Committee on Constitutional Affairs
The Chair
To the Chairperson(s) of the committee(s) concerned
Dear Chair,
I have the pleasure of inviting you to an Inter-parliamentary Committee Meeting that
the Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) will hold on Tuesday, 22 June 2021.
The main aim of this meeting is to exchange views and to reflect with the national
Parliaments on the European electoral law (Article 223 TFEU), and on the provisions
governing the right of inquiry (Article 226 TFEU).
Since 1976, when the European Electoral Act established the election of the representatives
of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, Parliament has consistently strived
to reform the EU electoral law and move towards a more a genuine, uniform and truly
European electoral procedure.
On the other hand, the European Parliament's right of inquiry, currently governed by
Decision 95/167/EC, Euratom, ECSC of 19 April 1995, constitutes one of the core
parliamentary competences, and the increased responsibilities of the European Parliament
have made more urgent a clearer definition of its right of inquiry.
In both cases, however, the proposals of Parliament have faced considerable obstacles.
Indeed, regarding the Electoral law, its latest reform, concluded in 2018, although not overly
ambitious in terms of final outcome, has not yet entered into force for lack of ratification in
all Member States. As for the right of inquiry,
Parliament’s efforts for reforming the current
legal framework have largely stalled since 2011.
We deem that an Inter-parliamentary Committee Meeting on those issues is essential in order
to ensure a sufficiently reasoned and mature debate on policy and institutional choices
allowing us to move forward on such important files, and on which AFCO is preparing new
solutions, under the rapporteurship of Mr. Domènec Ruiz Devesa (S&D, ES).
Indeed, not only the
European Parliament’s legislative proposal on the European electoral
law will be forwarded to the national Parliaments, in accordance with Protocol No 1 on the
Role of National Parliaments in the European Union, but national Parliaments will play a
crucial role in the phase of approval by Member states in accordance with their respective
constitutional procedures of the final text agreed by the Council, following European
Parliament’s consent. It is thus highly appropriate and timely to hold a debate on this between
the national Parliaments and the European Parliament at this early preparatory stage of the
procedure.
Committee Secretariat:
B-1047 Brussels - Tel. +32 2 28 43454 - Fax +3222849015@fax .ep
F-67070 Strasbourg - Tel. +33 3 88 1 72655 - Fax +3222849015@fax .ep
[email protected] - w w w.europarl.europa.eu