33 Amendments of Gabriele BISCHOFF related to 2024/2000(REG)
Amendment 114 #
Proposal for a decision
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
– having regard to the decision of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 19 April 1995 on the detailed provisions governing the exercise of the European Parliament's right of inquiry (95/167/EC, Euratom, ECSC),
Amendment 115 #
Proposal for a decision
Citation 2 b (new)
Citation 2 b (new)
– having regard to the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament on the detailed provisions governing the exercise of the European Parliament's right of inquiry (2009/2212(INL)),
Amendment 117 #
Proposal for a decision
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Decides that by 31 December 2026, an assessment shall be made of the impact of the amendments, followed, where appropriate, by their revision;
Amendment 121 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 47 – paragraph 1
Rule 47 – paragraph 1
1. Parliament may request the Commission, pursuant to Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to submit any appropriate proposal to it for the adoption of a new act or the amendment of an existing act. Parliament shall do so by adopting a resolution on the basis of an own-initiative report drawn up by the committee responsible in accordance with Rule 54. The resolution shall be adopted by a majority of the component Members of Parliament in the final vote. Parliament may, at the same time, set a deadline for the submission of such a proposal. Parliament´s resolution shall indicate the appropriate legal basis. Parliament shall consider any potential financial implications of any proposal made.
Amendment 128 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 47 – paragraph 3
Rule 47 – paragraph 3
3. Parliament's resolution shall indicateWhere the President has not referred the proposal to the committee responsible for verifying the appropriateness of the legal basis and shall be accompanied by recommendations concerning the content of the required proposal, the committee responsible for the subject- matter may request such an opinion from that committee.
Amendment 132 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 47 – paragraph 4 a (new)
Rule 47 – paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Parliament's resolution shall include recommendations concerning the content of the requested proposal.
Amendment 139 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 48 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Rule 48 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Within two weeks of the referral, a committee may challenge the President´s referral to the committee responsible. In such a case, that committee shall provide a detailed written justification and a substantiated alternative based on Annex VI at least one week before the next meeting of the Conference of Presidents.. The Conference of Presidents may decide to request a recommendation on the matter from the Conference of Committee Chairs. The Conference of Committee Chairs or its Chair shall adopt a recommendation at its next meeting. The Conference of Presidents shall take a decision on the final referral at its next meeting following the transmission by the Conference of Committee Chairs of its recommendation If no committee challenges the President's referral to the committee responsible within the deadline laid down in the first subparagraph, the President's referral shall be considered to be final.
Amendment 143 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 48 – paragraph 2
Rule 48 – paragraph 2
2. In cases of doubt, the President may, before the announcement in Parliament of a referral to the committee responsible, submit a question concerning competence toreferral provided for in paragraph 1, decide to request a recommendation on the question of competence from the Conference of Committee Chairs. The Conference of Committee Chairs or its Chair shall adopt that recommendation at its next meeting. After receiving the recommendation, the President shall make the referral. Political groups shall be informed of the referral at the same time. Within two weeks of the referral, a political group may challenge the President's referral to a committee responsible. In such a case, that group shall provide a detailed written justification and a substantiated alternative based on Annex VI at least one week before the next meeting of the Conference of Presidents. The Conference of Presidents shall adopt itstake a decision on the basis of a recommendation from the Conference of Committee Chairs, or the chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, in accordance with Rule 211(2)referral at that same meeting. If no political group challenges the President's referral to the committee responsible within the deadline laid down in the first subparagraph, the President's referral shall be considered to be final.
Amendment 147 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 48 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Rule 48 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. A committee to which the President has not referred the proposal for an opinion pursuant to paragraph 1 may request, in time before the referral of that proposal is announced in plenary, an authorisation from the Conference of Committee Chairs to draw up an opinion. That request shall be based on a written statement of reasons justifying the committee's substantial competence for the subject matter of the proposal. The Conference of Committee Chairs or its Chair shall take a decision at its next meeting and inform the President thereof.
