1.   The European Parliament is the assembly elected pursuant to the Treaties, the Act of 20 September 1976 concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage and national legislation deriving from the Treaties.

2.   Persons elected to the European Parliament shall be referred to as:

1.   On the basis of a report by the committee responsible, Parliament shall verify the credentials without delay and rule on the validity of the mandate of each of its newly elected Members and also on any dispute referred to it pursuant to the provisions of the Act of 20 September 1976, except those based on national electoral laws.

2.   The committee's report shall be based on the official notification by each Member State of the full results of the election specifying the names of the candidates elected and those of any substitutes together with their ranking in accordance with the results of the vote.

It shall not be possible to confirm the validity of the mandate of a Member unless the written declarations required on the basis of Article 7 of the Act of 20 September 1976 and Annex I to these Rules have been made.

On the basis of a report by the committee, Parliament may at any time rule on any dispute as to the validity of the mandate of any of its Members.

3.   Where the appointment of a Member is due to the withdrawal of candidates from the same list, the committee responsible for the verification of credentials shall ensure that such withdrawals have taken place in accordance with the spirit and the letter of the Act of 20 September 1976 and Rule 4(3).

4.   The committee shall ensure that any information which may affect the performance of the duties of a Member of the European Parliament or the ranking of the substitutes is forwarded without delay to Parliament by the authorities of the Member States or of the Union, with an indication of the date of effect where an appointment is concerned.

Should the competent authorities of the Member States initiate a procedure which might lead to the disqualification of a Member from holding office, the President shall ask them to keep him regularly informed of the stage reached in the procedure. He shall refer the matter to the committee responsible. On a proposal from that committee, Parliament may adopt a position on the matter.

5.   Until such time as a Member's credentials have been verified or a ruling has been given on any dispute, the Member shall take his seat in Parliament and on its bodies and shall enjoy all the rights attaching thereto.

6.   At the start of each parliamentary term, the President shall invite the competent authorities of the Member States to provide Parliament with any information relevant to the application of this rule.

1.   A Member's term of office shall begin and end as laid down in the Act of 20 September 1976. It shall also end on death or resignation.

2.   Every Member shall remain in office until the opening of the first sitting of Parliament following the elections.

3.   A Member who resigns shall notify the President of his resignation and of the date on which that resignation shall take effect, which shall be not more than three months after notification. This notification shall take the form of an official record drawn up in the presence of the Secretary-General or his representative, signed by the latter and by the Member concerned and immediately submitted to the committee responsible, which shall enter it on the agenda of its first meeting following receipt of the document.

If the committee responsible considers that the resignation is not in accordance with the spirit or the letter of the Act of 20 September 1976 it shall inform Parliament to this effect so that Parliament can decide whether or not to establish the vacancy.

Otherwise, the vacancy shall be established with effect from the date indicated by the resigning Member in the official record. There shall be no vote in Parliament on the subject.

A simplified procedure has been introduced for certain exceptional circumstances, in particular where one or more part-sessions are held between the effective date of the resignation and the first meeting of the committee responsible and where, as the vacancy has not been established, the political group to which the resigning Member belongs is not able to obtain a replacement Member during those part-sessions. Under this procedure, the rapporteur of the committee responsible entrusted with these cases has the power to examine immediately any resignation duly notified and, where any delay in considering the notification would be prejudicial, to refer the matter to the committee chairman asking him, pursuant to paragraph 3:

4.   Incompatibilities resulting from national legislation shall be notified to Parliament, which shall take note thereof.

Where the competent authorities of the Member States or of the Union or the Member concerned notify the President of an appointment to an office incompatible with the office of Member of the European Parliament, the President shall inform Parliament, which shall establish that there is a vacancy.

5.   The authorities of the Member States or of the Union shall inform the President of any assignment they intend to confer on a Member. The President shall refer to the committee responsible the question of the compatibility of the proposed assignment with the letter and the spirit of the Act of 20 September 1976. He shall inform Parliament, the Member and the authorities concerned of the conclusions reached by that committee.

6.   The following shall be considered as the date of the end of the term of office and the effective date of a vacancy:

7.   When Parliament has established that a vacancy exists, it shall inform the Member State concerned thereof.

8.   Any dispute concerning the validity of the appointment of a Member whose credentials have already been verified shall be referred to the committee responsible, which shall report to Parliament without delay and no later than the beginning of the next part-session.

9.   Parliament shall reserve the right, where acceptance or termination of office appears to be based on material inaccuracy or vitiated consent, to declare the appointment under consideration to be invalid or refuse to establish the vacancy.

1.   Members shall enjoy privileges and immunities in accordance with the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities.

2.   Passes to allow Members to circulate freely in the Member States shall be issued to them by the President of Parliament as soon as he has been notified of their election.

3.   Members shall be entitled to inspect any files held by Parliament or a committee, other than personal files and accounts which only the Members concerned shall be allowed to inspect. Exceptions to this rule for the handling of documents to which public access may be refused pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (1) shall be laid down in Annex VII to these Rules of Procedure.

1.   In the exercise of its powers in respect of privileges and immunities, Parliament shall seek primarily to uphold its integrity as a democratic legislative assembly and to secure the independence of its Members in performance of their duties.

2.   Any request addressed to the President by a competent authority of a Member State that the immunity of a Member be waived shall be announced in Parliament and referred to the committee responsible.

3.   Any request addressed to the President by a Member or a former Member to defend privileges and immunities shall be announced in Parliament and referred to the committee responsible.

The Member or former Member may be represented by another Member. The request may not be made by another Member without the agreement of the Member concerned.

4.   As a matter of urgency, in circumstances where a Member is arrested or has his freedom of movement curtailed in apparent breach of his privileges and immunities, the President, after having consulted the chairman and rapporteur of the committee responsible, may take an initiative to assert the privileges and immunities of the Member concerned. The President shall communicate his initiative to the committee and inform Parliament.

1.   The committee responsible shall consider without delay and in the order in which they have been submitted requests for the waiver of immunity or requests for the defence of immunity and privileges.

2.   The committee shall make a proposal for a decision which simply recommends the adoption or rejection of the request for the waiver of immunity or for the defence of immunity and privileges.

3.   The committee may ask the authority concerned to provide any information or explanation which the committee deems necessary for it to form an opinion on whether immunity should be waived or defended. The Member concerned shall be given an opportunity to be heard; he may bring any documents or other written evidence he deems relevant. He may be represented by another Member.

4.   Where the request seeks the waiver of immunity on several counts, each of these may be the subject of a separate decision. The committee's report may, exceptionally, propose that the waiver of immunity shall apply solely to prosecution proceedings and that, until a final sentence is passed, the Member should be immune from any form of detention or remand or any other measure which prevents him from performing the duties proper to his mandate.

5.   Where a Member is required to appear as a witness or expert witness, there is no need to request a waiver of immunity, provided that

6.   In cases concerning the defence of immunity or privileges, the committee shall state whether the circumstances constitute an administrative or other restriction imposed on the free movement of Members travelling to or from the place of meeting of Parliament or an opinion expressed or a vote cast in the performance of the mandate or fall within aspects of Article 10 of the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities which are not a matter of national law, and shall make a proposal to invite the authority concerned to draw the necessary conclusions.

7.   The committee may offer a reasoned opinion about the competence of the authority in question and about the admissibility of the request, but shall not, under any circumstances, pronounce on the guilt or otherwise of the Member nor on whether or not the opinions or acts attributed to him or her justify prosecution, even if, in considering the request, it acquires detailed knowledge of the facts of the case.

8.   The report of the committee shall be placed at the head of the agenda of the first sitting following the day on which it was tabled. No amendment may be tabled to the proposal(s) for a decision.

Discussion shall be confined to the reasons for and against each proposal to waive or uphold immunity, or to defend immunity or a privilege.

Without prejudice to Rule 145, the Member whose privileges or immunities are the subject of the case shall not speak in the debate.

The proposal(s) for a decision contained in the report shall be put to the vote at the first voting time following the debate.

After Parliament has considered the matter, an individual vote shall be taken on each of the proposals contained in the report. If any of the proposals are rejected, the contrary decision shall be deemed adopted.

9.   The President shall immediately communicate Parliament's decision to the Member concerned and to the competent authority of the Member State concerned, with a request that the President should be informed of any developments in the relevant proceedings and of any judicial rulings made as a consequence. When the President receives this information, he shall transmit it to Parliament in the way he considers most appropriate, if necessary after consulting the committee responsible.

10.   When the President makes use of the powers conferred on him by Rule 6(4), the committee responsible shall take cognisance of the President's initiative at its next meeting. Where the committee deems it necessary it may prepare a report for submission to Parliament.

11.   The committee shall treat these matters and handle any documents received with the utmost confidentiality.

12.   The committee, after consulting the Member States, may draw up an indicative list of the authorities of the Member States which are competent to present a request for the waiver of a Member's immunity.

13.   Any inquiry as to the scope of Members' privileges or immunities made by a competent authority shall be dealt with according to the above rules.

1.   Parliament may lay down a code of conduct for its Members. The code shall be adopted pursuant to Rule 202(2) and attached to these Rules of Procedure as an annex (2).

The code shall not in any way prejudice or restrict a Member in the exercise of his office or of any political or other activity relating thereto.

2.   The Quaestors shall be responsible for issuing nominative passes valid for a maximum of one year to persons who wish to enter Parliament's premises frequently with a view to supplying information to Members within the framework of their parliamentary mandate in their own interests or those of third parties.

In return, these persons shall be required to:

This register shall be made available to the public on request in all of Parliament's places of work and, in the form laid down by the Quaestors, in its information offices in the Member States.

The provisions governing the application of this paragraph shall be laid down in an annex to the Rules of Procedure (4).

3.   The code of conduct and the rights and privileges of former Members shall be laid down by a decision of the Bureau. No distinction shall be made in the treatment of former Members.

1.   At the sitting provided for under Rule 127(2), and at any other sitting held for the purpose of electing the President and the Bureau, the oldest Member present shall take the Chair until the President has been elected.

2.   No business shall be transacted while the oldest Member is in the Chair unless it is concerned with the election of the President or the verification of credentials.

If a question relating to the verification of credentials is raised when the oldest Member is in the Chair, he shall refer the matter to the committee responsible for the verification of credentials.

1.   The President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors shall be elected by secret ballot, in accordance with the provisions of Rule 162. Nominations shall be with consent. They may only be made by a political group or by at least 37 Members. However, if the number of nominations does not exceed the number of seats to be filled, the candidates may be elected by acclamation.

2.   In the election of the President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors, account should be taken of the need to ensure an overall fair representation of Member States and political views.

1.   The President shall be elected first. Nominations shall be handed before each ballot to the oldest Member, who shall announce them to Parliament. If after three ballots no candidate has obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast, the fourth ballot shall be confined to the two Members who have obtained the highest number of votes in the third ballot. In the event of a tie the elder candidate shall be declared elected.

2.   As soon as the President has been elected, the oldest Member shall vacate the Chair. Only the elected President may deliver an opening address.

1.   The Vice-Presidents shall then be elected on a single ballot paper. Those who on the first ballot, up to the number of 14, obtain an absolute majority of the votes cast shall be declared elected in the numerical order of their votes. Should the number of candidates elected be less than the number of seats to be filled, a second ballot shall be held under the same conditions to fill the remaining seats. Should a third ballot be necessary, a relative majority shall suffice for election to the remaining seats. In the event of a tie the eldest candidates shall be declared elected.

Although this Rule, unlike Rule 13(1), does not expressly provide for new nominations to be introduced between ballots during the election of Vice-Presidents, such action is permissible because Parliament, being a sovereign body, must be able to consider all possible candidates, especially since the absence of such an option might impede the smooth running of the election.

2.   Subject to the provisions of Rule 17(1), the Vice-Presidents shall take precedence in the order in which they were elected and, in the event of a tie, by age.

Where they are not elected by secret ballot, the order in which their names are read out to the House by the President shall determine the order of precedence.

1.   The term of office of the President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors shall be two and a half years.

When a Member changes political groups he shall retain, for the remainder of his two and a half year term of office, any seat he holds in the Bureau or the College of Quaestors.

2.   Should a vacancy for one of these positions occur before the expiry of this term, the Member elected shall serve only for the remaining period of his predecessor's term of office.

1.   Should it be necessary for the President, a Vice-President or a Quaestor to be replaced, his successor shall be elected in accordance with the above rules.

A newly elected Vice-President shall take the place of his predecessor in the order of precedence.

2.   Should the President's seat become vacant, the first Vice-President shall act as President until a new President is elected.

1.   The President shall direct all the activities of Parliament and its bodies under the conditions laid down in these Rules. He shall enjoy all the powers necessary to preside over the proceedings of Parliament and to ensure that they are properly conducted.

These powers include the power to put texts to the vote in an order other than that set out in the document to be voted on. By analogy with the provisions of Rule 155(7), the President may seek the agreement of Parliament before doing so.

2.   The duties of the President shall be to open, suspend and close sittings; to rule on the admissibility of amendments, on questions to the Council and Commission, and on the conformity of reports with these Rules; to ensure observance of these Rules, maintain order, call upon speakers, close debates, put matters to the vote and announce the results of votes; and to refer to committees any communications that concern them.

3.   The President may speak in a debate only to sum up or to call speakers to order. Should he wish to take part in a debate, he shall vacate the Chair and shall not reoccupy it until the debate is over.

4.   Parliament shall be represented in international relations, on ceremonial occasions and in administrative, legal or financial matters by the President, who may delegate these powers.

1.   Should the President be absent or unable to discharge his duties, or should he wish to take part in a debate pursuant to Rule 19(3), he shall be replaced by one of the Vice-Presidents pursuant to Rule 14(2).

