14 Amendments of Matt CARTHY related to 2016/2908(RSP)
Amendment 158 #
Paragraph 37 a (new)
37a. Considers that it is vital for exercise of democratic control over the executive for the Parliament to be empowered with powers of inquiry that match those of national parliaments of the EU; believes that in order to exercise this role of democratic oversight the Parliament must have the power to summon and compel witnesses to appear and compel the production of documents; believes that in order for these rights to be exercised the Member States must agree to implement sanctions against individuals for failure to appear or produce documents in line with national law governing national parliamentary inquiries; reiterates the Parliament's support for the position outlined in the 2012 report on this issue;
Amendment 159 #
Paragraph 37 b (new)
37b. Considers that the limitation on the subject matter of a committee of inquiry set out in the Lisbon Treaty means that special committees must also have the same powers of investigation as a committee of inquiry in order to effectively examine broader public policy questions that may not involve alleged contravention or maladministration of EU law;
Amendment 160 #
Paragraph 37 c (new)
37c. Considers that in order to closely align with the parliamentary inquiry powers of Member States, the Parliament should establish a permanent subcommittee on investigations;
Amendment 161 #
Paragraph 37 d (new)
37d. Considers that the 12-month time limit on committees of inquiry is arbitrary and often insufficient; believes the members of the inquiry committee are best placed to determine if an inquiry should be extended and if so, for what period; calls for the only pre-existing binding time limit on an inquiry committee to be linked to the Parliamentary term;
Amendment 163 #
Paragraph 38
38. Considers that the powers of Parliament’s committees of inquiry should be better aligned with those of the national parliaments, in particular as regards the summoningto ensure the effective summoning and participation of individuals and the application of sanctions in the event of refusal to cooperate; calls on the Commission and the Member States to support the related provisions in Parliament’s current proposal;
Amendment 165 #
Paragraph 38 a (new)
38a. Considers that the operating period of any inquiry committee should be synchronised with the legislative processes relating to the subject under investigation;
Amendment 167 #
Paragraph 41 a (new)
41a. Notes that in several recent committees of inquiry and special committees, the Commission and Council have in some cases failed to provide the documents requested and in other cases provided the requested documents only after long delays; considers that there must be an accountability mechanism introduced in order to ensure the immediate and guaranteed transfer of documents to the Parliament that the committee of inquiry or special committee requests and is entitled to access;
Amendment 171 #
Paragraph 45
45. Notes that Rule 198 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure should define more clearly when the 12-month duration of a committee of inquiry should start; suggests to have enough flexibility to ensure that there is enough time for the investigations; calls for the inquiry committee work to start only after the requested documents are received from the EU institutions;
Amendment 172 #
Paragraph 46
Amendment 174 #
Paragraph 47
Amendment 176 #
Paragraph 48
48. Underlines that Parliament’s internal administrative rules are aligned to the established practice of standing committees and as such are often not suited to the ad-hoc and temporary nature of a committee of inquiry, which operates under more unusual circumstances, with a very specific scope and during a limited timeframe; considers, therefore, that the development of a defined set of rules relating to the effective functioning of committees of inquiry in regards to the conducting of hearings and missions, for example, in a way that guarantees fair political representation, would increase efficiency; considers that there is a risk that financial constraints may prevent committees of inquiry from hearing all the experts deemed necessary for the committee to perform its duty; considers that internal authorisation deadlines for hearings and missions should be made more flexible;
Amendment 177 #
Paragraph 48 a (new)
48a. Notes that inquiry committees are temporary committees overlapping with the members' standing committee work and therefore requests flexibility of using members outside of the inquiry committee to cover the absence of any member or substitute member;
Amendment 179 #
Paragraph 48 b (new)
48b. Considers that the inquiry committee mandate should be able to be altered according to the findings during the investigation in order to have full picture of the issues under investigation;
Amendment 180 #
Paragraph 50
50. Notes that accredited parliamentary assistants are not allowed to consultthe current rules for accessing classified and other confidential information made available by Council, Commission or Member States to the European Parliament in the context of an inquiry do not provide full legal clarity but are generally interpreted as excluding parliamentary assistants (APAs) from consulting and analysing non- classified ‘other confidential information’ in a secure reading room under the current rules; notes that somea range of Members found that this rule stands in the way of effective and thorough consultation of such documents within the limited time available to committees of inquiry, and that the TAX2 committee, during which access was temporarily and exceptionally granted to APAs, was able to make use of these resources in a more comprehensive and effective manner; calls therefore for the introduction of a clearly worded provision guaranteeing the right of access to documents for APAs on the basis of the 'need to know' principle, in their support role for Members, in a renegotiated Inter- institutional Agreement; urges the relevant bodies to expedite the renegotiation of this point so as not to hamper the effectiveness and efficiency of future and ongoing parliamentary inquiries;