Amendment 149 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 49
Rule 49
The acceleration of legislative procedures in coordination with the Council and Commission regarding specific proposals, selected in particular from among those identified as priorities in the joint declaration on annual interinstitutional programming pursuant to Rule 38(2), mayshall be agreed by the committee or committees responsible.
Amendment 153 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 53 a (new)
Rule 53 a (new)
Rule 53a Co-rapporteurship 1. Exceptionally, without prejudice to Rule 51(2) and at the request of the committee responsible, the Conference of Presidents may authorise the appointment of co-rapporteurs. 2. The appointment of co-rapporteurs shall not be authorised under paragraph 1 for reports drawn up by committees jointly under Rule 58, for opinions pursuant to Rule 56 or for own-initiative reports, except for those of a budgetary or institutional nature.
Amendment 168 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 56 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a
Rule 56 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a
In consultation with the opinion-giving committee(s), the committee responsible shall set a reasonable deadline by which the opinion-giving committee must deliver its opinion if it is to be taken into account by the committee responsible. Any changes to the announced timetable shall be immediately communicated by the committee responsible to the opinion- giving committee or opinion-giving committees. The committee responsible shall not reach its final conclusions before that deadline has expired.
Amendment 170 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 56 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Rule 56 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Where the opinion does not concern a proposal for a legally binding act, it shall consist of suggestions for paamendments to the draft reports of the motion for a resolution submitted by the committee responsiblecommittee responsible. The timetable set by the committee responsible shall allow opinion-giving committees sufficient time to set a specific deadline to provide their amendments and to complete their work.
Amendment 171 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 56 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
Rule 56 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
The committee responsible shall put these amendments or suggestions to the votef the opinion-giving committees to the vote. Amendments from an opinion-giving committee which are not adopted by the committee responsible may be tabled by that opinion-giving committee directly for consideration by Parliament, except for opinions pursuant to Rule 93, Rule 118 and Annex V.
Amendment 175 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 56 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 4
Rule 56 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 4
The opinions shall deal solely with those matters that fall within the areas of responsibility of the opinion-giving committee. Amendments falling outside the areas of responsibility of that opinion- giving committee shall not be admissible.
Amendment 179 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 56 a (new)
Rule 56 a (new)
Rule 56a Budgetary assessment on proposals for legally binding acts with budgetary implications 1. Without prejudice to the application of Rule 48, where a proposal for a legally binding act has implications for the Union budget, that proposal shall be referred by the President to the committee responsible for budgetary issues, which may then issue a budgetary assessment of the proposal. It shall issue a budgetary assessment if so requested by the committee responsible for the subject- matter. This paragraph is without prejudice to the possibility for the committee responsible for budgetary issues to be authorised to submit opinions pursuant to Rule 56 or to act jointly with one or more committees pursuant to Rule 58. 2. The committee responsible for the subject-matter shall set a deadline within which the budgetary assessment is to be provided. Any changes to the announced timetable shall be immediately communicated to the committee responsible for budgetary issues. The committee responsible for the subject- matter shall not adopt its report before that deadline has expired. 3. The budgetary assessment shall examine whether the proposal for a legally binding act provides for sufficient financial resources, whether the proposed financing architecture is appropriate, and shall evaluate the potential impact of the financing proposed on other Union programmes or policies, institutions, agencies or bodies, including, where relevant, the assigned revenues and human resources requirements. It shall also determine whether the proposal is compatible with the multiannual financial framework, the system of own resources and the corresponding interinstitutional agreement. Where applicable, the committee responsible for budgetary issues shall also determine whether the proposal is compatible with Parliament’s position on any proposal to amend or replace that framework, that system or that agreement. 