2.   The Vice-Presidents shall also carry out the duties conferred upon them under Rule 22 and Rules 24(3) and 64(3).

3.   The President may delegate to the Vice-Presidents any duties such as representing Parliament at specific ceremonies or acts. In particular, the President may designate a Vice-President to take charge of the responsibilities conferred on the President in Rules 109(3) and 110(2).

1.   The Bureau shall consist of the President and the 14 Vice-Presidents of Parliament.

2.   The Quaestors shall be members of the Bureau in an advisory capacity.

3.   Should voting in the Bureau result in a tie, the President shall have a casting vote.

1.   The Bureau shall carry out the duties assigned to it under the Rules of Procedure.

2.   The Bureau shall take financial, organisational and administrative decisions on matters concerning Members and the internal organisation of Parliament, its Secretariat and its bodies.

3.   The Bureau shall take decisions on matters relating to the conduct of sittings.

4.   The Bureau shall adopt the provisions referred to in Rule 31 concerning non-attached Members.

5.   The Bureau shall decide the establishment plan of the Secretariat and lay down regulations relating to the administrative and financial situation of officials and other servants.

6.   The Bureau shall draw up Parliament's preliminary draft estimates.

7.   The Bureau shall adopt the guidelines for the Quaestors pursuant to Rule 25.

8.   The Bureau shall be the authority responsible for authorising meetings of committees away from the usual places of work, hearings and study and fact-finding journeys by rapporteurs.

Where such meetings are authorised, the language arrangements shall be determined on the basis of the official languages used and requested by the members and substitutes of the committee concerned.

The same shall apply in the case of the delegations, except where the members and substitutes concerned agree otherwise.

9.   The Bureau shall appoint the Secretary-General pursuant to Rule 197.

10.   The Bureau shall lay down the implementing rules relating to Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding (2) and shall, in implementing that Regulation, assume the tasks conferred upon it by these Rules of Procedure.

11.   The President and/or the Bureau may entrust one or more members of the Bureau with general or specific tasks lying within the competence of the President and/or the Bureau. At the same time the ways and means of carrying them out shall be laid down.

12.   When a new Parliament is elected, the outgoing Bureau shall remain in office until the first sitting of the new Parliament.

1.   The Conference of Presidents shall consist of the President of Parliament and the chairmen of the political groups. The chairman of a political group may arrange to be represented by a member of his group.

2.   The non-attached Members shall delegate two of their number to attend meetings of the Conference of Presidents, without having the right to vote.

3.   The Conference of Presidents shall endeavour to reach a consensus on matters referred to it.

Where a consensus cannot be reached, the matter shall be put to a vote subject to a weighting based on the number of Members in each political group.

1.   The Conference of Presidents shall carry out the duties assigned to it under the Rules of Procedure.

2.   The Conference of Presidents shall take decisions on the organisation of Parliament's work and matters relating to legislative planning.

3.   The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for matters relating to relations with the other institutions and bodies of the European Union and with the national parliaments of Member States. The Bureau shall name two Vice-Presidents who shall be entrusted with the implementation of the relations with national parliaments. They shall report back regularly to the Conference of Presidents on their activities in this regard.

4.   The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for matters relating to relations with non-member countries and with non-Union institutions and organisations.

5.   The Conference of Presidents shall draw up the draft agenda of Parliament's part-sessions.

6.   The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for the composition and competence of committees, committees of inquiry and joint parliamentary committees, standing delegations and ad hoc delegations.

7.   The Conference of Presidents shall decide how seats in the Chamber are to be allocated pursuant to Rule 32.

8.   The Conference of Presidents shall be the authority responsible for authorising the drawing up of own-initiative reports.

9.   The Conference of Presidents shall submit proposals to the Bureau concerning administrative and budgetary matters relating to the political groups.

1.   The Conference of Committee Chairmen shall consist of the chairmen of all standing or temporary committees and shall elect its chairman.

2.   The Conference of Committee Chairmen may make recommendations to the Conference of Presidents about the work of committees and the drafting of the agenda of part-sessions.

3.   The Bureau and the Conference of Presidents may instruct the Conference of Committee Chairmen to carry out specific tasks.

1.   The Conference of Delegation Chairmen shall consist of the chairmen of all standing interparliamentary delegations and shall elect its chairman.

2.   The Conference of Delegation Chairmen may make recommendations to the Conference of Presidents about the work of delegations.

3.   The Bureau and the Conference of Presidents may instruct the Conference of Delegation Chairmen to carry out specific tasks.

1.   The minutes of the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents shall be translated into the official languages, printed and distributed to all Members of Parliament and shall be accessible to the public, unless the Bureau or the Conference of Presidents exceptionally, for reasons of confidentiality, as laid down in Article 4(1) to (4) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, decides otherwise with regard to certain items of the minutes.

2.   Any Member may ask questions related to the work of the Bureau, the Conference of Presidents and the Quaestors. Such questions shall be submitted to the President in writing and published in the Bulletin of Parliament within 30 days of tabling, together with the answers given.

1.   Members may form themselves into groups according to their political affinities.

Parliament need not normally evaluate the political affinity of members of a group. In forming a group together under this Rule, Members concerned accept by definition that they have political affinity. Only when this is denied by the Members concerned is it necessary for Parliament to evaluate whether the group has been constituted in conformity with the Rules.

2.   A political group shall comprise Members elected in at least one-fifth of the Member States. The minimum number of Members required to form a political group shall be 19.

3.   A Member may not belong to more than one political group.

4.   The President shall be notified in a statement when a political group is set up. This statement shall specify the name of the group, its members and its bureau.

5.   The statement shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

1.   The political groups shall carry out their duties as part of the activities of the Union, including the tasks allocated to them by the Rules of Procedure. The political groups shall be provided with a secretariat on the basis of the establishment plan of the Secretariat, administrative facilities and the appropriations entered for that purpose in Parliament's budget.

2.   The Bureau shall lay down the rules relating to the provision, implementation and monitoring of those facilities and appropriations, as well as to the related delegations of budget implementation powers.

3.   Those rules shall determine the administrative and financial consequences in the event of the dissolution of a political group.

1.   Members who do not belong to a political group shall be provided with a secretariat. The detailed arrangements shall be laid down by the Bureau on a proposal from the Secretary-General.

2.   The Bureau shall also determine the status and parliamentary rights of such Members.

3.   The Bureau shall also lay down the rules relating to the provision, implementation and auditing of appropriations entered in Parliament's budget to cover secretarial expenses and administrative facilities of non-attached Members.

1.   Parliament shall work together with the Commission and the Council to determine the legislative planning of the European Union.

Parliament and the Commission shall cooperate in preparing the Commission's legislative and work programme in accordance with the timetable and arrangements agreed between the two institutions and annexed to these Rules of Procedure (6).

2.   In urgent and unforeseen circumstances, an institution may, on its own initiative and according to the procedures laid down in the Treaties, propose adding a legislative measure to those proposed in the legislative programme.

3.   The President shall forward the resolution adopted by Parliament to the other institutions which participate in the European Union's legislative procedure and to the parliaments of the Member States.

The President shall ask the Council to express an opinion on the Commission's annual legislative programme as well as Parliament's resolution.

4.   Where an institution is unable to comply with the timetable laid down it shall notify the other institutions as to the reasons for the delay and propose a new timetable.

1.   For all Commission proposals and other documents of a legislative nature, the committee responsible shall first verify the legal basis.

2.   If the committee responsible disputes the validity or the appropriateness of the legal basis, including in the context of the verification pursuant to Article 5 of the EC Treaty, it shall request the opinion of the committee responsible for legal affairs.

3.   The committee responsible for legal affairs may also on its own initiative take up questions concerning the legal basis of the proposals submitted by the Commission. In such cases it shall duly inform the committee responsible.

4.   If the committee responsible for legal affairs decides to dispute the validity or the appropriateness of the legal basis, it shall report its conclusions to Parliament. Parliament shall vote on this prior to voting on the substance of the proposal.

5.   Amendments tabled in Parliament to change the legal basis of a Commission proposal without the committee responsible or the committee responsible for legal affairs having disputed the validity or appropriateness of the legal basis shall be inadmissible.

6.   If the Commission does not agree to modify its proposal to conform to the legal basis approved by Parliament, the rapporteur or the chairman of the committee responsible for legal affairs or of the committee responsible may propose that the vote on the substance of the proposal be postponed to a subsequent sitting.

1.   Without prejudice to Rule 40, the committee responsible shall verify the financial compatibility of any Commission proposal, or any other document of a legislative nature, with the Financial Perspective.

2.   When the committee responsible amends the financial endowment of the act it is considering, it shall request the opinion of the committee responsible for budgetary issues.

3.   The committee responsible for budgetary issues may also on its own initiative take up questions concerning the financial compatibility of proposals submitted by the Commission. In such cases it shall duly inform the committee responsible.

4.   If the committee responsible for budgetary issues decides to dispute the financial compatibility of the proposal, it shall report its conclusions to Parliament which shall put them to the vote.

5.   An act declared incompatible may be adopted by Parliament subject to the decisions of the Budgetary Authority.

1.   Throughout the whole legislative procedure Parliament and its committees shall request access to all documents relating to Commission proposals under the same conditions as the Council and its working parties.

2.   During the examination of a Commission proposal, the committee responsible shall request the Commission and the Council to keep it informed about the progress of this proposal in the Council and its working parties and in particular to inform it of any emerging compromises which will substantially amend the original Commission proposal or of the intention of the Commission to withdraw its proposal.

1.   Parliament may request the Commission to submit to it any appropriate proposal pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 192 of the EC Treaty by adopting a resolution on the basis of an own-initiative report from the committee responsible. The resolution shall be adopted by a majority of the component Members of Parliament. Parliament may, at the same time, fix a deadline for the submission of such a proposal.

2.   Before initiating the procedure under Rule 45, the committee responsible shall establish, in the following cases, that no such proposal is under preparation:

3.   Parliament's resolution shall indicate the appropriate legal basis and be accompanied by detailed recommendations as to the content of the required proposals, which shall respect fundamental rights and the principle of subsidiarity.

4.   Where a proposal has financial implications, Parliament shall indicate how sufficient financial resources can be provided.

5.   The committee responsible shall monitor the progress of preparation of any legislative proposal drawn up following a particular request by Parliament.

1.   Proposals from the Commission and other documents of a legislative nature shall be referred by the President to the committee responsible for consideration.

In case of doubt the President may apply Rule 179(2) prior to the announcement in Parliament of referral to the committee responsible.

Where a proposal is listed in the annual legislative programme the committee responsible may decide to appoint a rapporteur to follow the preparatory phase of the proposal.

Consultations by the Council or requests from the Commission for an opinion shall be forwarded by the President to the committee responsible for consideration of the proposal concerned.

The provisions for the first reading as set out in Rules 34 to 37, 49 to 56 and 66 shall apply to legislative proposals whether they require one, two or three readings.

2.   Common positions from the Council shall be referred for consideration to the committee responsible at the first reading.

The provisions for the second reading as set out in Rules 57 to 62 and 67 shall apply to common positions.

3.   During the conciliation procedure between Parliament and the Council following the second reading, no referral back to committee shall take place.

The provisions for the third reading as set out in Rules 63, 64 and 65 shall apply to the conciliation procedure.

4.   Rules 42, 43 and 46, Rule 51(1) and (3) and Rules 52, 53 and 168 shall not apply during the second and third readings.

5.   In the event of a conflict between a provision of the Rules of Procedure relating to the second and third readings and any other provision of the Rules, the provision relating to the second and third readings shall take precedence.

1.   Initiatives originating from a Member State pursuant to Article 67(1) of the EC Treaty or Article 34(2) and Article 42 of the EU Treaty shall be dealt with pursuant to this Rule and to Rules 34 to 37, 40 and 51.

2.   The committee responsible may invite a representative of the originating Member State to present its initiative to the committee. The representative may be accompanied by the Presidency of the Council.

3.   Before the committee responsible proceeds to the vote, it shall ask the Commission whether it has prepared a position on the initiative and if so request the Commission to state its position to the committee.

4.   When two or more proposals (originating from the Commission and/or the Member States) with the same legislative objective have been submitted to Parliament simultaneously or within a short period of time, Parliament shall deal with them in a single report. In its report, the committee responsible shall indicate to which text it has proposed amendments and it shall refer to all other texts in the legislative resolution.

5.   The time period referred to in Article 39(1) of the EU Treaty shall commence when it is announced in plenary that Parliament has received, in the official languages, an initiative, together with an explanatory statement confirming the initiative's conformity with the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality annexed to the EC Treaty.

1.   The chairman of the committee to which a Commission proposal has been referred shall propose to the committee the procedure to be followed.

2.   Following a decision on the procedure to be followed, and if Rule 43 does not apply, the committee shall appoint a rapporteur on the Commission proposal from among its members or permanent substitutes if it has not yet done so on the basis of the annual legislative programme agreed under Rule 33.

3.   The committee's report shall comprise:

1.   Following a first discussion of a legislative proposal, the chairman may propose that it be approved without amendment. Unless at least one-tenth of the members of the committee object, the chairman shall present to Parliament a report approving the proposal. The second subparagraph of Rule 131(1) and Rule 131(2) and (4) shall apply.

2.   The chairman may alternatively propose that he or the rapporteur draft a set of amendments reflecting the committee's discussion. If the committee so agrees, these amendments shall be sent to the members of the committee. Unless at least one-tenth of the members of the committee object within a set time limit, which may not be less than 21 days from the date of dispatch, the report shall be considered as having been adopted by the committee. In this case the draft legislative resolution and the amendments shall be submitted to Parliament without debate pursuant to the second subparagraph of Rule 131(1) and Rule 131(2) and (4).

3.   If at least one-tenth of the committee's members object, the amendments shall be put to the vote at the next meeting of the committee.

