File n° 53 

Up until 1979, no internal body of the National Assembly nor the Senate, was specifically tasked with following European issues. Each of the assemblies in fact, appointed representatives to sit in the European Parliament and to present, each year, an information report on the activities of that institution to the Foreign Affairs Committee. However, from 1979 on, the election of M.E.P.s by universal suffrage, has broken this automatic link and led to the setting-up in both the National Assembly and the Senate of a Delegation for the European Communities (called “Delegation for the European Union” since 1994). By virtue of the Constitutional Law no. 2008-724 of July 23, 2008 the Delegation for the European Union became the committee in charge of European affairs.

I. – the committee in charge of European affairs,
The european “observation post” of the National Assembly

Unlike the six standing committees whose existence is laid down by the Constitution, the committee in charge of European affairs has only a statutory status. While its operation is similar to that of a committee, its remit is however different.

1. – The composition of the committee in charge of European affairs

The number of members of the former delegation, at both the National Assembly and the Senate, has been limited, by statute, to thirty-six.

The Bureau of the committee is made up of a chairman, four deputy-chairmen and two secretaries. The chairman decides on the agenda of the meetings and convenes the committee. The chairman of the former Delegation was elected, like the chairmen of the other delegations, for the term of the Parliament. In accordance with Article 48 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, the chairman of the committee in charge of European affairs succeeding the Delegation takes part in the Conference of Presidents.

The rules governing the make-up of the committee provide for political groups to be represented proportionately to their size and also for a balanced representation of the standing committees.

2. – The working of the committee in charge of European affairs

When the House is sitting, the committee usually meets once or twice a week. The subjects of these meetings can vary: they can concern the interviewing of a minister, of a European commissioner or of a well-known figure. Alternatively, they can deal with the examination of information reports or even of Community instruments in accordance with article 88-4 of the Constitution.

These meetings may be open to French M.E.P.s or to other M.E.P.s. They may also be open to the press. Sometimes the committee meets jointly with one or several standing committees, with the committee of the Senate or with the European Affairs Committee of another Member State.

II. – an information and monitoring brief
concerning European affairs

The main task of the committee in charge of European affairs is to inform the National Assembly of the work of the European Union, particularly through the publication of information reports. In addition, it plays a vital role in the implementation, within the National Assembly, of Article 88-4 of the Constitution, which was laid down by the 1992 constitutional revision. For several years now, the committee has also carried out a regular supervision of the transposition of directives.

Since September 2006, in the framework of the monitoring of subsidiarity and proportionality, the committee can propose draft opinions on legislative proposals made by the European Commission, which, like all Parliaments of the Members States, the French Parliament receives directly.

1. – Informing M.P.s

The first task of the committee in charge of European affairs is to follow the work carried out by the European institutions, in order to keep the National Assembly well informed on such matters. To fulfil this role, it must keep itself well-informed. To do so, it has, at its disposal, several sources of information.

First of all, it is the responsibility of the Government to keep the committee informed by providing all “necessary documents” which have been written by the different European institutions. The Law of June 10, 1994 (n°94-476) extended this obligation to all “European Union” drafts of instruments, in other words not only Community drafts of instruments, but also those coming under the common foreign and security policy and cooperation in the fields of justice and internal affairs.

The committee in charge of European affairs receives all documents which originate with the European institutions (drafts and proposals for Community instruments, White Papers, Green Papers, papers from the Commission, work programmes, reports etc.). Thanks to the development of the internet and to the policy of openness implemented by the European Commission, the French Parliament can now be informed, in real time, of European draft legislation. The national Parliaments can now obtain, for themselves, all necessary documentation both rapidly and efficiently. However the National Assembly can only adopt motions on documents which have been submitted to it following the procedure laid down in Article 88-4 of the Constitution.

The committee in charge of European affairs also carries out numerous and regular interviews, in particular with members of the Government and with European commissioners. The Minister of Foreign Affairs thus generally appears before the committee at the time of the meeting of each European Council. Other ministers also appear depending on the current European situation. In addition, the committee endeavours to organize interviews with main actors in the world of economics as well as M.P.s from other Member States or from countries which are candidates for accession.

M.P.s may also be informed through the publication of information reports. The committee may examine the subjects of its choosing and this led the former Delegation to publish around thirty information reports every year. Some of these include comparative studies on legislation in different European countries. Each of these reports is submitted to the committee and may lead to the adoption of conclusions expressing the position of the committee on a particular subject, or even to the passing of a motion of resolution based on a text submitted to the National Assembly in application of Article 88-4 of the Constitution.

In addition, every month, the committee’s electronic newsletter recalls all the work of the Commission, the inter-parliamentary meetings, a selection of European documents and a chronicle of the legal precedents of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

There is also a specific section given over to the European Union, on the internet site of the National Assembly. This page provides information on the make-up and the working of the Commission (presentation of the Commission, biographies of its members and even the procedures to be followed in the examination of Community instruments) and provides on-line access to all the information reports and to all the minutes of meetings. Thematic files on European news, an interactive questionnaire about the future of Europe, comparative legislation studies and documentation can also be found on this page.

2. – The role of the committee in the examination of European texts

Introduced into the Constitution in 1992[1], on the occasion of the constitutional revision prior to ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, then amended in 1999[2] as part of the ratification process of the Amsterdam Treaty, Article 88-4 has given the French Parliament specific means of monitoring European affairs.

“The Government shall lay before the National Assembly and the Senate, draft proposals for legislation of the European Union, together with drafts of or proposals for acts of the European Communities or the European Union containing provisions which are matters for statute, as soon as they have been transmitted to the Council of the European Union. It may also lay before them other drafts of or proposals for acts or any document issuing from a European Union institution.

