Ronald Wittek / EPA
Roberta Metsola re-elected President of the European Parliament
The governments that make up the European Council consider that the new agreement between the Commission and Parliament infringes on the Council’s powers.
Several countries in the Council of the European Union are threatening to move forward with proceedings over what they consider to be a excessive expansion of powers of the European Parliament, following a new framework agreement between the Parliament and the European Commission.
According to a letter obtained by , national governments argue that the agreement risks unbalance the institutional balance established in EU treaties and encroaching on prerogatives traditionally held by member states.
The dispute centers on an agreement signed last year that gives Parliament a stronger role in EU decision-makingan area where lawmakers have long complained of being treated as secondary partners to national capitals.
In the letter, the Council states that it has “repeatedly expressed strong reservations” about the agreement and questions its compatibility with the EU’s founding treaties, which to give the Council a higher formal authority to that of Parliament in various policy areas. Governments are particularly angered by the Commission’s promise to guarantee “equal treatment” between the Council and Parliament in the legislative process, arguing that international law explicitly differentiates between the two institutions.
One of the points of contention is the growing influence of Parliament in international agreements. Governments point to trade negotiations with the Mercosur bloc, where parliamentary objections have delayed progress on a deal negotiated by the capitals over decades. The letter warns that if “problematic” elements of the framework agreement are not changed, the Council reserves the right to take the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The framework agreement was negotiated by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, after months of negotiations. Its ratification by Parliament in a plenary session in March must be formally adopted by the Commission.
Supporters argue that the agreement strengthens democratic accountabilityforcing the Commission to justify its decisions more fully, including when it ignores Parliament in emergency situations or refuses parliamentarians’ requests for new legislation.
Governments, however, oppose provisions that would allow MEPs to participate in international negotiating meetings, that require parliamentary approval before the provisional application of trade agreements, and that oblige the Commission to justify the use of emergency powers provided for in the treaties. Countries also warn that the Commission’s commitment to providing more support to legislators in designing pilot projects risks undermining its role of neutral mediator between institutions.