4.   The first and second sentences of paragraph 1, the first, second and third sentences of paragraph 2 and paragraph 3 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to committee opinions within the meaning of Rule 46.

1.   Where a committee draws up a non-legislative report, it shall appoint a rapporteur from among its members or permanent substitutes.

2.   The rapporteur shall be responsible for preparing the committee's report and for presenting it to Parliament on behalf of the committee.

3.   The committee's report shall comprise:

1.   A committee intending to draw up a report and to submit a motion for a resolution to Parliament on a subject within its competence on which neither a consultation nor a request for an opinion has been referred to it pursuant to Rule 179(1) may do so only with the authorisation of the Conference of Presidents. Where such authorisation is withheld the reason must always be stated.

2.   The provisions of this Rule shall apply mutatis mutandis in cases where the Treaties attribute the right of initiative to Parliament.

In such cases, the Conference of Presidents shall take a decision within two months.

1.   Should the committee to which a question was first referred wish to hear the views of another committee, or should another committee wish to make known its views on the report of the committee to which a question was first referred, such committees may ask the President that, in accordance with Rule 179(3), one committee be named as the committee responsible and the other as the committee asked for an opinion.

2.   In the case of documents of a legislative nature within the meaning of Rule 40(1), the opinion shall consist of draft amendments to the text referred to the committee accompanied, if appropriate, by short justifications. Such justifications shall be the responsibility of the draftsman and shall not be put to the vote. If necessary the committee may submit a short written justification for the opinion taken as a whole.

In the case of non-legislative texts, the opinion shall consist of suggestions for parts of the motion for a resolution submitted by the committee responsible.

The committee responsible shall put these draft amendments or suggestions to the vote.

The opinions shall deal solely with those matters that fall under the areas of responsibility of the committee giving an opinion.

3.   The committee responsible shall fix a deadline within which the committee asked for an opinion must deliver it if it is to be taken into account in the committee responsible. Any changes to the announced timetable shall be immediately communicated by the committee responsible to the committee(s) asked for an opinion. The committee responsible shall not reach its final conclusions before that time limit has expired.

4.   All adopted opinions shall be annexed to the report of the committee responsible.

5.   Only the committee responsible may table amendments in Parliament.

6.   The chairman and draftsman of the committee asked for an opinion shall be invited to take part in an advisory capacity in meetings of the committee responsible, insofar as these relate to the matter of common concern.

1.   The explanatory statement shall be the responsibility of the rapporteur and shall not be put to the vote. It must, however, accord with the text of the motion for a resolution as adopted and any amendments proposed by the committee. If it fails to do so, the chairman of the committee may delete the explanatory statement.

2.   The report shall state the result of the vote taken on the report as a whole. In addition, if at least one-third of the members present so request when the vote is taken, the report shall indicate how each member voted.

3.   Where the committee's opinion is not unanimous the report shall also give a summary of the minority opinion. Minority opinions shall be expressed when the vote on the text as a whole is taken, and may, at the request of their authors, be the subject of a written declaration not exceeding 200 words in length, annexed to the explanatory statement.

The chairman shall settle any disputes which may arise as a result of the application of these provisions.

4.   On a proposal from its bureau, a committee may set a deadline within which the rapporteur shall submit his draft report. This deadline may be extended or a new rapporteur appointed.

5.   Once the deadline has expired, the committee may instruct its chairman to ask for the matter referred to it to be placed on the agenda of one of the next sittings of Parliament. The debates may then be conducted on the basis of an oral report by the committee concerned.

1.   If the Commission informs Parliament or if the committee responsible becomes otherwise aware that the Commission intends to modify its proposal, the committee responsible shall postpone its examination of the matter until it has received the new proposal or the amendments of the Commission.

2.   If the Council substantially modifies the Commission proposal, the provisions of Rule 55 shall apply.

1.   Before the committee responsible proceeds to the final vote on a Commission proposal, it shall request the Commission to state its position on all the amendments to the proposal adopted by the committee, and the Council to comment.

2.   If the Commission is not in a position to make such a statement or declares that it is not prepared to accept all the amendments adopted by the committee then the committee may postpone the final vote.

3.   If appropriate, the position of the Commission shall be included in the report.

1.   Parliament shall examine the legislative proposal on the basis of the report drawn up by the committee responsible pursuant to Rule 42.

2.   Parliament shall first vote on the amendments to the proposal with which the report of the committee responsible is concerned, then on the proposal, amended or otherwise, then on the amendments to the draft legislative resolution, then on the draft legislative resolution as a whole, which shall contain only a statement as to whether Parliament approves, rejects or proposes amendments to the Commission's proposal and any procedural requests.

The consultation procedure is concluded if the draft legislative resolution is adopted. If Parliament does not adopt the legislative resolution, the proposal shall be referred back to the committee responsible.

All reports tabled under the legislative procedure should conform to the provisions of Rules 35, 40 and 42. Any non-legislative motion for a resolution tabled by a committee should be in accordance with the referral procedures provided for in Rule 45 or 179.

3.   The text of the proposal as approved by Parliament and the accompanying resolution shall be forwarded to the Council and Commission by the President as Parliament's opinion.

1.   If a Commission proposal fails to secure a majority of the votes cast, the President shall, before Parliament votes on the draft legislative resolution, request the Commission to withdraw the proposal.

2.   If the Commission does so, the President shall hold the consultation procedure on the proposal to be superfluous and shall inform the Council accordingly.

3.   If the Commission does not withdraw its proposal, Parliament shall refer the matter back to the committee responsible without voting on the draft legislative resolution.

In this case, the committee responsible shall, orally or in writing, report back to Parliament within a period decided by Parliament which may not exceed two months.

4.   If the committee responsible is unable to meet the deadline, it shall request referral back to committee pursuant to Rule 168(1). If necessary, Parliament may set a new time limit pursuant to Rule 168(5). If the committee's request is not accepted, Parliament shall move to the vote on the draft legislative resolution.

1.   Where the Commission proposal as a whole is approved, but on the basis of amendments which have also been adopted, the vote on the draft legislative resolution shall be postponed until the Commission has stated its position on each of Parliament's amendments.

If the Commission is not in a position to make such a statement at the end of Parliament's vote on its proposal, it shall inform the President or the committee responsible as to when it will be in a position to do so; the proposal shall then be placed on the draft agenda of the first part-session thereafter.

2.   Where the Commission announces that it does not intend to adopt all Parliament's amendments, the rapporteur of the committee responsible or, failing him, the chairman of that committee shall make a formal proposal to Parliament as to whether the vote on the draft legislative resolution should proceed. Before submitting this proposal, the rapporteur or chairman of the committee responsible may request the President to suspend consideration of the item.

Should Parliament decide to postpone the vote, the matter shall be deemed to be referred back to the committee responsible for reconsideration.

In this case, the committee responsible shall, orally or in writing, report back to Parliament within a period decided by Parliament which may not exceed two months.

If the committee responsible is unable to meet the deadline, the procedure provided for in Rule 52(4) shall be applied.

Only amendments tabled by the committee responsible and seeking to reach a compromise with the Commission shall be admissible at this stage.

3.   Application of paragraph 2 does not preclude a request for referral being tabled by other Members pursuant to Rule 168.

A committee to which a matter has been referred back pursuant to paragraph 2 is principally required under the terms of that referral to report within the deadline given and, where appropriate, to table amendments seeking to reach a compromise with the Commission, but not to reconsider all the provisions approved by Parliament.

However, within these terms of reference, in view of the suspensory effect of the referral, the committee enjoys a greater degree of freedom and may, where necessary in the interests of the compromise, propose reconsidering provisions which received a favourable vote in Parliament.

In such cases, in view of the fact that the only admissible amendments from the committee are those seeking to reach a compromise, and with a view to preserving the sovereignty of the House, the report referred to in paragraph 2 must clearly state which provisions already approved would fall if the proposed amendments were adopted.

1.   In the period following the adoption by Parliament of its opinion on a proposal by the Commission, the chairman and the rapporteur of the committee responsible shall monitor the progress of the proposal in the course of the procedure leading to its adoption by the Council, notably to ensure that the undertakings made by the Council or the Commission to Parliament with respect to its amendments are properly observed.

2.   The committee responsible may invite the Commission and the Council to discuss the matter with it.

3.   At any stage of the follow-up procedure the committee responsible may, if it deems it necessary, table a motion for a resolution under this Rule recommending that Parliament:

This motion shall be placed on the draft agenda of the part-session following the decision by the committee.

1.   The President shall, at the request of the committee responsible, ask the Commission to refer its proposal again to Parliament

2.   Parliament shall, at the request of the committee responsible, ask the Council to refer again to Parliament a proposal submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 251 of the EC Treaty, where the Council intends to modify the legal basis of the proposal with the result that the procedure laid down in Article 251 would no longer apply.

3.   At the request of the committee responsible, the President shall call on the Council to reconsult Parliament in the same circumstances and under the same conditions as those set out in paragraph 1, and also where the Council substantially amends or intends to amend the proposal on which Parliament originally delivered its opinion, except where this is done in order to incorporate Parliament's amendments.

4.   The President shall also request that a proposal for an act be referred again to Parliament in the circumstances defined in this Rule where Parliament so decides on a proposal from a political group or at least 37 Members.

1.   Where, in the case of certain important Community decisions, the Council intends to depart from the opinion of Parliament, a procedure for conciliation with the Council, with the active participation of the Commission, may be opened by Parliament when delivering its opinion.

2.   This procedure shall be initiated by Parliament, either at its own or at the Council's initiative.

3.   For the composition and procedure of the delegation to the conciliation committee and the reporting of the results to Parliament, Rule 64 shall apply.

4.   The committee responsible shall report on the results of the conciliation. This report shall be debated and voted on by Parliament.

1.   Communication of the Council's common position pursuant to Articles 251 and 252 of the EC Treaty takes place when it is announced by the President in Parliament. The President shall make the announcement after he has received the documents containing the common position itself, all declarations made in the Council minutes when it adopts the common position, the reasons which led the Council to adopt its common position and the Commission's position, duly translated into the official languages of the European Union. The President's announcement shall be made during the part-session following the receipt of such documents.

Before making the announcement, the President shall establish, after consulting the chairman of the committee responsible and/or the rapporteur, that the text he has received is indeed a common position and that the circumstances described in Rule 55 do not apply. Failing this, the President, together with the committee responsible and, where possible, in agreement with the Council, shall seek an appropriate solution.

2.   A list of such communications shall be published in the minutes of the sitting together with the name of the committee responsible.

1.   The President shall, at the request of the chairman of the committee responsible in the case of time limits for second reading, or at the request of Parliament's conciliation delegation in the case of time limits for conciliation, extend the limits in question pursuant to Article 251(7) of the EC Treaty.

For any extension of time limits pursuant to Article 252(g) of the EC Treaty or Article 39(1) of the EU Treaty the President shall seek the agreement of the Council.

2.   The President shall notify Parliament of any extension of time limits pursuant to Article 251(7) of the EC Treaty, whether at the initiative of Parliament or of the Council.

3.   The President, after consulting the chairman of the committee responsible, may agree to a Council request to extend any time limits pursuant to Article 252(g) of the EC Treaty.

1.   On the day of its communication to Parliament pursuant to Rule 57(1), the common position shall be deemed to have been referred automatically to the committee responsible and to the committees asked for their opinion at first reading.

2.   The common position shall be entered as the first item on the agenda of the first meeting of the committee responsible following the date of its communication. The Council may be invited to present the common position.

3.   Unless otherwise decided, the rapporteur during second reading shall be the same as during first reading.

4.   The provisions for Parliament's second reading in Rule 62(2), (3) and (5) shall apply to the proceedings in the committee responsible; only members or permanent substitutes of that committee may table proposals for rejection and amendments. The committee shall decide by a majority of the votes cast.

5.   Before voting, the committee may request the chairman and rapporteur to discuss amendments that have been tabled in the committee with the President of the Council or his representative and with the Commissioner responsible present. The rapporteur may table compromise amendments following such discussion.

6.   The committee responsible shall submit a recommendation for second reading proposing the approval, amendment or rejection of the common position adopted by the Council. The recommendation shall include a short justification for the decision proposed.

1.   The Council's common position and, where available, the recommendation for second reading of the committee responsible shall automatically be placed on the draft agenda for the part-session whose Wednesday falls before and closest to the day of expiry of the period of three months or, if extended in accordance with Rule 58, of four months, unless the matter has been dealt with at an earlier part-session.

The recommendations for second readings submitted by parliamentary committees are equivalent to an explanatory statement in which the committee justifies its position in relation to the Council's common position. There is no vote on these texts.

2.   The second reading shall be concluded when Parliament approves, rejects or amends the common position within the time limits and in accordance with the conditions laid down by Articles 251 and 252 of the EC Treaty.

1.   The committee responsible, a political group or at least 37 Members may, in writing and before a deadline set by the President, table a proposal to reject the common position of the Council. Such a proposal shall require for adoption the votes of a majority of the component Members of Parliament. A proposal to reject the common position shall be voted on before voting on any amendments.

2.   Notwithstanding a vote by Parliament against the initial proposal to reject the common position, Parliament may, on the recommendation of the rapporteur, consider a further proposal for rejection after voting on the amendments and hearing a statement from the Commission pursuant to Rule 62(5).

3.   If the common position of the Council is rejected, the President shall announce in Parliament that the legislative procedure is closed.

4.   By way of derogation from paragraph 3, if a rejection by Parliament falls under the provisions of Article 252 of the EC Treaty, the President shall request the Commission to withdraw its proposal. If the Commission does so, the President shall announce in Parliament that the legislative procedure is closed.

1.   The committee responsible, a political group or at least 37 Members may table amendments to the Council's common position for consideration in Parliament.

