MEPs win 81% of tussles over new EU laws

Date: 19/10/00

By Rory Watson

A NEW report has underlined the extent to which MEPs are using the new co-decision powers granted to them by the Amsterdam Treaty to influence the shape of EU legislation.

The internal study, carried out by European Parliament officials. examines the outcome of the 17 sets of conciliation talks between governments and the assembly to settle differences over planned Union laws in the 13 months up to the end of July. It shows that, in all, the Parliament succeeded in having 81% of its amendments accepted.

A large number of these had a direct impact on policy and on European citizens' lives. On the budgetary front, they resulted in increased funding for alternative energy and energy-efficiency programmes, environmental schemes, protection of tropical forests and youth exchanges. Parliamentary amendments have also made manufacturers responsible for recycling old vehicles and ensured that ship owners pay part of the cost of disposing of their vessels' waste.

Thanks to MEPs, young people on exchange visits will have access to other member states' health care schemes, motorists will find it easier to make claims on accidents outside the Union, and companies which fail to pay their bills on time will face heftier penalties than originally envisaged.

British Conservative member James Provan, one of the three vice-presidents who lead the parliamentary delegation in conciliation talks, said he was not surprised by the study's findings.

"I firmly believe that if we can organise ourselves properly and can act as one across the political spectrum, which we now tend to do, we can defend the Parliament's position from second reading and develop a strategy on what we want. The Council of Ministers is more divided, so it is harder for it to do that,"he said.

But he added that the current procedure, which lasts six to eight weeks and puts a heavy burden on time and resources, could be improved.

Contacts between the two institutions at an early stage in the legislative process are becoming increasingly important as the Council looks for compromises to avoid the need for conciliation talks to settle differences.

This trend is highlighted by the report. Of the 65 separate pieces of legislation processed during the period covered, 13 were concluded at first reading on the basis of the Parliament's position, a further 35 were approved after second reading and only a quarter (17) had to be settled through conciliation talks.

This is a far cry from the situation which prevailed from November 1993 to April 1999, before the co-decision changes were ushered in by the Amsterdam Treaty, when conciliation talks were required to reach agreement on 40% of the 165 directives dealt with by the two institutions.

A new report has underlined the extent to which MEPs are using the new co-decision powers granted to them by the Amsterdam Treaty to influence the shape of EU legislation.