In the manner laid down by the rules of procedure of each assembly, resolutions may be passed, even if Parliament is not in session, on the drafts, proposals or documents referred to in the preceding paragraph.”

a) Parliamentary Intervention at the Stage of the Formulation of Community Instruments

Since 1992, this constitutional provision requires the Government to lay before the National Assembly and the Senate any drafts of or proposals for instruments of the European Communities or the European Union containing provisions which are matters for statute, as soon as they have been transmitted to the Council of the European Union. It is a matter for the Conseil d'Etat to decide on the statutory character or not of a draft of or a proposal for a Community instrument. However, the constitutional amendment of January 25, 1999, broadened in two ways the field of application of article 88-4 of the Constitution. On the one hand, it now covers European draft instruments in the second and third pillars. On the other hand, the Government has also now the possibility of laying before the assemblies, European texts which, though not statutory in character, can be considered as likely to give rise to Parliament taking a position. This is the “optional clause” added to the “mandatory clause” on drafts of or proposals for European instruments containing provisions which are matters for statute.

In order to have the time to ensure the examination of the texts, Parliament is provided with a procedure referred to as “parliamentary scrutiny reserve” which means that the Government must allow a minimum one-month period from the transmission to Parliament of a draft of or a proposal for a Community instrument. This one-month period is part of the six-week interval, laid down by the protocol on the role of national parliaments, appended to the Amsterdam Treaty, during which the Council of the Union cannot adopt a common position or a decision with respect to a legislative proposal received from the Commission.

Articles 151-1 to 151-4 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly stated that the former Delegation must, systematically, examine all drafts of or proposals for European instruments which the Government submits to Parliament in application of Article 88-4 of the Constitution. Approximately 300 European texts were thus submitted annually to the former Delegation on which it was required to take a position. Like the Delegation the committee in charge of European affairs may decide either to approve the draft of or the proposal for a Community instrument by adopting, if need be, conclusions or a motion of resolution setting out its position, or it may decide to defer taking a decision when it feels it lacks information to assess the scope of the text or it may even decide to oppose the adoption of the draft of or the proposal for a Community instrument. It may then decide to justify its opposition by the adoption of conclusions or the adoption of a motion for resolution.

Whilst the adoption of conclusions only expresses the position of the committee in charge of European affairs, motions for resolution express that of the National Assembly as a whole. It is for this reason that the committee in charge of European affairs can only adopt motions for resolution which are subsequently sent for examination to one of the six standing committees. This committee is required to take a decision within one month of the transmission of the motion for resolution. The committee may then, adopt without modification, reject or modify the proposal which has been submitted to it. A motion adopted by a standing committee becomes definitive except if, in the eight days following the distribution of the report, a request for inclusion on the agenda of the plenary sitting is made by the Government, a political group chairman or the chairman of a standing committee or the committee in charge of European affairs.

It should be noted that the committee does not however have the sole right of initiative to table motions for resolutions, which is also an individual right enjoyed by each M.P.

The motions are then published in the Journal Officiel and transmitted to the General Secretariat for European Affairs (SGAE) which begins the inter-ministerial examination. While, legally speaking, the Government is not bound by the motions, it is clear that any position taken by the National Assembly on a particular issue will have a political impact and that the Government will take this into account during the negotiations. In practice, many of the motions support the position defended by the Executive and even add to it, rather than contradict it.

b) Parliamentary Intervention at Later Stages: Closer Cooperation
 in the Process of the Transposition of European Directives

In the framework of its remit concerning European matters, and taking into account the recurrent delays in the French transposition of texts for European Union directives, during the XII^th Parliament, the Delegation for the European Union has taken the initiative of publishing an annual information report taking stock of the effective transposition of directives into domestic law. This report lists directives whose transposition period has expired.

It must be noted that directives with provisions which are matters for statute, according to Article 34 of the Constitution, have to be transposed into domestic law by the Parliament.

III. –  Closer cooperation by national Parliaments
in the process of European decision making

Inter-parliamentary cooperation represents an important aspect of the activities of the committee in charge of European affairs  which maintains permanent contacts with the Parliaments of the Union and of candidate countries.

The role of national Parliaments in European construction was enshrined by the treaty of Amsterdam which came into effect in 1999 and which had an annex specifically referring to the role of national Parliaments.

The collective role of national Parliaments has progressively increased.

1. – The increase in inter-parliamentary cooperation

As national parliaments are becoming involved in European affairs, so cooperation is strengthening between national and European parliamentary institutions. M.P.s are increasingly frequently invited to Brussels to debate on a variety of subjects with the members of certain standing committees of the European Parliament. The former Delegation for the European Union held a meeting in Brussels to debate the draft directive on services. In the same way, the committee in charge of European affairs  of the National Assembly regularly invites French M.E.P.s to participate in joint meetings.

2. – Participation in the Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees (COSAC)

COSAC is an inter-parliamentary conference created in 1989 upon the initiative of Laurent Fabius, then President of the National Assembly. It brings together every six months, in the country holding the European Union presidency, six representatives of the committees or delegations tasked with European affairs at the Union's parliaments and six European Parliament representatives.

COSAC meetings allow parliamentarians to question the European Union Presidency-in-Office and adopt political contributions on European subjects. COSAC, which saw its existence enshrined in the Protocol on the role of national Parliaments appended to the Amsterdam Treaty, is also empowered to examine any legislative proposal or initiative in relation to the establishment of any area of freedom, security and justice which might have a direct bearing on the rights and freedoms of individuals.

COSAC contributions are transmitted to the European institutions, i.e. to the Council of Ministers, European Parliament and Commission.