2.   An amendment to the common position shall be admissible only if it conforms to the provisions of Rules 150 and 151 and seeks:

The President's discretion to declare an amendment admissible or inadmissible cannot be questioned.

3.   If new elections have taken place since the first reading, but Rule 55 has not been invoked, the President may decide to waive the restrictions on admissibility laid down in paragraph 2.

4.   An amendment shall be adopted only if it secures the votes of a majority of the component Members of Parliament.

5.   Before voting on the amendments, the President may ask the Commission to state its position and the Council to comment.

1.   Parliament's delegation to the Conciliation Committee shall consist of a number of members equal to the number of members of the Council delegation.

2.   The political composition of the delegation shall correspond to the composition of Parliament by political groups. The Conference of Presidents shall fix the exact number of Members from each political group.

3.   The members of the delegation shall be appointed by the political groups for each particular conciliation case, preferably from among the members of the committees concerned, except for three members who shall be appointed as permanent members of successive delegations for a period of 12 months. The three permanent members shall be appointed by the political groups from among the Vice-Presidents and shall represent at least two different political groups. The chairman and the rapporteur of the committee responsible in each particular case shall be members of the delegation.

4.   The political groups represented on the delegation shall appoint substitutes.

5.   Political groups and non-attached Members not represented on the delegation may each send one representative to any internal preparatory meeting of the delegation.

6.   The delegation shall be led by the President or by one of the three permanent members.

7.   The delegation shall decide by a majority of its members. Its deliberations shall not be public.

The Conference of Presidents shall lay down further procedural guidelines for the work of the delegation to the Conciliation Committee.

8.   The results of the conciliation shall be reported by the delegation to Parliament.

1.   Where agreement on a joint text is reached within the Conciliation Committee, the matter shall be placed on the agenda of a sitting of Parliament to be held within six or, if extended, eight weeks of the date of approval of the joint text by the Conciliation Committee.

2.   The chairman or another designated Member of Parliament's delegation to the Conciliation Committee shall make a statement on the joint text, which shall be accompanied by a report.

3.   No amendments may be tabled to the joint text.

4.   The joint text as a whole shall be the subject of a single vote. The joint text shall be approved if it secures a majority of the votes cast.

5.   Where no agreement is reached on a joint text within the Conciliation Committee, the chairman or another designated Member of Parliament's delegation to the Conciliation Committee shall make a statement. This statement shall be followed by a debate.

1.   Where, pursuant to Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty, the Council has informed Parliament that it has approved its amendments, but not otherwise amended the Commission proposal, or neither institution has amended the Commission proposal, the President shall announce in Parliament that the proposal has been finally adopted.

2.   Before making this announcement, the President shall verify that any technical adaptations made by the Council to the proposal do not affect the substance. In case of doubt, he shall consult the committee responsible. If any changes made are considered to be substantive, the President shall inform the Council that Parliament will proceed to a second reading as soon as the conditions laid down in Rule 57 are fulfilled.

3.   After making the announcement referred to in paragraph 1, the President shall, with the President of the Council, sign the proposed act and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, in accordance with Rule 68.

1.   The text of acts adopted jointly by Parliament and the Council shall be signed by the President and by the Secretary-General, once it has been verified that all the procedures have been duly completed.

2.   Acts adopted jointly by Parliament and the Council in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the EC Treaty shall indicate the nature of the relevant act followed by the serial number, by the date of its adoption and by an indication of its subject matter.

3.   Acts adopted jointly by Parliament and the Council shall contain the following:

4.   Acts shall be divided into articles, if appropriate grouped into chapters and sections.

5.   The last article of an act shall specify the date of entry into force, where that date is before or after the 20th day following publication.

6.   The last article of an act shall be followed by:

7.   The acts referred to above shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union by the Secretaries-General of Parliament and the Council.

1.   Parliament shall monitor the implementation of the current year's budget. It shall entrust this task to the committees responsible for the budget and budgetary control and the other committees concerned.

2.   Each year it shall consider, before the first reading of the draft budget for the following financial year, the problems involved in the implementation of the current budget, where appropriate on the basis of a motion for a resolution tabled by its committee responsible.

1.   The Bureau shall draw up the preliminary draft estimates on the basis of a report prepared by the Secretary-General.

2.   The President shall forward the preliminary draft estimates to the committee responsible, which shall draw up the draft estimates and report to Parliament.

3.   The President shall set a time limit for the tabling of amendments to the draft estimates.

The committee responsible shall give its opinion on these amendments.

4.   Parliament shall adopt the estimates.

5.   The President shall forward the estimates to the Commission and Council.

6.   The foregoing provisions shall also apply to supplementary estimates.

7.   The implementing provisions governing the procedure for drawing up Parliament's estimates shall be adopted by a majority of the votes cast and be annexed to these Rules (9).

1.   The President shall incur and settle, or cause to be incurred and settled, the expenditure covered by the internal financial regulations issued by the Bureau after consulting the appropriate committee.

2.   The President shall forward the draft annual accounts to the committee responsible.

3.   On the basis of a report by the committee responsible, Parliament shall approve its accounts and decide on the giving of a discharge.

1.   Where Parliament is requested to give its assent to a proposed act, it shall take a decision on the basis of a recommendation from the committee responsible to approve or reject the act.

Parliament shall take a decision on the act requiring its assent under the EC or EU Treaty by means of a single vote, and no amendments may be tabled. The majority required for the adoption of the assent shall be the majority indicated in the article of the EC Treaty or of the EU Treaty that constitutes the legal basis for the proposed act.

2.   For accession treaties and international agreements and determination of a serious and persistent breach of common principles by a Member State, Rules 82, 83 and 95 shall apply respectively. For an enhanced cooperation procedure in an area covered by the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the EC Treaty, Rule 76 shall apply.

3.   Where Parliament's assent is required for a legislative proposal, the committee responsible may decide, in order to facilitate a positive outcome of the procedure, to present an interim report on the Commission proposal to Parliament with a motion for a resolution containing recommendations for modification or implementation of the proposal.

If Parliament approves at least one recommendation the President shall request further discussion with the Council.

The committee responsible shall make its final recommendation for the assent of Parliament in the light of the outcome of the discussion with the Council.

1.   Requests by Member States or Commission proposals to introduce enhanced cooperation between Member States and consultations of Parliament pursuant to Article 40a(2) of the EU Treaty shall be referred by the President to the committee responsible for consideration. Rules 35, 36, 37, 40, 49 to 56 and 75 shall apply as appropriate.

2.   The committee responsible shall verify compliance with Article 11 of the EC Treaty and Articles 27a, 27b, 40, 43, 44 and 44a of the EU Treaty.

3.   Subsequent acts proposed under enhanced cooperation, once it is established, shall be dealt with in Parliament under the same procedures as when enhanced cooperation does not apply.

1.   When Parliament is consulted on Council recommendations pursuant to Article 122(2) of the EC Treaty, it shall, after these recommendations have been presented in plenary by the Council, deliberate on the basis of a proposal submitted orally or in writing by its committee responsible and advocating approval or rejection of the recommendations on which Parliament has been consulted.

2.   Parliament shall then take a single collective vote on the recommendations, to which no amendments may be tabled.

1.   Any document drawn up by the Commission pursuant to Article 138 of the EC Treaty or agreements reached by management and labour pursuant to Article 139(1) of the EC Treaty as well as proposals submitted by the Commission in accordance with Article 139(2) of the EC Treaty shall be referred by the President to the committee responsible for consideration.

2.   Where management and labour inform the Commission of their wish to initiate the process provided for in Article 139 of the EC Treaty, the committee responsible may draw up a report on the substantive issue in question.

3.   Where management and labour have reached an agreement and requested jointly that the agreement be implemented by a Council decision on a proposal from the Commission in accordance with Article 139(2) of the EC Treaty, the committee responsible shall table a motion for a resolution recommending the adoption or rejection of the request.

1.   Where the Commission informs Parliament of its intention to explore the use of voluntary agreements as an alternative to legislation, the committee responsible may draw up a report on the substantive issue in question pursuant to Rule 45.

2.   When the Commission announces that it intends to enter into a voluntary agreement, the committee responsible may table a motion for a resolution recommending the approval or rejection of the proposal, and under what conditions.

1.   When a Commission proposal for official codification of Community legislation is submitted to Parliament, it shall be referred to the committee responsible for legal affairs. Provided that it is ascertained that the proposal does not entail any change of substance to existing Community legislation, the procedure laid down in Rule 43 shall be followed.

2.   The chairman of the committee responsible or the rapporteur appointed by that committee may participate in the examination and revision of the proposal for codification. If necessary, the committee responsible may give its opinion beforehand.

3.   Notwithstanding the provisions of Rule 43(3), the simplified procedure may not be applied to a proposal for official codification where this procedure is opposed by a majority of the members of the committee responsible for legal affairs or of the committee responsible.

1.   When the Commission forwards a draft implementing measure to Parliament, the President shall refer the document in question to the committee responsible for the act from which the implementing provisions derive.

2.   On a proposal from the committee responsible, Parliament may, within one month —or three months for financial services measures - of the date of receipt of the draft implementing measure, adopt a resolution objecting to the draft measure, in particular if it exceeds the implementing powers provided for in the basic instrument. Where there is no part-session before the deadline expires, or in cases where urgent action is required, the right of response shall be deemed to have been delegated to the committee responsible. This shall take the form of a letter from the committee chairman to the Member of the Commission responsible, and shall be brought to the attention of all Members of Parliament. If Parliament objects to the measure, the President shall request the Commission to withdraw or amend the measure or submit a proposal under the appropriate legislative procedure.

1.   Any application by a European State to become a member of the European Union shall be referred to the committee responsible for consideration.

2.   Parliament may decide, on a proposal from the committee responsible, a political group or at least 37 Members, to request the Commission and the Council to take part in a debate before negotiations with the applicant State commence.

3.   Throughout the negotiations the Commission and the Council shall inform the committee responsible regularly and thoroughly of the progress in the negotiations, if necessary on a confidential basis.

4.   At any stage of the negotiations Parliament may, on the basis of a report from the committee responsible, adopt recommendations and require these to be taken into account before the conclusion of a Treaty for the accession of an applicant State to the European Union. Such recommendations shall require the same majority as the final assent.

5.   When the negotiations are completed, but before any agreement is signed, the draft agreement shall be submitted to Parliament for assent.

6.   Parliament shall give its assent to an application by a European State to become a member of the European Union by a majority of its component Members on the basis of a report by the committee responsible.

1.   When it is intended to open negotiations on the conclusion, renewal or amendment of an international agreement, including agreements in specific areas such as monetary affairs or trade, the committee responsible shall ensure that Parliament is fully informed by the Commission about its recommendations for a negotiating mandate, if necessary on a confidential basis.

2.   Parliament may, on a proposal from the committee responsible, a political group or at least 37 Members, request the Council not to authorise the opening of negotiations until Parliament has stated its position on the proposed negotiating mandate on the basis of a report from the committee responsible.

3.   The committee responsible shall ascertain from the Commission, at the time it is intended to open negotiations, the chosen legal basis for concluding the international agreements referred to in paragraph 1. The committee responsible shall verify the chosen legal basis pursuant to Rule 35. Where the Commission fails to designate a legal basis, or where there is doubt about its appropriateness, Rule 35 shall apply.

4.   Throughout the negotiations the Commission and the Council shall inform the committee responsible regularly and thoroughly of the progress in the negotiations, if necessary on a confidential basis.

5.   At any stage of the negotiations Parliament may, on the basis of a report from the committee responsible, and after considering any relevant proposal tabled pursuant to Rule 114, adopt recommendations and require that these be taken into account before the conclusion of the international agreement under consideration.

6.   When the negotiations are completed, but before any agreement is signed, the draft agreement shall be submitted to Parliament for opinion or for assent. For the assent procedure Rule 75 shall apply.

7.   Parliament shall give its opinion on, or its assent to, the conclusion, renewal or amendment of an international agreement or a financial protocol concluded by the European Community in a single vote by a majority of the votes cast without amendments to the text of the agreement or protocol being admissible.

8.   If the opinion adopted by Parliament is negative, the President shall request the Council not to conclude the agreement in question.

9.   If Parliament withholds its assent to an international agreement, the President shall notify the Council that the agreement in question cannot be concluded.

1.   Prior to the appointment of a High Representative for the common foreign and security policy, the President shall invite the President-in-Office of the Council to make a statement to Parliament, pursuant to Article 21 of the EU Treaty. The President shall invite the President of the Commission to make a statement at the same time.

2.   Upon the appointment of the new High Representative for the common foreign and security policy, pursuant to Article 207(2) of the EC Treaty, and before he officially takes up his duties, the President shall invite the High Representative to make a statement to, and answer questions from, the committee responsible.

3.   Following the statements and answers referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 and at the initiative of the committee responsible, or in accordance with Rule 114, Parliament may make a recommendation.

1.   Where the Council intends to appoint a Special Representative under Article 18(5) of the EU Treaty, the President, at the request of the committee responsible, shall invite the Council to make a statement and answer questions concerning the mandate, the objectives and other relevant matters relating to the tasks and role to be performed by the Special Representative.

2.   Once the Special Representative has been appointed, but prior to taking up the position, the appointee may be invited to appear before the committee responsible to make a statement and answer questions.

3.   Within three months of the hearing, the committee may propose a recommendation pursuant to Rule 114 relating directly to the statement made and answers provided.

4.   The Special Representative shall be invited to keep Parliament fully and regularly informed as to the practical implementation of his mandate.

1.   The High Representative shall be invited to make statements in Parliament at least four times a year. Rule 103 shall apply.

2.   The High Representative shall be invited at least four times a year to attend meetings of the committee responsible in order to make a statement and answer questions. The High Representative may also be invited on other occasions, whenever the committee considers this to be necessary, or at his initiative.