4. The committee responsible for budgetary issues may appoint a rapporteur from among its members or permanent substitutes or send its views in the form of a letter from its Chair. The budgetary assessment may, where appropriate, contain amendments to the proposal for a legally binding act covering exclusively those issues referred to in paragraph 3 accompanied, where appropriate, by short justifications. Such justifications shall be the responsibility of their author and shall not be put to the vote. If necessary, the committee responsible for budgetary issues may submit a short written justification for the budgetary assessment as a whole. That short written justification shall be the responsibility of the rapporteur for the budgetary assessment. Amendments on those issues by the committee responsible for the subject- matter shall be inadmissible. The budgetary assessment, including the amendments, shall be integrated into the report as such. 5. The amendments contained in the budgetary assessment shall be inserted as such in the amendments tabled to plenary by the committee responsible for the subject-matter if they are compatible with the amendments put to the vote in the latter committee. In the exceptional case where there is an incompatibility, the relevant amendment contained in the budgetary assessment shall be put to the vote in the committee responsible for the subject-matter. If it is then rejected, that amendment may be tabled in plenary by the committee responsible for budgetary issues. In plenary, any such amendment tabled by the committee responsible for budgetary issues shall be put to the vote before any incompatible amendment. 6. Where a budgetary assessment is provided, the committee responsible for the subject-matter and the committee responsible for budgetary issues shall cooperate throughout the procedure to ensure full consistency between policy and budgetary objectives. To this end, they shall invite each other’s rapporteurs to their discussions within Parliament relating to the proposal for a legally binding act, including to the meetings between the rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs. 7. Where a budgetary assessment is provided, the negotiating team referred to in Rule 74(1) shall include the rapporteur from the committee responsible for budgetary issues who shall lead the negotiations on the issues referred to in paragraph 3. Where a budgetary assessment is not provided, the committee responsible for the subject-matter may ask the committee responsible for budgetary issues to provide assistance to the negotiating team referred to in Rule 74(1) in relation to the issues referred to in paragraph 3 at any stage of the interinstitutional negotiations.
Amendment 186 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 58 – paragraph 1
Rule 58 – paragraph 1
1. When a question ofmatter falls indissociably within the competence is referredof two it pursuant to Rule 211, the Conference of Presidents may decide thator three committees, the procedure with joint meetings of committees and a joint vote is tomay be applied, provided that: – by virtue of Annex VI, the matter falls indissociably within the competences of several committees; and – it is satisfied that the question is of major importanceursuant to Rule 48 or Rule 54.
Amendment 194 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 71 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Rule 71 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Should an opinion-giving committee decide to table amendments directly for consideration by Parliament, in accordance with Rule 56(2b), those amendments and the corresponding parts of the responsible committee's report shall be put to the vote, provided that they clearly fall within the areas of responsibility of the opinion-giving committee. The rest of the report forming the committee decision to enter into negotiations shall not be affected and shall be subject to the procedure referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.
Amendment 207 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 133 a (new)
Rule 133 a (new)
Rule 133a Statements explaining the use of Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as a legal basis 1. When the Commission plans to adopt a proposal for a legal act based on Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the President shall invite the President of the Commission to make a statement to Parliament explaining the reasons for the choice of that legal basis, as well as outlining the main objectives and elements of the proposal. The statement shall be made prior to the formal adoption of the proposal by the Commission. Failing that, it shall be included in the draft agenda of the first part-session following the adoption of the proposal by the Commission unless, for timetabling reasons or because of the relative political relevance of the subject- matter, the Conference of Presidents decides otherwise. The Conference of Presidents shall decide whether the statement is to be followed by a full debate or by a period of brief and concise questions from Members lasting 30 minutes. Rule 132(2) to (8) concerning the tabling and voting of motions for resolutions shall apply mutatis mutandis. When such statement is not placed on the agenda of the first part-session following the adoption of the proposal mentioned in the second subparagraph, the committee responsible for the subject-matter shall invite the Commissioner responsible to provide the information referred to above at one of its forthcoming meetings. 2. The President shall refer the proposal to the committee responsible for verification of the legal basis. If that committee decides to question the validity, or the appropriateness, of the legal basis, it shall report its conclusions to Parliament, if necessary orally. Rule 149(3) to (5) shall apply. 3. When a proposal for a legal act based on Article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union has potential appreciable implications for the Union budget, Parliament shall request that the procedure of budgetary scrutiny provided for in the joint declaration of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission27a be initiated. Parliament’s delegation to the Joint Committee provided for in the joint declaration referred to in the first subparagraph shall be made up of one member of its committee responsible for budgetary issues from each political group and one member from any committee responsible for the subject- matter. _________________ 27a OJ C 444 I, 22.12.2020, p. 5.
