100 Steps Forward the European Parliament and the Upgrading of European Democracy Since the Lisbon Treaty
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100 steps forward the european parliament and the upgrading of european democracy since the lisbon treaty Cabinet of the Secretary-General April 2014 THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ONE HUNDRED STEPS FORWARD THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE UPGRADING OF EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY SINCE THE LISBON TREATY REPORT PE533.193 EN 1 This report was assembled for presentation to European Parliament’s Secretariat and the Directors-General at the 'Awaydays' meeting in Vaals, The Netherlands on 23-24 January 2014. THE EDITOR: Klaus Welle The Secretary-General European Parliament B-1047 Brussels Email contact: [email protected] RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATORS: Philipp M. Schulmeister With the assistance of Katarzyna Sochacka CSG EP2025 Long Term Trends Team Cabinet of the Secretary-General European Parliament B-1047 Brussels Email contact: [email protected] LINGUISTIC VERSIONS: Original: EN DOCUMENT COMPILED BY: EP2025 Long Term Trends Team Cabinet of the Secretary-General ___________ Manuscript completed in April 2014 Brussels, © European Parliament, 2014 ___________ DISCLAIMER Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. 2 One Hundred Steps Forward: The European Parliament and the Upgrading of European Democracy since the Lisbon Treaty One Hundred Steps Forward ............................................................................................................................. 7 I. The EP in multi-polar and multi-level policy making 1. EP powers over the European budget after the Lisbon Treaty The European Parliament and the new MFF programming (putting A.312 TFEU and A.324.TFEU in practice): The SURE report on the MFF ............................ 11 The European Parliament and the new MFF programming (putting A.312 TFEU and A.324.TFEU in practice): The struggle for the new MFF ............................. 15 The battle for an own resources system .......................................................................................................... 19 The new positioning for the EU annual budget: The 2010-2013 payments crisis .................................... 23 Parliamentary scrutiny (and control) of the implementation of the European budget: The battle for a new Financial Regulation ...................................................................................................... 27 EU financial instruments for external action ................................................................................................. 31 2. Control on international agreements and negotiations International agreements ................................................................................................................................... 35 The European Parliament and the Fisheries Partnership Agreements ....................................................... 37 The European Parliament’s monitoring activities in the field of civil aviation (agreements with third countries) ..................................................................................................................... 41 The European Parliament and the Doha Round ........................................................................................... 43 The European Parliament and Bilateral Trade Agreements ......................................................................... 45 Trade Agreements: The case of the EU-KOREA FTA ............................................................................... 47 Withholding consent as ultimate ratio: Case Study on ACTA ..................................................................... 49 3. New partners and partnerships European Citizens' Initiatives ........................................................................................................................... 51 The European External Action Service (EEAS): asserting parliamentary oversight on security and defence .......................................................................... 55 The European Parliament and its relations with National Parliaments ...................................................... 59 Cooperation agreements with the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee ....................................................... 65 3 Monetary Dialogue with the ECB .................................................................................................................... 67 The IIA between the European Parliament and the ECB on the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) ................................................................................................. 69 The Parliamentary dimension of G20 ............................................................................................................. 71 The BRICS and the Programme developed by DG-EXPO to further the understanding of key governance structures of emerging foreign policy actors ............................................................................. 73 Participation in the Fiscal Compact negotiations .......................................................................................... 75 The achievements of the Fiscal Compact ....................................................................................................... 77 The issues with the EFSF and the ESM ......................................................................................................... 79 4. Appointment of and check on the Executive at European level The election of the Commission President and the consequences of Declaration n°11 of the Treaty of Lisbon ....................................................................................................... 81 Lead candidates for the European elections ................................................................................................... 83 Hearings of the commissioners: Case Study on the replacement of the nominated commissioner in charge of International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response ......................................... 87 Revision of the regulation on the financing of European political parties ................................................ 89 The US Congress benchmark on scrutiny ...................................................................................................... 91 Scrutiny of delegated and implementing acts as well as of measures under the Regulatory Procedure with Scrutiny (RPS) .................................................................. 95 Delegated acts - Annex 1 of the revised Framework Agreement 2010 ...................................................... 95 II. The EP as stronger player in a changing actor model for democracy 5. Support for policy-related work along the full legislative cycle Codecision as a general rule: Changes in AGRI, PECH, INTA, LIBE and REGI ............................... 101 Codecision in practice: Rules 70 and 70a ...................................................................................................... 105 Parliament’s influence along the full legislative cycle: Case Study on the Single Market Act ............... 107 The European Parliament's budget: Strengthening the role of Parliament and its Members ............... 109 Legislative capacity building: Staffing increase in committee secretariats ................................................ 115 Policy departments at the service of the political bodies ............................................................................ 119 The Parliamentary Research Service and the new Library concept .......................................................... 123 Independent Impact Assessment ................................................................................................................... 125 Improving the attractiveness of the plenary ................................................................................................. 127 The Washington office .................................................................................................................................... 129 The European Semester and the Packs ......................................................................................................... 131 The Social Dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union ................................................................. 135 4 6. Transparency, compliance and exemplarity Right to information and access to documents ............................................................................................ 139 Transparency Register ...................................................................................................................................... 141 The Code of Conduct for Members .............................................................................................................. 143 European Parliament Environmental Management System: A new governance ................................... 147 7. Parliamentary diplomacy in the democratic spring The Sakharov Prize .......................................................................................................................................... 149 The Sakharov Prize Network .......................................................................................................................... 151 Election Observation ....................................................................................................................................... 153 Early