3.   Whenever a special representative is appointed by the Council with a mandate in relation to particular policy issues, he may be invited to make a statement to the committee responsible, at Parliament's or at his initiative.

1.   Where a Head of a Commission external delegation is to be appointed, the nominee may be invited to appear before the relevant body of Parliament to make a statement and answer questions.

2.   Within three months of the hearing provided for in paragraph 1, the committee responsible may adopt a resolution or make a recommendation, as appropriate, relating directly to the statement made and answers provided.

1.   Where Parliament is consulted pursuant to Article 21 of the EU Treaty, the matter shall be referred to the committee responsible which may make recommendations pursuant to Rule 90.

2.   The committees concerned shall seek to ensure that the High Representative for the common foreign and security policy, the Council and the Commission provide them with regular and timely information on the development and implementation of the Union's common foreign and security policy, on the costs envisaged each time that a decision entailing expenditure is adopted under that policy and on any other financial considerations relating to the implementation of actions under that policy. Exceptionally, at the request of the Commission, the Council or the High Representative, a committee may decide to hold its proceedings in camera.

3.   An annual debate shall be held on the consultative document established by the Council on the main aspects and basic choices of the common foreign and security policy, including the financial implications for the Union budget. The procedures laid down in Rule 103 shall apply.

(See also interpretation under Rule 114.)

4.   The Council and/or the High Representative and the Commission shall be invited to each plenary debate that involves either foreign, security or defence policy.

1.   The committee responsible for the common foreign and security policy may draw up recommendations to the Council in its areas of responsibility after obtaining authorisation from the Conference of Presidents or on a proposal within the meaning of Rule 114.

2.   In urgent cases the authorisation referred to in paragraph 1 may be granted by the President, who may likewise authorise an emergency meeting of the committee concerned.

3.   During the process for adopting these recommendations, which must be put to the vote in the form of a written text, Rule 138 shall not apply and oral amendments shall be admissible.

The non-application of Rule 138 is possible only in committee and only in urgent cases. Neither at committee meetings not declared to be urgent nor in plenary sitting may there be any departure from the provisions of Rule 138.

The provision stating that oral amendments shall be admissible means that members may not object to oral amendments being put to the vote in committee.

4.   Recommendations drawn up in this way shall be included on the agenda for the next part-session. In urgent cases decided upon by the President, recommendations may be included on the agenda of a current part-session. Recommendations shall be deemed adopted unless, before the beginning of the part-session, at least 37 Members submit a written objection, in which case the committee's recommendations shall be included on the agenda of the same part-session for debate and voting. A political group or at least 37 Members may table amendments.

1.   The committee responsible shall ensure that Parliament is fully and regularly informed on the activities covered by police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and that its opinions are duly taken into consideration when the Council adopts common positions defining the approach of the Union to a particular matter pursuant to Article 34(2)(a) of the EU Treaty.

2.   Exceptionally, at the request of the Commission or the Council, a committee may decide to hold its proceedings in camera.

3.   The debate referred to in Article 39(3) of the EU Treaty shall be held in accordance with the arrangements laid down in Rule 103(2), (3) and (4).

1.   The committee responsible for matters relating to police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters may draw up recommendations to the Council in the field covered by Title VI of the EU Treaty after obtaining authorisation from the Conference of Presidents or on a proposal within the meaning of Rule 114.

2.   In urgent cases the authorisation referred to in paragraph 1 may be granted by the President, who may likewise authorise an emergency meeting of the committee concerned.

3.   Recommendations drawn up in this way shall be included on the agenda for the next part-session. Rule 90(4) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

(See also interpretation under Rule 114.)

1.   Parliament may, on the basis of a specific report of the committee responsible under Rule 45:

2.   Any request from the Council for assent on a proposal submitted pursuant to Article 7(1) and (2) of the EU Treaty along with the observations submitted by the Member State shall be announced to Parliament. Except in urgent and justified circumstances, Parliament shall take its decision on a proposal from the committee responsible.

3.   Decisions under paragraphs 1 and 2 shall require a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, representing a majority of Parliament's component Members.

4.   The committee responsible may submit an accompanying motion for a resolution when Parliament is called upon to give its assent pursuant to paragraph 2. This motion for a resolution shall set out Parliament's views on a serious breach by a Member State, on the appropriate sanctions and on varying or revoking those sanctions.

5.   The committee responsible shall ensure that Parliament is fully informed and, where necessary, asked for its views on all follow-up measures to its assent as given pursuant to paragraph 3. The Council shall be invited to outline developments as appropriate. On a proposal from the committee responsible, drawn up with the authorisation of the Conference of Presidents, Parliament may adopt recommendations to the Council.

1.   When the Council has agreed on a nomination for President of the Commission, the President shall request the nominee to make a statement and present his political guidelines to Parliament. The statement shall be followed by a debate.

The Council shall be invited to take part in the debate.

2.   Parliament shall approve or reject the nomination by a majority of the votes cast.

The vote shall be taken by secret ballot.

3.   If the nominee is elected, the President shall inform the Council accordingly, requesting it and the President-elect of the Commission to propose by common accord the nominees for the various posts of Commissioners.

4.   If Parliament does not approve the nomination, the President shall request the Council to nominate a new candidate.

1.   The President shall, after consulting the President-elect of the Commission, request the nominees proposed by the President-elect of the Commission and the Council for the various posts of Commissioners to appear before the appropriate committees according to their prospective fields of responsibility. These hearings shall be held in public.

2.   The committee shall invite the nominee to make a statement and answer questions.

3.   The President-elect shall present the College of Commissioners and their programme at a sitting of Parliament which the whole Council shall be invited to attend. The statement shall be followed by a debate.

4.   In order to wind up the debate, any political group or at least 37 Members may table a motion for a resolution. Rule 103(3), (4) and (5) shall apply.

Following the vote on the motion for a resolution, Parliament shall elect or reject the Commission by a majority of the votes cast.

The vote shall be taken by roll call.

Parliament may defer the vote until the next sitting.

5.   The President shall inform the Council of the election or rejection of the Commission.

6.   In the event of portfolio changes during the Commission's term of office, the Commissioners concerned shall be invited to appear before the committees responsible for the areas of responsibility in question.

1.   A motion of censure on the Commission may be submitted to the President by one-tenth of the component Members of Parliament.

2.   The motion shall be called “motion of censure” and supported by reasons. It shall be forwarded to the Commission.

3.   The President shall announce to Members that a motion of censure has been tabled immediately he receives it.

4.   The debate on censure shall not take place until at least 24 hours after the receipt of a motion of censure is announced to Members.

5.   The vote on the motion shall be by roll call and shall not be taken until at least 48 hours after the beginning of the debate.

6.   The debate and the vote shall take place, at the latest, during the part-session following the submission of the motion.

7.   The motion of censure shall be adopted if it secures a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, representing a majority of the component Members of Parliament. The result of the vote shall be notified to the President of the Council and the President of the Commission.

1.   Candidates nominated as Members of the Court of Auditors shall be invited to make a statement before the committee responsible and answer questions put by members. The committee shall vote by secret ballot separately on each nomination.

2.   The committee responsible shall make a recommendation to Parliament as to whether the nomination should be approved in the form of a report containing a separate proposal for a decision for each nomination.

3.   The vote in plenary shall take place within two months of the receipt of the nomination unless Parliament, at the request of the committee responsible, a political group or at least 37 Members, decides otherwise. Parliament shall vote by secret ballot separately on each nomination and take its decision by a majority of the votes cast.

4.   If the opinion adopted by Parliament on an individual nomination is negative, the President shall request the Council to withdraw its nomination and submit a new nomination to Parliament.

1.   The candidate nominated as President of the European Central Bank shall be invited to make a statement before the committee responsible and answer questions put by members.

2.   The committee responsible shall make a recommendation to Parliament as to whether the nomination should be approved.

3.   The vote shall take place within two months of the receipt of the nomination unless Parliament, at the request of the committee responsible, a political group or at least 37 Members, decides otherwise.

4.   If the opinion adopted by Parliament is negative, the President shall request the Council to withdraw its nomination and submit a new nomination to Parliament.

5.   The same procedure shall apply for nominations for Vice-President and other Executive Board Members of the European Central Bank.

1.   Members of the Commission, Council and European Council may at any time ask the President for permission to make a statement. The President shall decide when the statement may be made and whether it is to be followed by a full debate or by 30 minutes of brief and concise questions from Members.

2.   When placing a statement with debate on its agenda, Parliament shall decide whether or not to wind up the debate with a resolution. It shall not do so if a report on the same matter is scheduled for the same or the next part-session, unless the President, for exceptional reasons, proposes otherwise. If Parliament decides to wind up a debate with a resolution, a committee, a political group or at least 37 Members may table a motion for a resolution.

3.   Motions for resolutions shall be put to the vote on the same day. The President shall decide on any exceptions. Explanations of vote shall be admissible.

4.   A joint motion for a resolution shall replace the motions for resolutions tabled previously by its signatories, but not those tabled by other committees, political groups or Members.

5.   After a resolution has been adopted, no further motions may be put to the vote except where the President, by way of exception, decides otherwise.

1.   In the context of the discharge procedure or Parliament's activities in the sphere of budgetary control, the President of the Court of Auditors may be invited to take the floor in order to present the comments contained in the Annual Report, special reports or opinions of the Court, or in order to explain the Court's work programme.

2.   Parliament may decide to hold a separate debate on any questions raised in such statements with the participation of the Commission and Council, in particular where irregularities have been reported in financial management.

1.   The President of the European Central Bank shall present the Bank's Annual Report on the activities of the European System of Central Banks and on the monetary policy of both the previous and current year to Parliament.

2.   This presentation shall be followed by a general debate.

3.   The President of the European Central Bank shall be invited to attend meetings of the committee responsible at least four times a year to make a statement and answer questions.

4.   If they or Parliament so request, the President, Vice-President and other Members of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank shall be invited to attend additional meetings.

5.   A verbatim report of proceedings under paragraphs 3 and 4 shall be drawn up in the official languages.

1.   The recommendation from the Commission on the broad guidelines of the economic policies of the Member States and the Community shall be presented to the committee responsible which shall submit a report to Parliament.

2.   The Council shall be invited to inform the Parliament of the content of its recommendation, and of the position taken by the European Council.

1.   Questions may be put to the Council or the Commission by a committee, a political group or at least 37 Members with a request that they be placed on the agenda of Parliament.

Such questions shall be submitted in writing to the President who shall immediately refer them to the Conference of Presidents.

The Conference of Presidents shall decide whether and in what order questions should be placed on the agenda. Questions not placed on Parliament's agenda within three months of being submitted shall lapse.

2.   Questions to the Commission must be referred to that institution at least one week before the sitting on whose agenda they are to appear and questions to the Council at least three weeks before that date.

3.   Where the questions concern matters referred to in Articles 17 and 34 of the EU Treaty, the time limit provided for in paragraph 2 of this Rule shall not apply, and the Council must reply with sufficient promptness to keep Parliament properly informed.

4.   One of the questioners may move the question for five minutes. One member of the institution concerned shall answer.

The author of the question is entitled to use the whole period of speaking time mentioned.

5.   Rule 103(2) to (5) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

1.   Question Time with the Council and Commission shall be held at each part-session at such times as may be decided by Parliament on a proposal from the Conference of Presidents. A specific period of time may be set aside for questions to the President and individual Members of the Commission.

2.   No Member may put more than one question to the Council and the Commission at a given part-session.

3.   Questions shall be submitted in writing to the President, who shall rule on their admissibility and on the order in which they are to be taken. The questioner shall be notified immediately of this decision.

4.   The detailed procedure shall be governed by guidelines (12).

1.   Questions for written answer may be put by any Member to the Council or the Commission. The content of questions shall be the sole responsibility of their authors.

2.   Questions shall be submitted in writing to the President who shall forward them to the institution concerned.

3.   If a question cannot be answered within the time limit set it shall, at the request of the author, be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of the committee responsible. Rule 109 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

4.   Questions which require an immediate answer but not detailed research (priority questions) shall be answered within three weeks of being forwarded to the institution concerned. Each Member may table one priority question each month.

Other questions (non-priority questions) shall be answered within six weeks of being forwarded to the institution concerned.

Members shall indicate which type of question they are submitting. The final decision shall be taken by the President.

5.   Questions and answers shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

1.   Any Member may put questions for written answer to the European Central Bank.

2.   Such questions shall be submitted in writing to the chairman of the committee responsible, who shall forward them to the European Central Bank.

3.   The questions shall be published with their answers in the Official Journal of the European Union.

4.   If a question has not received a reply by the required deadline, it shall be included at the request of its author on the agenda for the next meeting of the committee responsible with the President of the European Central Bank.

1.   Annual reports and other reports of other institutions, in respect of which the Treaties provide for consultation of the European Parliament or where other legal provisions require an opinion by the European Parliament, shall be dealt with by means of a report submitted to the plenary.

2.   Annual reports and other reports of other institutions not falling within the scope of paragraph 1 shall be referred to the appropriate committee which may propose drawing up a report pursuant to Rule 45.

1.   Any Member may table a motion for a resolution on a matter falling within the sphere of activities of the European Union.

The motion may not comprise more than 200 words.

2.   The committee responsible shall decide what procedure is to be adopted.

It may combine the motion for a resolution with other motions for resolutions or reports.

It may adopt an opinion, which may take the form of a letter.

It may decide to draw up a report pursuant to Rule 45.

3.   The authors of a motion for a resolution shall be informed of the decisions of the committee and the Conference of Presidents.

4.   The report shall contain the text of the motion for a resolution.

5.   Opinions in the form of a letter addressed to other institutions of the European Union shall be forwarded by the President.

6.   The author or authors of a motion for a resolution tabled pursuant to Rule 103(2), 108(5) or 115(2) shall be entitled to withdraw it before the final vote.