Amendment 218 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule -136 (new)
Rule -136 (new)
Rule -136 Special scrutiny hearings 1. In order to question one or more Commissioners, or any other relevant person, on an issue of major political importance, the Conference of Presidents may, upon a proposal by the President, by a committee or by Members or a political group or groups reaching at least the medium threshold, convene at short notice special scrutiny hearing. 2. The Conference of Presidents shall determine the number of Members to be appointed for a given special scrutiny hearing by the political groups and the non-attached Members. Where relevant, political groups shall ensure that the committees concerned are duly represented. 3. Special scrutiny hearing shall be chaired by the President or, by delegation, by one of the Vice-Presidents. It shall be entirely public unless decided otherwise by the Conference of Presidents. 4. The speaking time allocated to a political group shall be treated as a block. Each political group shall distribute the speaking time within its block between those of its members who are participating in the hearing. Speaking time allocated to non-attached Members shall not be treated as a block. 5. Following the conclusion of the special scrutiny hearing, its Chair may submit to the Conference of Presidents written recommendations on behalf of Members who participated at the hearing. 6. The formal summons for a witness to attend a special scrutiny hearing to give evidence, as well as any requests for documents shall be made by the President. Witnesses called on to give evidence shall be obliged to attend. Formal note shall be taken of any refusal or failure to comply with the summons or request for documents. The President may announce, in full or in part, the points of which formal note has been taken and arrange for the announcement to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. In addition, after consulting the Conference of Presidents, the President shall decide on whether to apply sanctions which may, inter alia, include the withdrawal of access rights to the European Parliament’s premises and a request from the Parliament to revoke registration in the transparency register established by means of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register. If the failure to attend or provide requested documents relates to any Union official, institution or other body, the Conference of Presidents may invite the President or Director of the relevant institution or body to attend one of its meetings to explain its refusal. The Chair of the hearing may decide to hear witnesses under the following oath: ‘I swear that I have spoken the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth’. Witnesses, if they so wish, may add a complementary religious formula to the oath. However, no one shall be obliged to testify under oath. Formal note shall be taken of every case where a witness declines to testify under oath.
Amendment 232 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 158 – paragraph 1
Rule 158 – paragraph 1
1. At the beginning of each part- session, Parliament shall adopt its agenda. A committee, or Members or a political group or groups reaching at least the medium threshold may propose one amendments to the final draft agenda may be proin responsed by a committee, a political group or Members reaching at least the low threshold to events or new political developments which arose after the adoption of the final draft agenda. Any such proposalamendments must be received by the President at least one hour before the opening of the part- session. The President may give the floor to the mover and to one speaker against, and in each case for not more than one minute.
Amendment 236 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 163 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Rule 163 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. If requested by the President, a committee, a political group, or Members reaching the low threshold, Parliament may exceptionally decide to take the urgent decision on the proposal without a report or on the basis of an oral report by the Committee responsible. In such cases, if interinstitutional negotiations take place, Rules 70 and 71 shall not apply and Rule 74 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Amendment 242 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 171 – paragraph 7
Rule 171 – paragraph 7
7. The remaining part of the time for a debate shall not be specifically allocated in advance. Instead, the President may call on Members to speak, as a general rule for no more than one minute. The President shall, as far as possible, ensure that speakers who hold different political views and who come from different Member States are heard in turnuch speaking time is allocated to speakers from political groups in proportion to the total number of their members. That remaining part of the time for a debate shall constitute [40%] of the time for key debates and for any other specific debates decided by the Conference of Presidents.
