party intergroup on specific issues such as animal welfare or public health. They may also form unofficial groupings to hold informal exchanges of views on specific issues across political groups.

Legislative procedures

• Ordinary legislative procedures (first, second and third readings), in which the Parliament acts as co-legislator with the Council of the European Union.
• Consultation procedures, in which the Parliament submits an opinion on a draft legal act.
• Consent procedures, in which the Parliament’s agreement is necessary before adoption of a legal act.

In the course of those legislative procedures, the Parliament pays specific attention to issues like the budgetary impact, the respect for fundamental rights, the legal basis, the delegation of legislative powers and the respect for subsidiarity.

Own-initiative procedures

In the case of legislative own-initiative reports, Parliament requests the European Commission to submit proposals (Rule 47) or submits proposals in the cases provided for by the treaties (Rule 46).

Non-legislative reports

Parliament can also prepare non-legislative own-initiative reports on specific subject matters.

• Constitutional matters, for which the rules cover the Parliament’s role when the EU’s treaties are amended, a new country joins the EU or a Member State decides to leave the EU.
• Budgetary procedures, for which the rules cover both the consideration of the annual EU budget and its multiannual financial framework.
• International agreements, for which the Parliament’s approval or opinion is required. It may also be consulted on aspects of the EU’s common foreign and security policy.

Relations with other EU institutions and bodies

The Parliament:

• elects the Commission President and the whole Commission;
• may adopt a motion of censure against the Commission;
• is involved in appointments to institutions like the European Central Bank and the Court of Auditors.

Parliamentary questions

MEPs may table written questions to:

• the Council,
• the Commission, or
• the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

They can also table oral questions, which are followed by a debate, to the Council or the Commission.

Relations with national parliaments

• The Parliament keeps national parliaments regularly informed of its activities. MEPs and members of national parliaments meet occasionally in the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs.

Sessions of the Parliament

• The Parliament holds 4-day plenary part-sessions 12 times a year in Strasbourg and additional part-sessions in Brussels.
• Detailed rules cover issues such as:
  • speaking time
  • use of languages
  • distribution of documents
  • voting.

Committees

• Standing committees prepare the Parliament’s decisions at the plenary level by submitting reports and other documents in their specific field of competence.
• Special committees may be established for a given term and a specific subject area.
• Committees of inquiry may be set up to investigate alleged contraventions of EU law or possible maladministration.
• There are rules to cover situations in which a conflict arises over the competence of two or more standing committees, along with the possibility to set up a temporary legislative committee to deal with a specific proposal for a legally binding act or a pre-legislative strategic document.

Interparliamentary delegations

The Parliament establishes interparliamentary delegations and joint committees with national parliaments around the world and cooperates with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Petitions

Any EU citizen may address a petition to the Parliament on a matter that falls within the EU’s fields of activity and that affects the petitioner directly.