RESOLUTION A3-0384/92

Resolution on the cooperation procedure

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its draft Treaty establishing the European Union of 14 February 1984,

- having regard to the Single European Act,

- having regard to its resolutions of 11 July 1990 on the Intergovernmental Conference in the context of Parliament's strategy for European Union, 22 November 1990 on the Intergovenmental Conferences in the context of the European Parliament's strategy for European Union and 7 April 1992 on the results of the intergovenmental conferences,

- having regard to its resolution of 17 June 1988 on the democratic deficit in the European Community,

- having regard to its resolutions of 16 February 1989 and 17 December 1992 on the conciliation procedure,

- having regard to its resolution of 16 February 1989 on the strategy of the European Parliament for achieving European Union,

- having regard to its resolution of 16 February 1989 on relations between the national parliaments and the European Parliament,

- having regard to its resolution of 10 October 1991 on relations between the European Parliament and the national parliaments after the Conference of Parliaments of the European Community and the Cravinho report on the further development of relations between the European Parliament and the parliaments of the Member States,

- having regard to Rule 121 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Institutional Affairs (A3-0384/92),

A. whereas it is unacceptable that a union of democratic nations should not itself be democratic,

B. whereas there is no genuine parallel at Community level to the role played by parliaments in the legislative process at national level in the Member States: much Community legislation can be adopted or rejected without the approval of the European Parliament,

C. whereas a democratic procedure for the Community's legislative process must involve co-decision in which Parliament and the Council are on an equal footing,

D. whereas it is also essential greatly to improve cooperation between the national parliaments and the European Parliament if the European Community is to be truly democratic,

E. whereas it is unacceptable that legislative powers already conferred on the European Communities by the Member States are normally exercised in the last resort by the Council, whose decisions are in many instances not subject to effective control by any elected body,

F. whereas it is unacceptable that the delegation of further powers to the European Community should not be accompanied by the establishment of effective democratic control over all such fields,

G. whereas the institution, under the Single European Act, of the cooperation procedure, applying to Articles 7, 49, 54(2), 56(2), second sentence, 57 with certain exceptions, 66, 100a, 100b, 118a, 130e and 130q(2) of the EEC Treaty, has transformed the role of the Parliament in these limited though vital fields, and introduced a degree of democratic control over the establishment of a single market by the end of 1992,

H. aware that, if and when the Treaty of Maastricht is ratified, the cooperation procedure (set out, unchanged from its Single European Act formulation, in Article 189c) will become the most important of the legislative procedures to be used in the Community,

I. noting in particular the implications for the Parliament's workload of the extension under Maastricht of the cooperation procedure (which will cover 14 policy areas against 11 previously) and the creation of a new form of legislative procedure, co-decision (Article 189b), covering 15 policy areas; and that the time limits of three months for Parliament's consideration of the Council's common positions (applicable to 29 policy areas) and of six weeks for adoption of a Conciliation Committee text (third reading) will necessitate much more frequent part-sessions,

J. recalling that it undertook, in its resolution of 16 January 1986 on the position of the European Parliament on the Single Act approved by the Intergovernmental Conference on 16 and 17 December 1985, to use to the full the possibilities offered by the Single Act,

K. whereas it has shown itself capable of exercising effectively the new responsibilities of democratic control conferred on it under the cooperation procedure,

L. noting particularly that, in the 259 acts adopted under the cooperation procedure from the entry into force of the Single European Act to the end of September 1992, 44% (1524 out of 3482) of Parliament's amendments were accepted by the Council at first reading and 26% (213 out of 831) at second reading, making a total of well over 50%; recognizing however that this purely statistical analysis may exaggerate the political importance of the amendments adopted and that a political assessment is urgently needed,

M. whereas the cooperation procedure is nevertheless defective in three major respects:

(a) in the limited field to which it applies,

(b) in permitting the Council to kill legislation by default (Article 149(2)(f)),

(c) in the Council's right to adopt legislation in face of Parliament's rejection of all or parts of it,

N. whereas the presidency's conclusions from the European Council of 14-15 December 1990 in Rome gave a mandate to the Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union for substantial improvement of the cooperation procedure,

O. whereas it is appropriate in a democracy that all the stages of the legislative procedure should be open to the public,

P. recalling that, in October 1987, Lord Plumb, then President of Parliament, found it necessary to warn the Council that it was not respecting its obligation under the Single European Act to inform Parliament fully of the reasons which led the Council to adopt its common positions, and that this situation has so far been only partially remedied,

1. Reiterates its view that Community legislation not of a constitutional nature must, as soon as possible, be adopted by a process of co-decision between Parliament and Council in which the two institutions have equal weight and equal rights;

2. Reaffirms in this connection its proposal for co-decision set out in its above-mentioned resolutions of 11 July and 22 November 1990;

3. Recognizes, however, that the cooperation procedure may be regarded as part of a preparatory stage in the introduction of genuine co-decision, and calls on the Council and Commission meanwhile to do all in their power to make the application of the cooperation procedure, set out in Article 149(2), of the EEC Treaty and in Article 189c of the Maastricht Treaty work in the most democratic manner possible, through inter-institutional agreements, modification of their rules of procedure, or any other available means;

4. Calls on the Council, in particular, to respect, to the letter, sub-paragraph of Article 149(2)(b) and to "inform the Parliament fully of the reasons which led the Council to adopt its common position, and also of the Commission's position"; these reasons should include the results of the votes in the Council and the views of each Member State, enabling the peoples and parliaments of the Community to form a view of their governments' position;

5. Reaffirms its view that conciliation is needed for the democratic operation of the cooperation procedure just as much as for the consultation and co-decision procedures; sees no reason for its being omitted from the cooperation procedure; and calls on the Council, with the assistance of the Commission, to work out with the Parliament, in the framework of an inter-institutional agreement, appropriate procedures for conciliation to be set in motion at the request either of Parliament or the Council;

6. Believes that the greatest possibilities of influencing a common position occur before it is agreed on by the Council, and calls for means to be found for Parliament to make a greater input into the cooperation procedure (and also the co-decision procedure) before the Council adopts its common position;

7. Reiterates its firm intention to improve democratic control of legislation by doing all in its power to establish effective cooperation with the parliaments of the Member States;

8. Reiterates its frequently expressed demand that all stages of the Community legislative process, including the relevant meetings of the Council, be held in public;

9. Calls on the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council and the Commission, to take all necessary steps to give effect to these wishes, whether by modifying the Treaty, negotiating inter-institutional agreements, or modifying internal rules of procedure;

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and applicant states.