Race against time as MEPs struggle to achieve goals

Date:17/07/03

By Martin Banks

MEMBERS of the European Parliament face a "huge" task to complete their workload by the end of their mandate, admits the assembly's President Pat Cox.

MEPs have effectively already started their long summer recess and will not resume their Parliamentary duties until 25 August.

The next session will be the last one of the current five-year term and those deputies seeking re-election are expected to spend an increasing amount of their time campaigning in their home countries in the run-up to next June's polls.

Cox admits Parliament will have to "prioritize" if it is to meet the "huge" challenge of completing its legislative programme by next spring.

Rising concern that this will not be achieved is the main reason why the EU's three main institutions - Parliament, European Commission and Council of Ministers - have struck a deal to clear the backlog of all first readings in the pipeline and all "achievable" second readings by April next year.

When they return to work, members will face a raft of major items to deal with, including:

• Sea pollution - legislation to combat future Prestige-style disasters. Due to be discussed in September;
• the quality and safety of human cells and tissues (September);
• rail transport package - controversial proposals to harmonize freight and passenger rail services (November);
• energy: petroleum products and security of supply (December), and;
• new laws to protect consumers from illegal sales techniques (early 2004).

Jean-Yves Loog, press officer at the Parliament, said there are at least 50 major legislative items, each needing co-decision, which must be completed by next April.

Next year's legislative calendar will be shortened by the arrival in May of MEPs from the ten new member states and by the elections, scheduled for 13 June, which will affect the assembly's work rhythm.

This will leave the end of April as, effectively, the last "business-as-usual" plenary of the Parliamentary term.

Loog explained: "There are time constraints for each piece of legislation to be steered through the three institutions.

"If a piece of legislation is to be adopted by the EU, according to the rules, it needs to be done in a valid time frame."

For instance, a legislative proposal on which the Council and Parliament do not agree after two readings each, requires a last-chance conciliation meeting, which must take place no later than six weeks after Parliament's second reading.

"This means, for example, that a co-decision report sent by the Commission in January 2004 would have no chance of being wrapped up by April 2004 by both Parliament and Council," Loog added.

"There is a huge number of items in the pipeline and members will want to have as many items as possible adopted by April.

"But this is not going to be easy as we are effectively losing the May, June and July sessions. Clearly, there is a lot of work to be done when Parliament resumes."

President of the European Parlaiment, Pat Cox, has admitted that there is still much to be achieved before the current mandate comes to an end in 2004.