EUobserver takes a deep dive into the workings and new chairs of every single European Parliament committee for the new 2024-2029 session, in a series of articles first published in our print magazine of October 2024
MEPs need to formalise a new modus vivendi with the European Commission to ensure the European Parliament plays its full legal role in shaping EU policy and to reform the way MEPs' seats are allocated to member states, according to the new chair of the constitutional affairs committee (AFCO).
The German European People’s Party MEP Sven Simon said the main point on his agenda for the next five years was "reform of the framework agreement on inter-institutional relations between parliament ... the current one dates back to 2010".
"Developments since then make a revision necessary. This includes strengthening parliament’s right of inquiry, enhancing parliament’s right of initiative, and scrutinising the commission’s use of Article 122 TFEU as a legal basis," he added.
Under the EU treaty, the commission has the sole right to propose new legislation, which parliament amends before it is adopted.
Simon didn't question this, but said MEPs needed more power to initiate changes to or revocations of existing laws.
"At present, parliament is limited to writing letters to the commission and hoping for a recast procedure in the coming years. A swift and targeted revision of specific articles is not feasible under the current provisions," he said.
He also pledged to advocate for greater powers for parliament's special committees of enquiry under Article 226 of the EU treaty.
And to push for more scrutiny of how the commission has used Article 122 to make laws bypassing MEPs in emergency situations — such as during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The lack of sufficient parliamentary involvement and the reduced transparency of this procedure highlights the need for greater democratic accountability," Simon said.
AFCO would also target reform of the rules governing political parties and foundations in Europe, even if a deeper overhaul of the EU whole EU treaty "seems unlikely in the foreseeable future".
One of the most hotly-debated and badly-needed changes related to how many seats each EU country should get in the European Parliament, he added.
"While the treaties establish the principle of degressive proportionality - allocating relatively more seats to smaller countries compared to larger ones - there is currently no clear mathematical formula for this distribution process," Simon said.
"Given that some countries will gain additional seats due to changing demographics while others may lose some, redefining the apportionment process is likely to spark significant debate," he predicted.
The incoherence of the present rules could become an even greater problem as the EU prepares to take in new members from the Western Balkans, as well as Moldova and Ukraine, in the medium to long term.
But closer to home, some nationalist political parties in Hungary and Poland have shown in the past five years that the issues of rule of law in general and the primacy of EU law over national legislation need more attention.
"The various political groups have competing visions for the future of the European Union", Simon said.
"The true beauty of democracy lies in the competition of diverse ideas", he added.
And Simon planned to hold "a conference on the rule of law and supremacy of EU law," to see how to tackle the diverging views.
"In Europe, we face challenges that are interpreted differently by various legal schools across the continent. I believe it is necessary to increase transnational debate about it," he said.
The AFCO coordinators are: Loránt Vincze (EPP, Romania), Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spain), Marieke Ehlers (PfE, the Netherlands), Patry Jaki (ECR, Poland), Sandro Gozi (Renew, France), Reinier van Lanschot (Greens, Netherlands), Nikolas Farantouris (The Left, Greece), and Stanisław Tyszka (ESN, Poland).
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.