7.   A motion for a resolution tabled pursuant to paragraph 1 may be withdrawn by its author, authors or first signatory before the committee responsible has decided, pursuant to paragraph 2, to draw up a report on it.

Once the motion has been thus taken over by the committee, only the committee shall be empowered to withdraw it up until the opening of the final vote.

8.   A motion for a resolution withdrawn may be taken over and retabled immediately by a group, a committee or the same number of Members who are entitled to table it.

Committees have a duty to ensure that motions for resolutions tabled pursuant to this Rule which meet the requirements laid down are followed up and duly referred to in documents produced as a result.

1.   A political group or at least 37 Members may table a proposal for a recommendation to the Council concerning subjects under Titles V and VI of the EU Treaty, or where Parliament has not been consulted on an international agreement within the scope of Rule 83 or 84.

2.   Such proposals shall be referred to the committee responsible for consideration.

Where appropriate, the committee shall refer the matter to Parliament in accordance with the procedures laid down in these Rules.

3.   Where it presents a report, the committee responsible shall submit to Parliament a proposal for a recommendation to the Council, together with a brief explanatory statement and, where appropriate, the opinions of the committees consulted.

No prior authorisation from the Conference of Presidents is required for the application of this paragraph.

4.   The provisions of Rule 90 or Rule 94 shall apply.

1.   A committee, an interparliamentary delegation, a political group or at least 37 Members may ask the President in writing for a debate to be held on an urgent case of a breach of human rights, democracy and the rule of law (Rule 130(3)).

2.   The Conference of Presidents shall draw up a list of subjects to be included on the final draft agenda for the next debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law on the basis of the requests referred to in paragraph 1 and in accordance with the provisions of Annex III. The total number of subjects included on the agenda shall not exceed three, including subchapters.

In accordance with the provisions of Rule 132, Parliament may abandon a topic due to be debated and replace it by an unscheduled topic in the debate. Motions for resolutions on the subjects chosen shall be tabled by the evening of the day on which the agenda is adopted. The President shall set the precise deadline for tabling such motions for resolutions.

3.   The total speaking time for the political groups and non-attached Members shall be allocated in accordance with the procedure laid down in Rule 142(2) and (3) within the maximum time for debates of 60 minutes per part-session.

Any time remaining after taking account of the time required for the introduction of and vote on the motions for resolutions and the speaking time, if any, allocated to the Commission and Council, shall be broken down between the political groups and the non-attached Members.

4.   At the end of the debate there shall be an immediate vote. Rule 163 shall not apply.

Votes taken pursuant to this Rule may be organised on a collective basis under the responsibility of the President and the Conference of Presidents.

5.   If two or more motions for resolutions are tabled on the same subject, the procedure set out in Rule 103(4) shall apply.

6.   The President and political group chairmen may decide that a motion for a resolution shall be put to the vote without debate. Such a decision shall require the unanimous assent of all the political group chairmen.

The provisions of Rules 167, 168 and 170 shall not apply to motions for resolutions included on the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

Motions for resolutions shall be tabled for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law only after the list of subjects has been adopted. Motions for resolutions that cannot be dealt with in the time allocated to the debate shall lapse. The same shall apply to motions for resolutions in respect of which it is established, following a request under Rule 149(3), that a quorum is not present. Obviously Members shall be entitled to retable such motions either for consideration in committee pursuant to Rule 113 or for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law at the next part-session.

A subject cannot be included on the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law if it is already on the agenda for that part-session.

There are no provisions in the Rules to allow a joint debate on a motion for a resolution tabled in accordance with paragraph 2, second subparagraph, and a committee report on the same subject.

***

When a request is made pursuant to Rule 149(3) that it be established whether a quorum is present, this request shall be valid only for the motion for a resolution which is to be put to the vote and not for those which follow.

1.   Up to five Members may submit a written declaration of not more than 200 words on a matter falling within the sphere of activities of the European Union. Written declarations shall be printed in the official languages and distributed. They shall be included with the names of the signatories in a register. This register shall be public and shall be maintained outside the entrance to the Chamber during part-sessions and between part-sessions in an appropriate location to be determined by the College of Quaestors.

2.   Any Member may add his signature to a declaration included in the register.

3.   Where a declaration is signed by the majority of Parliament's component Members, the President shall notify Parliament accordingly and publish the names of the signatories in the minutes.

4.   Such a declaration shall, at the end of the part-session, be forwarded to the institutions named therein together with the names of the signatories. It shall be included in the minutes of the sitting at which it is announced. Publication in the minutes shall close the procedure.

5.   A written declaration that has stood in the register for over three months and has not been signed by at least one half of the component Members of Parliament shall lapse.

1.   A committee may request that the European Economic and Social Committee be consulted on matters of a general nature or on specific points.

The committee shall indicate the deadline for the European Economic and Social Committee to deliver its opinion.

2.   A request for consultation of the European Economic and Social Committee shall be approved by Parliament without debate.

1.   A committee may request that the Committee of the Regions be consulted on matters of a general nature or on specific points.

The committee shall indicate the deadline for the Committee of the Regions to deliver its opinion.

2.   A request for consultation of the Committee of the Regions shall be approved by Parliament without debate.

1.   Where Parliament has a right to submit a request to a European agency, any Member may submit such a request in writing to the President of Parliament. Such requests shall be on matters falling within the mission of the agency concerned and shall be accompanied by background information explaining the issue and the Community interest.

2.   The President shall, after consulting the committee responsible, either forward the request to the agency or take any other appropriate course of action. The Member submitting the request shall be immediately informed thereof. Any request sent by the President to an agency shall include a time limit for response.

3.   If the agency considers that it is unable to respond to the request as formulated, or seeks to have it modified, it shall inform the President forthwith, who shall take any appropriate action, after consulting the committee responsible as necessary.

1.   Parliament may enter into agreements with other institutions in the context of the application of the Treaties or in order to improve or clarify procedures.

Such agreements may take the form of joint declarations, exchanges of letters or codes of conduct or other appropriate instruments. They shall be signed by the President after examination by the committee responsible for constitutional affairs and after approval by Parliament. They may be annexed to the Rules of Procedure for information.

2.   Where such agreements imply the modification of existing procedural rights or obligations or establish new procedural rights or obligations for Members or bodies of Parliament, or otherwise imply modification or interpretation of the Rules of Procedure, the matter shall be referred to the committee responsible for examination in accordance with Rule 201(2) to (6) before the agreement is signed.

1.   Parliament shall, within the time limits specified by the Treaties and the Statute of the Court of Justice for action by the institutions of the Union and by any natural or legal persons, examine Community legislation and the implementing measures to ensure that the Treaties, in particular where Parliament's rights are concerned, have been fully respected.

2.   The committee responsible shall report to Parliament, orally if necessary, where it suspects a breach of Community law.

3.   The President shall bring an action on behalf of Parliament in accordance with the recommendation of the committee responsible.

At the start of the following part-session, he may put to plenary the decision on maintaining the action. Should plenary rule against the action by a majority of the votes cast, he shall withdraw it.

Should the President bring an action contrary to the recommendation of the committee responsible, he shall put to plenary, at the start of the following part-session, the decision on maintaining the action.

1.   The parliamentary term shall run concurrently with the term of office of Members provided for in the Act of 20 September 1976.

2.   The session shall be the annual period prescribed by the Act and the Treaties.

3.   The part-session shall be the meeting of Parliament convened as a rule each month and subdivided into daily sittings.

Sittings of Parliament held on the same day shall be deemed to be a single sitting.

1.   Parliament shall meet, without requiring to be convened, on the second Tuesday in March each year and shall itself determine the duration of adjournments of the session.

2.   Parliament shall, moreover, meet without requiring to be convened on the first Tuesday after expiry of an interval of one month from the end of the period referred to in Article 10(1) of the Act of 20 September 1976.

3.   The Conference of Presidents, stating its reasons, may alter the duration of adjournments decided pursuant to paragraph 1 at least two weeks before the date previously fixed by Parliament for resuming the session; the date of resumption shall not, however, be postponed for more than two weeks.

4.   Exceptionally, after consulting the Conference of Presidents, the President shall convene Parliament at the request of a majority of its component Members or at the request of the Commission or the Council.

Exceptionally, with the approval of the Conference of Presidents, the President may convene Parliament in cases of urgency.

1.   Parliament shall hold its sittings and its committee meetings in accordance with the provisions of the Treaties.

Proposals for additional part-sessions in Brussels and any amendments thereto will require only a majority of the votes cast.

2.   Any committee may decide to ask that one or more meetings be held elsewhere. Its request, with the reasons therefor, shall be made to the President, who shall place it before the Bureau. If the matter is urgent, the President may take the decision himself. Should the request be rejected by the Bureau or the President the reasons for the rejection shall be stated.

1.   An attendance register shall be laid open for signature by Members at each sitting.

2.   The names of Members present, as shown in the attendance register, shall be recorded in the minutes of each sitting.

1.   Before each part-session the draft agenda shall be drawn up by the Conference of Presidents on the basis of recommendations by the Conference of Committee Chairmen and taking into account the agreed annual legislative programme referred to in Rule 33.

The Commission and Council may attend the deliberations of the Conference of Presidents on the draft agenda at the invitation of the President.

2.   The draft agenda may indicate voting times for certain items down for consideration.

3.   One or two periods, together totalling a maximum of 60 minutes, may be set aside in the draft agenda for debates on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law pursuant to Rule 115.

4.   The final draft agenda shall be distributed to Members at least three hours before the beginning of the part-session.

1.   Any legislative proposal (first reading) and any non-legislative motion for a resolution adopted in committee with fewer than one-tenth of the members of the committee voting against shall be placed on the draft agenda of Parliament for vote without amendment.

The item shall then be subject to a single vote unless, before the drawing up of the final draft agenda, political groups or individual Members who together constitute one-tenth of the Members of Parliament have requested in writing that the item be open to amendment, in which case the President shall fix a deadline for tabling amendments.

2.   Items placed on the final draft agenda for vote without amendment shall also be without debate unless Parliament, when adopting its agenda at the start of a part-session, decides otherwise on a proposal from the Conference of Presidents, or if requested by a political group or at least 37 Members.

3.   When drawing up the final draft agenda of a part-session, the Conference of Presidents may propose that other items be taken without amendment or without debate. When adopting its agenda, Parliament may not accept any such proposal if a political group or at least 37 Members have tabled their opposition in writing at least one hour before the opening of the part-session.

4.   When an item is taken without debate, the rapporteur or the chairman of the committee responsible may make a statement of not more than two minutes immediately prior to the vote.

1.   At the beginning of each part-session, Parliament shall take a decision on the final draft agenda. Amendments may be proposed by a committee, a political group or at least 37 Members. Any such proposals must be received by the President at least one hour before the opening of the part-session. The President may give the floor to the mover, one speaker in favour and one speaker against, in each case for not more than one minute.

2.   Once adopted, the agenda may not be amended, except in pursuance of Rules 134 and 167 to 171 or on a proposal from the President.

If a procedural motion to amend the agenda is rejected, it may not be tabled again during the same part-session.

3.   Before closing the sitting, the President shall announce the date, time and agenda of the next sitting.

1.   A political group or at least 37 Members may request that an extraordinary debate on a matter of major interest relating to European Union policy be placed on Parliament's agenda. As a rule, no more than one extraordinary debate shall be held during each part-session.

2.   The request shall be submitted to the President in writing at least three hours prior to the start of the part-session at which the extraordinary debate is to take place. The vote on this request shall be taken at the start of the part-session when Parliament adopts its agenda.

3.   In response to events that take place after the adoption of the agenda for a part-session, the President, after consulting the chairmen of the political groups, may propose an extraordinary debate. Any such proposal shall be voted on at the start of a sitting or at a scheduled voting time, having been notified to Members at least one hour beforehand.

4.   The President shall determine the time at which such a debate is to be held. The overall duration of the debate shall not exceed 60 minutes. Speaking time shall be allocated to the political groups and the non-attached Members pursuant to Rule 142(2) and (3).

5.   The debate shall be wound up without the adoption of a resolution.

1.   A request that a debate on a proposal on which Parliament has been consulted pursuant to Rule 40(1) be treated as urgent may be made to Parliament by the President, a committee, a political group, at least 37 Members, the Commission or the Council. This request shall be made in writing and supported by reasons.

2.   As soon as the President has received a request for urgent debate he shall announce this to Parliament. The vote on the request shall be taken at the beginning of the sitting following that during which the announcement was made, provided that the proposal to which the request relates has been distributed in the official languages. Where there are several requests for urgent debate on the same subject, the approval or rejection of the request for urgent debate shall apply to all the requests on the same subject.

3.   Before the vote, only the mover, one speaker in favour, one speaker against, and the chairman and/or rapporteur of the committee responsible may be heard, in each case for not more than three minutes.

4.   Questions to be dealt with by urgent procedure shall be given priority over other items on the agenda. The President shall determine the time of the debate and vote.

5.   An urgent debate may be held without a report or, exceptionally, on the basis of an oral report by the committee responsible.

1.   No person may enter the Chamber except Members of Parliament, Members of the Commission or Council, the Secretary-General of Parliament, members of staff whose duties require their presence there, and experts or officials of the European Union.

2.   Only holders of an admission card duly issued by the President or Secretary-General of Parliament shall be admitted to the galleries.

3.   Members of the public admitted to the galleries shall remain seated and keep silent. Any person expressing approval or disapproval shall immediately be ejected by the ushers.

1.   All documents of Parliament shall be drawn up in the official languages.

2.   All Members shall have the right to speak in Parliament in the official language of their choice. Speeches delivered in one of the official languages shall be simultaneously interpreted into the other official languages and into any other language the Bureau may consider necessary.

