Activities of Elmar BROK related to 2018/2096(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the Ombudsman’s strategic inquiry OI/2/2017 on the transparency of legislative discussions in the preparatory bodies of the Council of the EU PDF (429 KB) DOC (53 KB)
Amendments (8)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the European Parliament works with a high degree of transparency at all stages of thein its legislative procedure, including the committee stage, making it possible for citizens, the media and stakeholders to clearly identify different positions within Parliament and the origin of specific proposals, as well as to follow the processes leading to compromises and the adoption of final decisions;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F (new)
Recital F (new)
Fa. whereas in order to create a genuine bicameral legislative system which is democratic and transparent in its decision-making Council decisions should be taken by one single legislative Council, while the existing specialised legislative Council configurations should be turned into preparatory bodies, similar to committees in the Parliament;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Shares the view of the Ombudsman that ensuring that citizens are able to follow the progress of legislation is a legal requirement under the Treaties, as EU decisions must be taken “as openly and as closely as possible to the citizen”;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that transparency at all stagesa high degree of transparency of the legislative process is essential to enable citizens, media, and stakeholders to hold their elected representatives and governments accountable;
Amendment 49 #
7. Deplores the fact that, unlike committee meetings in the European Parliament, meetings of the preparatory bodithe majority of the debates ofin the Council as well as the majority of debaspecialised legislative Council configurations , which should become preparatory bodies similar to committees in the CouncilEuropean Parliament, are held in camera; proposes that citizens, media and stakeholders should have access by appropriate means to the meetings of the Council and its preparatory bodies,specialised Council configurations including via webstreaming, in order to make all stages of the legislative process in both components of the European legislature fully transparent;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers the Council’s practice of systematically classifying documents distributed in its preparatory bodies relating to legislative files as ‘LIMITE’ to be a violation of CJEU case law1 and of the legal requirementRecognises that the ruling of the ECJ should be fully implemented and that there should be the widest possible public access to legislative documents; __________________ 1 For the principle of the widest possible public access, see: Joint Cases C-39/05 P and C-52/05 P Sweden and Turco v. Council [2008] ECLI:EU:C:2008:374,till existing inconsistencies and divergent para 34; Case C-280/11 P Council v. Access Info Europe [2013] ECLI:EU:C:2013:671, para 27; and Case T-540/15 De Capitani v. Parliament [2018] ECLI:EU:T:2018:167, para 80ctices should be avoided.
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Deems it unacceptable that the positions taken in the preparatory bodies of the Council by individual Member States are neither published norWelcomes the Council’s practice regarding the disclosure of legislative documents containing Member States’ individual positions upon request, as a consequence of the ECJ’s judgement, as an important step for the legitimacy of EU legislation, however deems it insufficient. Recommends the systematically recorded, making it impossible for citizens, media and stakeholders to effectively scrutinise the behaviour of their elected governments;ing of the names of the Member States, where it is deemed appropriate, when expressing positions in preparatory bodies, allowing thus for greater transparency on the position taken by national governments on EU laws.
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Reiterates its call to transform the Council into a true legislative chamber, thus creating a genuinely bicameral legislative system involving the Council and Parliament, with the Commission acting as the executive; suggests involving the currently active specialised legislative Council configurations as preparatory bodies for a single legislative Council, meeting in public, similarly to the functioning of the committees in the European Parliament, and where all final legislative decisions must be taken;