Amendment 245 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 171 – paragraph 8 a (new)
Rule 171 – paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. In order to uphold the guiding principles laid down in Article 1 of Annex I, in particular the requirement for Members to show respect for Parliament's dignity and reputation, Members shall endeavour to be present for the whole of the particular debate in which they are scheduled to speak or in which they wish to speak. The President shall have the discretion to not call to speak those Members who do not comply with the spirit of this paragraph.
Amendment 248 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 207 – title
Rule 207 – title
Special committeestudy committees (Amendment applies throughout: replace the words “special committee” throughout the Rules of Procedure by the words “study committee”.)
Amendment 254 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 207 a (new)
Rule 207 a (new)
Rule 207a Special legislative committees 1. When it results from the procedure in Rule 48 that a matter falls indissociably within the competence of four or more committees, the Conference of Presidents may, as a last resort and on the basis of a recommendation by the Conference of Committee Chairs, propose to Parliament the setting up of a special legislative committee to deal with a specific proposal for a legally binding act or a pre- legislative strategic document. The recommendation by the Conference of Committee Chairs shall indicate the committees responsible for scrutiny of the implementation of the legislation. 2. The numerical strength of a special legislative committee shall be decided by Parliament, based on a proposal by the Conference of Presidents. Its term of office shall run from the date of its constitutive meeting until the adoption of the legally binding act, without prejudice to the need for scrutiny activities. In the case of a pre-legislative strategic document, its term of office shall run from the date of its constitutive meeting until the adoption of the report in plenary. Members of a special legislative committee shall be appointed by the political groups and the non-attached Members, drawing from the members of the committees involved. The Conference of Presidents shall decide whether one or more rapporteurs are to be appointed at the same time that the proposal is taken to set up the committee. 3. Other committees shall not be authorised to deliver opinions pursuant to Rule 56. 4. Special legislative committees shall not have the right to deliver opinions to other committees. 5. This Rule shall cease to apply on 31 December 2026. Any subsequent continuation or amendments shall be subject to an assessment of its application and new proposals in accordance with Rule 237.
Amendment 257 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 208 – paragraph 10 a (new)
Rule 208 – paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. The formal summons for a witness to attend a meeting of the committee of inquiry to give evidence, as well as any requests for documents, shall be made by the President, at the request of the Chair. Witnesses called on to give evidence shall be obliged to attend. Formal note shall be taken of any refusal or failure to comply with the summons or request for documents. The President may announce, in full or in part, the points of which formal note has been taken and arrange for the announcement to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. In addition, after consulting the Conference of Presidents, the President shall decide on whether to impose penalties which may, inter alia, include the withdrawal of access rights to the European Parliament’s premises and a request from the Parliament to revoke registration in the transparency register established by means of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register. If the failure to attend or provide requested documents relates to any Union official, institution or other body, the Conference of Presidents may invite the President or Director of the relevant institution or body to attend one of its meetings to explain its refusal.
Amendment 259 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 208 – paragraph 10 b (new) (new)
Rule 208 – paragraph 10 b (new) (new)
10b. Committees of inquiry may, subject to approval by the Conference of Presidents,: – conduct on-the-spot investigations; – request documents; – summon witnesses; – hear officials and other servants of the Union or of Member States; – request experts' reports. - ask national judicial and other authorities for assistance in the course of its investigations. Those authorities shall give the necessary support to the committee of inquiry. Where alleged contraventions or maladministration in the implementation of Union law involve possible responsibility on the part of a body or authority of a Member State, the committee of inquiry may ask the parliament of the Member State concerned to cooperate in the investigation. The committee may decide to hear witnesses under the following oath: ‘I swear that I have spoken the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth’. Witnesses, if they so wish, may add a complementary religious formula to the oath. However, no one shall be obliged to testify under oath. Formal note shall be taken of every case where a witness declines to testify under oath.
