Thecommittees of the European Parliament are designed to examine proposals in detail before the matter is dealt with by the full Parliament. They comprise Standing Committees and occasional Temporary Committees or Committees on Inquiry.
Each committee is composed to reflect the overall political balance of the Parliament as a whole, with seats allocated to each of the political Groups in proportion to their size. Each committee also has substitute members who may vote in place of an absent full member from their political Group.
Standing Committees generally produce reports for consideration by Parliament in its debates. These can be on legislative proposals from the European Commission, or "own initiative reports" on a matter which the committee wishes to take up. Reports are usually drafted by arapporteur, who is appointed by the committee, selected from amongst its members. The rapporteur's draft is voted on by the committee, typically with amendments being tabled and voted on. The report as adopted by the committee is then presented to the full Parliament for debate and vote.
Each committee elects its own Chair and Vice Chairs. Traditionally, political groups in the Parliament have reached an agreement to share such posts among them (while excluding extremist parties) in proportion to their size (calculated according to theD'Hondt method). Committee members have usually, but not always, followed the recommendations of the political Groups.[1]
Before drafting legislative proposals, theEuropean Commission will consult the various standing committees before formally submitting its proposal to the Parliament and the Council to initiate theEuropean Union legislative procedure.
At the start of the legislative procedure, Parliament designates one committee as the responsible committee, though other committees may submit their own opinions to it. Occasionally, when the subject matter cuts across the responisibilties of more than one committee, joint committee meetings can be provided for or, exceptionally, an ad hoc committee to deal with a specific legislative proposal.
Reports on legislative proposals normally comprise draft amendments to the legislative proposal and a draft resolution containing a recommendation to accept or reject the proposal. These are voted on by Parliament, along with any amendments tabled by political groups or one-twentieth of the individual members.
The same committee(s) will be responsible in any second or third reading of the proposal, and will also provide the members who represent Parliament in any inter-institutional negotiations with the Council seeking to reconcile the position of the two institutions which jointly constitute the EU legislature.
Committees are also able to produce non-legislative reports relevant to their competence. The appointed rapporteur is responsible for preparing the report, and presenting it toParliament on the committee's behalf. These reports must include amotion for aresolution, an explanatory statement, and must also outline financial implications. These can be own-initiative reports requesting the Commission to draft legislative proposals for consideration by the Parliament and the Council. Before drawing up any such report, a committee must obtain the permission of theConference of Presidents. The Conference of Presidents has two months to make a decision, and any reasons for withholding permission must always be stated.
When drawing up a report, a committee may ask the opinion of another committee on the matter, particularly if it is felt that a proposed amendment would fall into the interests of another committee. The committee asked for an opinion will be named as such in the final report. The chair and drafter of the secondary committee may be invited to take part in any committee discussions held by the primary committee, where the meeting deals with the matter that the secondary committee is advising on.
Amendments that are proposed by the secondary committee will be voted on by the committee responsible for producing the report.
If theConference of Presidents decides that a requested report falls equally to two committees, both committees will agree upon a joint timetable, and shall work together in producing the report.
This is a list of standing committees along with the respective chairperson as of July 2024.
Under Rule 213 of its rules of procedure, the Parliament may at any time set up special committees for specific reports for an initial period of no longer than 12 months. Examples of such special committees have been:
The European Parliament was granted the right to create temporary committees of inquiry under Article 226 of the 1993Maastricht Treaty. This in fact recognised an existing practice, as the Parliament had created nine committees of inquiry in the period between the introduction of direct elections in 1979 and the inclusion of this legal basis in the treaty. They were:
| Year | Committee |
|---|---|
| 1983 | TheSeveso disaster |
| 1984 | The rise of fascism and racism. The committee's work led to the 'Joint Declaration against racism and xenophobia'. |
| 1985 | The drugs problem |
| 1986 | Agricultural stocks |
| 1988 | TheTransnuklear scandal |
| 1988 | Hormones in meat |
| 1991 | Racism and Xenophobia (The application of the Joint Declaration against racism and xenophobia) |
| 1991 | Trans-frontier crime linked to drug trafficking. |
Since then, under Article 226 of the 1993Maastricht Treaty, the Inquiry Committees since 1995 have been:
| EP | Year | Abbrev | Committee of inquiry | Chairperson | Rapporteur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fourth | 1996-1997 | TRANSIT | Temporary Committee of Inquiry into theCommunity Transit System | John Tomlinson | Edward Kellett-Bowman |
| Fourth | 1996-1997 | ESB I | Temporary Committee of Inquiry into BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) | Reimer Böge | Manuel Medina Ortega |
| Sixth | 2006-2007 | EQUI | Temporary Committee of Inquiry into the Crisis ofthe Equitable Life Assurance Society | Mairead McGuinness | Diana Wallis |
| Eighth | 2015 | EMIS | on the measurement of emissions in the automotive sector, established on 17 December 2015, whose work was finalised on 4 April 2017. SeeDieselgate. | Kathleen Van Brempt | Pablo Zalba Bidegain,Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy |
| Eighth | 2016 | PANA | on money laundering, tax avoidance and tax fraud, established on 8 June 2016, whose work was finalised on 13 December 2017. SeePanama Papers. | Werner Langen | Jeppe Kofod,Petr Ježek |
| Ninth | 2020 | ANIT | on the Protection ofanimals during transport, established on 19 June 2020.[5] | Tilly Metz | Daniel Buda,Isabel Carvalhais |
| Ninth | 2022 | PEGA | On the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware, established on 10 March 2022. SeePegasus Project (investigation). | Jeroen Lenaers | Sophie in 't Veld |
MEPs also compose delegations to various Parliaments outside of the European Union. Joint parliamentary committees are set up with candidate countries. There are also delegations to theACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, theEuro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly[6] theEuronest Parliamentary Assembly and theEuro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly[7] and theEU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly.
Two bodies in the Parliament are theConference of Committee Chairs (CCC) and theConference of Delegation Chairs (CDC). The Conference of Committee Chairs is the political body in Parliament that organises cooperation between the committees and consists of the chairs of all the standing and special committees.The Conference of Delegation Chairs is the political body in Parliament that periodically considers all matters concerning the smooth running of interparliamentary delegations and delegations to the joint parliamentary committees. They may make recommendations to theConference of Presidents and can be instructed to carry out particular tasks by theBureau or Conference of Presidents.[8][9]
