28 Amendments of Jean-Pierre AUDY related to 2012/2308(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -A a (new)
Paragraph -A a (new)
-Aa. having regard to Article 341 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the former Article 249 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -A b (new)
Paragraph -A b (new)
-Ab. having regard to the Edinburgh European Council of 11 and 12 December 1992;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -A (new)
Paragraph -A (new)
-A. having regard to the judgment handed down by the Court of Justice on 1 October 1997 in Case C-345/95 confirming that the seat of the European Parliament is fixed in accordance with Article 289 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -A (new)
Paragraph -A (new)
-A. having regard to Protocol No 6 on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies, offices, agencies and departments of the European Union;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph A
Paragraph A
A. whereas certain petitions have been deposited requesting that the establishment of the European Parliament in more than one place be discontinuedconcerning the seat and places of work of the European Parliament;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the protocols on the seats of the institutions are governed by mutual respect for the respective powers of the Member States and of Parliament;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the ECJ has stated that the location of the seat is not to hinder the well-functioning of Parliament; whereas it has further stated that there are disadvantages and costs engendered by the plurality of working locations, but also that any improvement of the current situation requires a Treaty change and, thus, the consent ofresponsibility for remedying this lies neither with Parliament nor with the Court, but, rather, by exercising their exclusive power to determine the seats of the institutions, with the Member States;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph C
Paragraph C
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas Parliament has undergone a complete transformation, from a consultative body with 78 seconded members that – mostly for practical reasons – shared its facilities with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, into a fully fledged, directly elected Parliament with 754 members thatcomprises 754 Members elected by direct universal suffrage and is today co-legislator on equal terms with the Council;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas the seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg was confirmed by the Edinburgh European Council in 1992 and the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997 and then incorporated in the Lisbon Treaty in 2009;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the increase in legislative activity and responsibility is reflected in the fact that the number of statutory staff in Brussels increased by 377 % (from 1 180 to 5 635 staff members) from 1993 to 2013, by far exceeding the 48 % increase in the number of MEPs in the same periodincrease in staff at Parliament’s three places of work;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the structure of Parliament’s calendar (fixed during the Edinburgh Summit in 1992) predates all changes to its rolehas not been called into question, since it was confirmed in Protocol No 6 annexed to the Treaty of Lisbon, and the increase in Parliament’s powers arising from the adoption of the Treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon has therefore been taken into account;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph C a (new)
Paragraph C a (new)
Ca. whereas, in the organisation of democracies, there is no rule indicating that it is the parliament that decides on its seat and whereas, moreover, in many Member States, parliament’s seat is laid down either in the Constitution or by law or by decision of the government, but not by means of a particular decision by the parliament itself;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas the fact of geographical distance between the official seats of the co- legislative bodies – 435 km – isolates Parliament not only fromreflects the multi- centre principle with regard to the seats of the European institutions and, during part-sessions, the attention of the Council and the Commission, but also ofrom other stakeholders, such as NGOs, civil society organisations and Member State representations, and ofrom one of the world’s largest international journalistic communities, is fully focused on the work of Parliament;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas the additional annual costs resulting from the geographic dispersion of Parliament have conservatively been estimated to range between EUR 169 million and EUR 204 million4, which is equivalent to between 15 % and 20 % of Parliament’s annual budget, while the environmental impact is also significant, with the CO2 emissions associated with the transfers to and from the three working locations estimated to amount to at least 19 000 tonnes5Parliament must make sure that its environmental impact is limited ;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M – footnote 4
Recital M – footnote 4
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M – footnote 5
Recital M – footnote 5
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomNotes the decision by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs to draw up a report on the location of the seats of the European Union’s institutions;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas Parliament, since its suggestion in 1958 to be sited in proximity to the Council and the Commission, has via numerous reports, declarations and statements alwaysoften expressed its wish for a more practical and efficient working arrangement;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas citizens of the EU – including the 1.27 million citizens who signed a pehave expressed their views concerning the location of the various European institutions asking for a single seat – have repeatedly expressed their discontent with the current arrangementnd agencies by means of petitions;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q a (new)
Recital Q a (new)
Qa. whereas, in the organisation of democracies, there are no rules indicating that it is the parliament that decides on its seat and whereas, moreover, in many Member States, parliament’s seat is laid down either in the Constitution or by law or by decision of the government, but not by means of a particular decision by the parliament itself;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Agrees with the principle that the European Parliament would be more effective, cost-efficient and respectful of the environment if it were located in a single place; and notes that the continuation of the monthly migration between Brussels and Strasbourg has become a symbolic negative issue amongst most EU citizens which is detrimental to Parliament’s reputationmust bow to the logic of more cost-efficient and environment-friendly working arrangements;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Believes that Parliament should have the right to determine its own working arrangements, including the righPoints out that it is not up to Parliament to determine where its seat will be but that tohe decide where and when it holds its meetingssion has to be taken by the Member States unanimously;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Respects and underlines the historic reasons for the location of its plenary sessions in Strasbourg and the Treaty requirements that necessitate the two-seat system; nevertheless insists that such an arrangement cannot continue in perpetuity and that Parliament itself must be able to state a preference for its futuresystem of a seat and three places of work;
Amendment 149 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for Parliament to express its view as to whether the current arrangement should continue; and if an appropriate majority vote is recorded, recommends that Parliament propose Treaty changes under Article 48Points out that it is not up to Parliament to determine where its seat will be; the decision has to be taken by the Member States unanimously.