Amendment 260 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 209 – paragraph 2
Rule 209 – paragraph 2
2. The composition of the committees shall, as far as possible, reflect the composition of Parliament. TAs regards the political representation, the distribution of committee seats among political groups must be either the nearest whole number above or the nearest whole number below the proportional calculation. As regards the gender representation, the political groups shall ensure that the ratio between genders in each committee shall not depart by more than 10% from the ratio between genders in Parliament. Should the initial nominations from political groups and non-attached Members for membership of parliamentary committees result in an overall outcome which does not comply with the gender balance requirement, a procedure shall be launched to correct the gender imbalance. For each parliamentary committee where such an imbalance occurs, the political group whose nominations deviate the most from its own group-wide internal gender balance, shall make a change among its nominated full members in that committee in order to reduce the imbalance. Should a gender imbalance still persist, the political group with the next greatest deviation shall be required to make a change among its nominated full members of the committee in order to reduce the imbalance. This procedure shall continue until the gender balance in each committee is compliant with this Rule. Where there is no agreement among the political groups on their proportional weight or gender representation within one or more specific committees, the Conference of Presidents shall decide.
Amendment 262 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 222 a (new)
Rule 222 a (new)
Rule 222a Obligation to appear before a committee or at a public hearing All persons shall attend whenever invited by a committee to one of its meetings, including a public hearing or a meeting of a sub-committee. In the case of serious or repeated failure to attend, the committee may formally signal its displeasure to the President and the Conference of Presidents, which shall at its next meeting consider the issue and determine any consequences, which may, inter alia, include the withdrawal of access rights to the European Parliament’s premises, a request from the Parliament to revoke registration in the transparency egister, or a formal statement declaring the person or organisation concerned to be purposefully evading parliamentary scrutiny. If the failure to attend relates to any Union official, institution or other body, the Conference of Presidents may invite the President or Director of the relevant institution or body to attend one of its meetings to explain its refusal.
Amendment 263 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 223 – paragraph 3
Rule 223 – paragraph 3
3. The bureaux of the delegations shall be constituted in accordance with the procedure laid down for the committee bureaux in Rule 213. The political groups shall endeavour to ensure that any Chair of a delegation shall be a member or substitute member of the committee responsible for foreign affairs, of the committee responsible for development, or of the committee responsible for international trade.
Amendment 266 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Rule 223 a (new)
Rule 223 a (new)
Rule 223a Cooperation between committees and interparliamentary delegations In line with their responsibilities as defined respectively in Annex VI and in Rule 223, committees and interparliamentary delegations shall strive for cooperation in the setting of their priorities and for coordination in the conduct of their respective activities. The Conference of Committee Chairs and the Conference of Delegation Chairs shall hold regular meetings to that end and systematically meet at the beginning of the parliamentary term and at mid-term in order to jointly establish a list of priority countries with whom to engage, based on upcoming legislative files and geopolitical or strategic priorities. They may hold additional joint exchanges of views on relations of the Union with selected critical or strategic partners, or on horizontal priority issues based on geopolitical and other developments, in order to ensure optimal coordination on established priorities of the Union and hold regular meetings to this end.
Amendment 275 #
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
Annex VII – Article 3 – paragraph 6
Annex VII – Article 3 – paragraph 6
6. Each hearing shall be scheduled to last three hours. HConfirmation hearings shall take place in circumstances, and under conditions, in which Commissioners- designate enjoy an equal and fair opportunity to present themselves and their opinions. In principle, confirmation hearings shall be scheduled to last for three hours. However, in the case of Commissioners- designate with particularly large or complex portfolios involving more than one committee, the Conference of Committee Chairs may recommend that the confirmation hearing be scheduled to last for up to four hours. The recommended length of the confirmation hearing shall take due account of the number of invited committees in order to allow each of their Chairs to put one questions.