3.   Interpretation shall be provided in committee and delegation meetings from and into the official languages used and requested by the members and substitutes of that committee or delegation.

4.   At committee and delegation meetings away from the usual places of work interpretation shall be provided from and into the languages of those members who have confirmed that they will attend the meeting. These arrangements may exceptionally be made more flexible where the members of the committee or delegation so agree. In the event of disagreement, the Bureau shall decide.

Where it has been established after the result of a vote has been announced that there are discrepancies between different language versions, the President shall decide whether the result announced is valid pursuant to Rule 164(5). If he declares the result valid, he shall decide which version is to be regarded as having been adopted. However, the original version cannot be taken as the official text as a general rule, since a situation may arise in which all the other languages differ from the original text.

1.   Exceptionally, in applying Rule 138, account shall be taken, with regard to the official languages of the Member States which acceded to the European Union on 1 May 2004, as of that date and until 31 December 2006, of the availability in real terms and sufficient numbers of the requisite interpreters and translators.

2.   The Secretary-General shall each quarter submit a detailed report to the Bureau on the progress made towards full application of Rule 138, and shall send a copy thereof to all Members.

3.   On a reasoned recommendation from the Bureau, Parliament may decide at any time to repeal this Rule early or, at the end of the period indicated in paragraph 1, to extend it.

1.   No Member may speak unless called upon to do so by the President. Members shall speak from their places and shall address the Chair; the President may invite them to come to the rostrum.

2.   If a speaker departs from the subject, the President shall call him to order. If a speaker has already been called to order twice in the same debate, the President may, on the third occasion, forbid him to speak for the remainder of the debate on the same subject.

3.   Without prejudice to his other disciplinary powers, the President may cause to be deleted from the reports of debates of sittings the speeches of Members who have not been called upon to speak by him or who continue to speak beyond the time allotted to them.

4.   A speaker may not be interrupted except by the President. He may, however, by leave of the President, give way during his speech to allow another Member, the Commission or the Council to put a question to him on a particular point in his speech.

1.   The Conference of Presidents may propose to Parliament that speaking time be allocated for a particular debate. Parliament shall decide on this proposal without debate.

2.   Speaking time shall be allocated in accordance with the following criteria:

3.   Where a total speaking time is allocated for several items on the agenda, the political groups shall inform the President of the fraction of their speaking time to be used for each individual item. The President shall ensure that these speaking times are respected.

4.   No Member may speak for more than one minute on any of the following: the minutes, procedural motions, amendments to the final draft agenda or to the agenda.

5.   The Commission and Council shall be heard in the debate on a report as a rule immediately after its presentation by the rapporteur. However, in a debate on a Commission proposal, the President shall invite the Commission to speak first in order to briefly present its proposal, and when debating a text originating from the Council, the President may invite the Council to speak first, in each case to be followed by the rapporteur. The Commission and Council may be heard again, in particular to respond to the statements made by Members.

6.   Without prejudice to Article 197 of the EC Treaty, the President shall seek to reach an understanding with the Commission and Council on appropriate allocation of speaking time for them.

7.   Members who have not spoken in a debate may, at most once per part-session, hand in a written statement of not more than 200 words that shall be appended to the verbatim report of the debate.

1.   The names of Members who ask leave to speak shall be entered in the list of speakers in the order in which their requests are received.

2.   The President shall call upon Members to speak, ensuring as far as possible that speakers of different political views and using different languages are heard in turn.

3.   On request, however, priority may be given to the rapporteur of the committee responsible and to the chairmen of political groups who wish to speak on behalf of their groups, or to speakers deputising for them.

4.   No Member may speak more than twice on the same subject, except by leave of the President.

The chairman and the rapporteur of the committees concerned shall, however, be allowed to speak at their request for a period to be decided by the President.

1.   A Member who asks to make a personal statement shall be heard at the end of the discussion of the item of the agenda being dealt with or when the minutes of the sitting to which the request for leave to speak refers are considered for approval.

The Member concerned may not speak on substantive matters but shall confine his observations to rebutting any remarks that have been made about his person in the course of the debate or opinions that have been attributed to him, or to correcting observations that he himself has made.

2.   Unless Parliament decides otherwise, no personal statement shall last for more than three minutes.

1.   The President shall call to order any Member who creates a disturbance during the proceedings.

2.   Should the offence be repeated, the President shall again call the Member to order, and the fact shall be recorded in the minutes.

3.   If a further offence is committed, the President may exclude the offender from the Chamber for the remainder of the sitting. The Secretary-General shall see to it that this disciplinary measure is carried out immediately, with the assistance of the ushers and, if necessary, of Parliament's Security Service.

1.   In serious cases of disorder or disruption of Parliament, the President may, after giving formal notice, move, either immediately or no later than the next part-session, that Parliament pass a vote of censure which shall automatically involve immediate exclusion from the Chamber and suspension for two to five days.

2.   Parliament shall decide whether to take such disciplinary action at a time to be decided by the President, which shall be either at the sitting during which the events in question occurred or, in the case of disruption outside the Chamber, when the President was informed, or at the latest at the next part-session. The Member concerned shall be entitled to be heard by Parliament before the vote. His speaking time shall not exceed five minutes.

3.   An electronic vote shall be taken without debate on the request for disciplinary action. Requests submitted pursuant to Rule 149(3) or 160(1) shall not be admissible.

1.   Parliament may deliberate, settle its agenda and approve the minutes, whatever the number of Members present.

2.   A quorum shall exist when one-third of the component Members of Parliament are present in the Chamber.

3.   All votes shall be valid whatever the number of voters unless the President, on a request made before voting has begun by at least 37 Members, establishes at the moment of voting that the quorum is not present. If the vote shows that the quorum is not present, the vote shall be placed on the agenda of the next sitting.

A request for the quorum to be established must be made by at least 37 Members. A request on behalf of a political group is not admissible.

When establishing the result of the vote, account must be taken, pursuant to paragraph 2, of all the Members present in the Chamber and, pursuant to paragraph 4, of all the Members who asked for the quorum to be established. The electronic voting system cannot be used for this purpose. The doors of the Chamber may not be closed.

If the number of Members required to make up the quorum is not present, the President shall not announce the result of the vote but shall declare that the quorum is not present.

Paragraph 3 last sentence shall not apply to votes on procedural motions but only to votes on the subject matter itself.

4.   Members who have asked for the quorum to be established shall be counted as being present within the meaning of paragraph 2, even if they are no longer in the Chamber.

5.   If fewer than 37 Members are present, the President may rule that there is no quorum.

1.   Amendments for consideration in Parliament may be tabled by the committee responsible, a political group or at least 37 Members.

Amendments shall be tabled in writing and signed by their authors.

Amendments to documents of a legislative nature within the meaning of Rule 40(1) may be accompanied by a short justification. Such justifications shall be the responsibility of the author and shall not be put to the vote.

2.   Subject to the limitations laid down in Rule 151, an amendment may seek to change any part of a text, and may be directed to deleting, adding or substituting words or figures.

In this Rule and Rule 151 the term ‘text’ means the whole of a motion for a resolution/draft legislative resolution, of a proposal for a decision or of a Commission proposal.

3.   The President shall set a deadline for the tabling of amendments.

4.   An amendment may be moved during the debate by its author or by any other Member appointed by the author to replace him.

5.   Where an amendment is withdrawn by its author, it shall fall unless immediately taken over by another Member.

6.   Amendments shall be put to the vote only after they have been printed and distributed in all the official languages, unless Parliament decides otherwise. Parliament may not decide otherwise if at least 37 Members object.

Rule 139 shall apply mutatis mutandis to this paragraph.

Oral amendments tabled in committee may be put to the vote unless one of the committee's members objects.

1.   No amendment shall be admissible if:

2.   An amendment shall lapse if it is inconsistent with decisions previously taken on the text during the same vote.

3.   The President shall decide whether amendments are admissible.

The President's decision pursuant to paragraph 3 concerning the admissibility of amendments is not based exclusively on the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Rule but on the provisions of the Rules in general.

4.   A political group may table an alternative motion for a resolution to a non-legislative motion for a resolution contained in a committee report.

In such a case, the group may not table amendments to the motion for a resolution by the committee responsible. The group's motion for a resolution may not be longer than the committee's motion for a resolution. It shall be put to a single vote in Parliament without amendment.

1.   The following voting procedure shall apply to reports:

2.   The following procedure shall apply to second readings:

3.   The procedure set out in Rule 65 shall apply to third readings.

4.   In voting on legislative texts and on non-legislative motions for resolutions, votes relating to substantive parts shall be taken first, followed by votes relating to citations and recitals. Amendments shall fall if they contradict a prior vote.

5.   The only Member permitted to speak during the vote shall be the rapporteur, who shall have the opportunity of expressing briefly his committee's views on the amendments put to the vote.

1.   In the event of a tied vote under Rule 152(1)(b) or (d), the text as a whole shall be referred back to committee. This shall also apply to votes under Rules 3 and 7 and to final votes under Rules 177 and 188, on the understanding that, for these two Rules, the matter is referred back to the Conference of Presidents.

2.   In the event of a tied vote on the agenda as a whole (Rule 132) or the minutes as a whole (Rule 172), or on a text put to a split vote under Rule 157, the text shall be deemed adopted.

3.   In all other cases where there is a tied vote, without prejudice to those Rules which require qualified majorities, the text or proposal shall be deemed rejected.

1.   Voting on a report shall take place on the basis of a recommendation from the committee responsible. The committee may delegate this task to its chairman and rapporteur.

2.   The committee may recommend that all or several amendments be put to the vote collectively, that they be accepted or rejected or declared void.

It may also propose compromise amendments.

3.   Where the committee recommends that amendments be put to the vote collectively, the collective vote on these amendments shall be taken first.

4.   Where the committee proposes a compromise amendment, it shall be given priority in voting.

5.   Amendments for which a roll-call vote has been requested shall be put to the vote individually.

6.   A split vote shall not be admissible in the case of a collective vote or a vote on a compromise amendment.

1.   Amendments shall have priority over the text to which they relate and shall be put to the vote before that text.

2.   If two or more mutually exclusive amendments have been tabled to the same part of a text, the amendment that departs furthest from the original text shall have priority and shall be put to the vote first. If it is adopted the other amendments shall stand rejected. If it is rejected, the amendment next in priority shall be put to the vote and similarly for each of the remaining amendments. Where there is doubt as to priority, the President shall decide. If all amendments are rejected, the original text shall be deemed adopted unless a separate vote has been requested within the specified deadline.

3.   The President may put the original text to the vote first, or put to the vote before the amendment that departs furthest from the original text an amendment that is closer to the original text.

If either of these secures a majority, all other amendments tabled to the same text shall fall.

4.   Exceptionally, on a proposal from the President, amendments tabled after the close of the debate may be put to the vote if they are compromise amendments, or if there are technical problems. The President shall obtain the agreement of Parliament to putting such amendments to the vote.

Pursuant to Rule 151(3), the President shall decide whether amendments are admissible. In the case of compromise amendments tabled after the close of a debate, pursuant to this paragraph, the President shall decide on their admissibility case by case, having regard to the compromise nature of the amendments.

The following general criteria for admissibility may be applied:

Only the President may propose that a compromise amendment be considered. In order for a compromise amendment to be put to the vote, the President must obtain the agreement of Parliament by asking whether there are any objections to such a vote being held. If an objection is raised, Parliament shall decide on the matter by a majority of the votes cast.

5.   Where the committee responsible has tabled a set of amendments to the text with which the report is concerned, the President shall put them to the vote collectively, unless a political group or at least 37 Members have requested separate votes or unless other amendments have been tabled.

6.   The President may put other amendments to the vote collectively where they are complementary. In such cases he shall follow the procedure laid down in paragraph 5. Authors of such amendments may propose such collective votes where their amendments are complementary.

7.   The President may decide, following the adoption or rejection of a particular amendment, that several other amendments of similar content or with similar objectives shall be put to the vote collectively. The President may seek the agreement of Parliament before doing so.

Such a set of amendments may relate to different parts of the original text.

8.   Where two or more identical amendments are tabled by different authors, they shall be put to the vote as one.

1.   Where the text to be put to the vote contains two or more provisions or references to two or more points or lends itself to division into two or more parts each with a distinct logical meaning and normative value, a split vote may be requested by a political group or at least 37 Members.

2.   The request shall be made the evening before the vote, unless the President sets a different deadline. The President shall decide on the request.

1.   Normally Parliament shall vote by show of hands.

2.   If the President decides that the result is doubtful, a fresh vote shall be taken using the electronic voting system and, if the latter is not working, by sitting and standing.

3.   The result of the vote shall be recorded.

1.   In addition to the cases provided for under Rules 99(4) and 100(5), the vote shall be taken by roll call if so requested in writing by a political group or at least 37 Members the evening before the vote unless the President sets a different deadline.

2.   The roll shall be called in alphabetical order, beginning with the name of a Member drawn by lot. The President shall be the last to be called to vote.

Voting shall be by word of mouth and shall be expressed by ‘Yes’, ‘No’, or ‘I abstain’. In calculating whether a motion has been adopted or rejected account shall be taken only of votes cast for and against. The President shall establish the result of the vote and announce it.

Votes shall be recorded in the minutes of the sitting by political group in the alphabetical order of Members' names, with an indication of how they voted.

1.   The President may at any time decide that the voting operations indicated in Rules 159, 160 and 162 shall be carried out by means of the electronic voting system.

Where the electronic voting system cannot be used for technical reasons, voting shall take place pursuant to Rule 159, Rule 160(2) or Rule 162.

The technical arrangements for using the electronic voting system shall be governed by instructions from the Bureau.

2.   Where an electronic vote is taken, only the numerical result of the vote shall be recorded.

However, if a vote by roll call has been requested in accordance with Rule 160(1), the votes shall be recorded in the minutes of the sitting by political group in the alphabetical order of Members' names.

