Parliament's Rules of Procedure
Annex XVI b (new)
(This amendment partly reproduces the wording of the European Parliament resolution on It also reproduces the wording of Amendment 3 included in the correspondent draft report,ANNEX XVI b Guidelines for the approval of the Commission 1. The democratic accountability of the Commission is greatly enhanced by a parliamentary approval process which is open, fair and consistent, and in which each Commissioner-designate discloses to Parliament all relevant information. 2. Parliament has therefore adopted the following principles, criteria and arrangements for making the entire college of the Commission subject to its vote of consent: (a) Assessment Parliament shall evaluate Commissioners- designate on the basis of their general competence, commitment to Europe and personal independence, assessing their knowledge of their prospective portfolio and their communication skills. Parliament shall pay particular regard to gender balance. It may express itself on the allocation of portfolio responsibilities by the President-elect. Parliament may seek any information relevant to its reaching a decision on the aptitude of the Commissioners-designate. It shall expect full disclosure of information relating to their financial interests. (b) Hearings Each Commissioner-designate shall be invited to appear before the appropriate committee or committees for a single hearing of three hours. The hearings shall be held in public. The hearings shall be organised jointly by the Conference of Presidents and the Conference of Committee Chairs. Appropriate arrangements shall be made to associate relevant committees where portfolios are mixed. There are three options: (i) if the portfolio of the Commissioner- designate falls within the remit of a single committee, the Commissioner-designate shall be heard by that committee alone; (ii) if the portfolio of the Commissioner- designate falls more or less equally within the remit of more than one committee, the Commissioner-designate shall be heard jointly by those committees; and (iii) if the portfolio of the Commissioner- designate falls mainly within the remit of one committee and only to a small extent within the remit of at least one other committee, the Commissioner-designate shall be heard by the committee mainly responsible, which shall invite the other committee or committees to attend the hearing. The President-elect of the Commission shall be fully consulted about the arrangements. The parliamentary committees shall submit written questions to the Commissioners-designate in good time before the hearings. Hearings shall take place in circumstances, and under conditions, whereby Commissioners-designate enjoy an equal and fair opportunity to present themselves and their opinions. Commissioners-designate shall be invited to make an opening oral statement of no longer than twenty minutes. The conduct of the hearings shall aim to develop a pluralistic political dialogue between the Commissioners-designate and Members. Before the end of the hearing, Commissioners-designate shall be given the opportunity to make a brief closing statement. Evaluation An indexed video recording of the hearings shall be made available for the public record within twenty-four hours; The committees shall meet without delay after the hearing to evaluate the individual Commissioners-designate. These meetings shall be held in camera. The committees shall be invited to state whether, in their opinion, the Commissioners-designate are qualified both to be a member of the college and to carry out the particular duties for which they have been nominated. If the committee is unable to reach a consensus on both of these points, its chair shall, as a last resort, put the two decisions to the vote. The committees' statements of evaluation shall be made public and presented at a joint meeting of the Conference of Presidents and the Conference of Committee Chairs, which shall be held in camera. Following an exchange of views, the Conference of Presidents and the Conference of Committee Chairs shall declare the hearings closed unless they decide to seek further information. The President-elect of the Commission shall present the whole college of Commissioners-designate at a sitting of Parliament. The presentation shall be followed by a debate. In order to wind up the debate, any political group or at least forty Members may table a motion for resolution. Following the vote on the motion for resolution, Parliament shall vote on whether or not to give its consent to the appointment, as a body, of the President and other Commissioners- designate. Parliament shall decide by a majority of the votes cast, by roll call. It may defer the vote until the following sitting. 3. The following arrangements shall apply in the event of a change in the composition of the Commission or the allocation of portfolios during its term of office: (a) When a vacancy caused by resignation, compulsory retirement or death is to be filled, Parliament, acting with dispatch, shall invite the Commissioner-designate to participate in a hearing under the same conditions as those laid down in paragraph 1. (b) In the event of the accession of a new Member State, Parliament shall invite the Commissioner-designate to participate in a hearing under the same conditions as those laid down in paragraph 1. (c) In the event of a substantial change of portfolios, the Commissioners affected shall be invited to appear before the committees concerned before taking up their new responsibilities. Or. en guidelines for the approval of the Commission – OJ C 285 E, 22.11.2006, p. 137. with changes in points (a) and (f) of Paragraph 2)