3.   The vote by roll call shall be taken in accordance with Rule 160(2) if a majority of the Members present so request. The system indicated in paragraph 1 of this Rule may be used to determine whether a majority exists.

1.   In the case of appointments, voting shall be by secret ballot without prejudice to Rules 12(1) and 177(1) and Rule 182(2), second subparagraph.

Only ballot papers bearing the names of Members who have been nominated shall be taken into account in calculating the number of votes cast.

2.   Voting may also be by secret ballot if requested by at least one-fifth of the component Members of Parliament. Such requests must be made before voting begins.

3.   A request for a secret ballot shall take priority over a request for a vote by roll call.

4.   Between two and six Members chosen by lot shall count the votes cast in a secret ballot.

In the case of votes pursuant to paragraph 1, candidates shall not act as tellers.

The names of Members who have taken part in a secret ballot shall be recorded in the minutes of the sitting at which the ballot was held.

1.   Once the general debate has been concluded, any Member may give an oral explanation on the final vote for not longer than one minute or give a written explanation of no more than 200 words, which shall be included in the verbatim report of proceedings.

Any political group may give an explanation of vote lasting not more than two minutes.

No further requests to give explanations of vote shall be accepted once the first explanation of vote has begun.

Explanations of vote shall be admissible on the final vote on any subject submitted to Parliament. The term ‘final vote’ does not prejudge the type of vote, but means the last vote on any item.

2.   Explanations of vote shall not be admissible in the case of votes on procedural matters.

3.   Where a Commission proposal or a report has been included on the agenda of Parliament pursuant to Rule 131, Members may submit written explanations of vote pursuant to paragraph 1.

Explanations of vote given either orally or in writing must have a direct bearing on the text being put to the vote.

1.   The President shall declare votes open and closed.

2.   Once the President has declared a vote open, no one except the President shall be allowed to speak until the vote is declared closed.

3.   Points of order concerning the validity of a vote may be raised after the President has declared it closed.

4.   After the result of a vote by show of hands has been announced, a Member may request that this result be checked using the electronic voting system.

5.   The President shall decide whether the result announced is valid. His decision shall be final.

1.   Requests to move a procedural motion, namely:

shall take precedence over other requests to speak.

Only the following shall be heard on these motions in addition to the mover: one speaker in favour and one against and the chairman or rapporteur of the committee responsible.

2.   Speaking time shall not exceed one minute.

1.   A Member may be allowed to speak to draw the attention of the President to any failure to respect Parliament's Rules of Procedure. The Member shall first specify to which Rule he is referring.

2.   A request to raise a point of order shall take precedence over all other requests to speak.

3.   Speaking time shall not exceed one minute.

4.   The President shall take an immediate decision on points of order in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and shall announce his ruling immediately after the point of order has been raised. No vote shall be taken on the President's decision.

5.   Exceptionally, he may state that he will announce his ruling later, but not more than 24 hours after the point of order was raised. Postponement of the ruling shall not entail the adjournment of the debate. The President may refer the matter to the committee responsible.

1.   At the beginning of the debate on a specific item on the agenda, its inadmissibility may be moved. Such a motion shall be put to the vote immediately.

The intention to move inadmissibility shall be notified at least 24 hours in advance to the President who shall inform Parliament immediately.

2.   If the motion is carried, Parliament shall immediately proceed to the next item on the agenda.

1.   Referral back to committee may be requested by a political group or at least 37 Members when the agenda is fixed or before the start of the debate.

The intention to move referral back to committee shall be notified at least 24 hours in advance to the President, who shall inform Parliament immediately.

2.   Referral back to committee may also be requested by a political group or at least 37 Members before or during a vote. Such a motion shall be put to the vote immediately.

3.   A request may be made only once at each of these different procedural stages.

4.   Referral back to committee shall entail suspension of the discussion of the item.

5.   Parliament may set a time limit within which the committee shall report its conclusions.

1.   A debate may be closed before the list of speakers has been exhausted on a proposal from the President or at the request of a political group or at least 37 Members. Such a proposal or request shall be put to the vote immediately.

2.   If the proposal or request is carried, only one Member may speak from each political group which has not yet provided a speaker in that debate.

3.   After the speeches referred to in paragraph 2, the debate shall be closed and Parliament shall vote on the matter under debate, except where the time for the vote has been set in advance.

4.   If the proposal or request is rejected, it may not be tabled again during that debate, except by the President.

1.   At the start of a debate on an item on the agenda, a political group or at least 37 Members may move that the debate be adjourned to a specific date and time. Such a motion shall be put to the vote immediately.

The intention to move adjournment shall be notified at least 24 hours in advance to the President, who shall inform Parliament immediately.

2.   If the motion is carried, Parliament shall proceed to the next item on the agenda. The adjourned debate shall be resumed at the specified date and time.

3.   If the motion is rejected, it may not be tabled again during that part-session.

4.   Before or during a vote, a political group or at least 37 Members may move that the vote be adjourned. Such a motion shall be put to the vote immediately.

Any decision by Parliament to adjourn a debate to a subsequent part-session shall specify the part-session on the agenda of which the debate is to be included, on the understanding that the agenda for that part-session shall be drawn up pursuant to Rules 130 and 132.

1.   The minutes of each sitting, containing the decisions of Parliament and the names of speakers, shall be distributed at least half an hour before the beginning of the afternoon period of the next sitting.

In the context of legislative proceedings, any amendments adopted by Parliament are also deemed to be decisions within the meaning of this paragraph, even if the relevant Commission proposal or the Council's common position is ultimately rejected, pursuant to Rule 52(1) or Rule 61(3) respectively.

The texts adopted by Parliament shall be distributed separately. Where legislative texts adopted by Parliament contain amendments, they shall be published in a consolidated version.

2.   At the beginning of the afternoon period of each sitting the President shall place before Parliament, for its approval, the minutes of the previous sitting.

3.   If any objections are raised to the minutes Parliament shall, if necessary, decide whether the changes requested should be considered. No Member may speak on the minutes for more than one minute.

4.   The minutes shall be signed by the President and the Secretary-General and preserved in the records of Parliament. They shall be published within one month in the Official Journal of the European Union.

1.   A verbatim report of the proceedings of each sitting shall be drawn up in the official languages.

2.   Speakers shall be required to return typescripts of their speeches to the Secretariat not later than the day following that on which they received them.

3.   The verbatim report shall be published as an annex to the Official Journal of the European Union.

1.   Parliament may, at the request of one-quarter of its component Members, set up a committee of inquiry to investigate alleged contraventions of Community law or alleged maladministration in the application of Community law which would appear to be the act of an institution or body of the European Communities, of a public administrative body of a Member State, or of persons empowered by Community law to implement that law.

The decision to set up a committee of inquiry shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union within one month. In addition, Parliament shall take all the necessary steps to make this decision as widely known as possible.

2.   The modus operandi of a committee of inquiry shall be governed by the provisions of these Rules relating to committees, save as otherwise specifically provided for in this Rule and in Decision 95/167/EC, Euratom, ECSC of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 19 April 1995 on the detailed provisions governing the exercise of the European Parliament's right of inquiry which is annexed to these Rules (14).

3.   The request to set up a committee of inquiry must specify precisely the subject of the inquiry and include a detailed statement of the grounds for it. Parliament, on a proposal from the Conference of Presidents, shall decide whether to set up a committee and, if it decides to do so, on its composition, in accordance with the provisions of Rule 177.

4.   A committee of inquiry shall conclude its work with the submission of a report within not more than 12 months. Parliament may twice decide to extend this period by three months.

Only full members or, in their absence, permanent substitutes may vote in a committee of inquiry.

5.   A committee of inquiry shall elect its chairman and two vice-chairmen and appoint one or more rapporteurs. The committee may also assign responsibilities, duties or specific tasks to its members who must subsequently report to the committee in detail thereon.

In the interval between one meeting and another, the bureau of the committee shall, in cases of urgency or need, exercise the committee's powers, subject to ratification at the next meeting.

6.   When a committee of inquiry considers that one of its rights has been infringed, it shall propose that the President take appropriate measures.

7.   A committee of inquiry may contact the institutions or persons referred to in Article 3 of the Decision referred to in paragraph 2 with a view to holding a hearing or obtaining documents.

Travel and accommodation expenses of members and officials of Community institutions and bodies shall be borne by the latter. Travel and accommodation expenses of other persons who appear before a committee of inquiry shall be reimbursed by the European Parliament in accordance with the rules governing hearings of experts.

Any person called to give evidence before a committee of inquiry may claim the rights they would enjoy if acting as a witness before a tribunal in their country of origin. They must be informed of these rights before they make a statement to the committee.

With regard to the languages used, a committee of inquiry shall apply the provisions of Rule 138. However, the bureau of the committee:

8.   The chairman of a committee of inquiry shall, together with the bureau, ensure that the secrecy or confidentiality of deliberations are respected and shall give members due notice to this effect.

He shall also explicitly refer to the provisions of Article 2(2) of the Decision referred to above. Annex VII(A) of the Rules of Procedure shall apply.

9.   Secret or confidential documents which have been forwarded shall be examined using technical measures to ensure that only the members responsible for the case have personal access to them. The members in question shall give a solemn undertaking not to allow any other person access to secret or confidential information, in accordance with this Rule, and to use such information exclusively for the purposes of drawing up their report for the committee of inquiry. Meetings shall be held on premises equipped in such a way as to make it impossible for any non-authorised persons to listen to the proceedings.

10.   After completion of its work a committee of inquiry shall submit to Parliament a report on the results of its work, containing minority opinions if appropriate in accordance with the conditions laid down in Rule 48. The report shall be published.

At the request of the committee of inquiry Parliament shall hold a debate on the report at the part-session following its submission.

The committee may also submit to Parliament a draft recommendation addressed to institutions or bodies of the European Communities or the Member States.

11.   The President shall instruct the committee responsible pursuant to Annex VI to monitor the action taken on the results of the work of the committee of inquiry and, if appropriate, to report thereon. He shall take any further steps which are deemed appropriate to ensure that the conclusions of the inquiry are acted upon in practice.

Only the proposal from the Conference of Presidents concerning the composition of a committee of inquiry (paragraph 3) is open to amendments, in accordance with Rule 177(2).

The subject of the inquiry as defined by one-quarter of Parliament's component Members (paragraph 3) and the period laid down in paragraph 4 are not open to amendments.

1.   Members of committees and committees of inquiry shall be elected after nominations have been submitted by the political groups and the non-attached Members. The Conference of Presidents shall submit proposals to Parliament. The composition of the committees shall, as far as possible, reflect the composition of Parliament.

When a Member changes political groups he shall retain, for the remainder of his two and a half year term of office, the seats he holds in parliamentary committees. However, if a Member's change of political group has the effect of disturbing the fair representation of political views in a committee, new proposals for the composition of that committee shall be made by the Conference of Presidents in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 1, second sentence, whereby the individual rights of the Member concerned shall be guaranteed.

2.   Amendments to the proposals of the Conference of Presidents shall be admissible only if they are tabled by at least 37 Members. Parliament shall vote on such amendments by secret ballot.

3.   Members shall be deemed to be elected on the basis of the proposals by the Conference of Presidents, as and where amended pursuant to paragraph 2.

4.   Where a political group fails to submit nominations for membership of a committee of inquiry pursuant to paragraph 1 within a time limit set by the Conference of Presidents, the Conference of Presidents shall submit to Parliament only the nominations communicated to it within that time limit.

5.   The Conference of Presidents may provisionally decide to fill any vacancy on a committee with the agreement of the persons to be appointed and having regard to paragraph 1.

6.   Any such changes shall be placed before Parliament for ratification at the next sitting.

1.   The political groups and the non-attached Members may appoint a number of permanent substitutes for each committee equal to the number of full members representing them on the committee. The President shall be informed accordingly. These permanent substitutes shall be entitled to attend and speak at committee meetings and, if the full member is absent, to take part in the vote.

2.   In addition, in the absence of the full member and where no permanent substitutes have been appointed or in their absence, the full member of the committee may arrange to be represented at meetings by another member of his political group, who shall be entitled to vote. The name of the substitute shall be notified to the chairman of the committee prior to the beginning of the voting session.

Paragraph 2 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the non-attached Members.

The advance notification provided for in the last sentence of paragraph 2 must be given before the end of the debate or before the opening of the vote on the item or items for which the full member is to be replaced.

***

The provisions of this Rule encompass two concepts which are clearly defined by this text:

To conclude:

1.   Standing committees shall examine questions referred to them by Parliament or, during an adjournment of the session, by the President on behalf of the Conference of Presidents. The duties of temporary committees and committees of inquiry shall be defined when they are set up; they shall not be entitled to deliver opinions to other committees.

(See interpretation under Rule 175.)

2.   Should a standing committee declare itself not competent to consider a question, or should a conflict arise over the competence of two or more standing committees, the question of competence shall be referred to the Conference of Presidents within four working weeks of the announcement in Parliament of referral to committee. The Conference of Committee Chairmen shall be notified and may make a recommendation to the Conference of Presidents. The Conference of Presidents shall take a decision within six working weeks of the referral of the question of competence. Otherwise the question shall be included for a decision on the agenda for the subsequent part-session.

3.   Should two or more standing committees be competent to deal with a question, one committee shall be named as the committee responsible and the others as committees asked for opinions.

A question shall not, however, be referred simultaneously to more than three committees, unless it is decided for sound reasons to depart from this rule under the conditions laid down in paragraph 1.

4.   Any two or more committees or subcommittees may jointly consider matters coming within their competence, but they may not take a decision.

5.   Any committee may, with the agreement of the Bureau of Parliament, instruct one or more of its members to undertake a study or fact-finding mission.

1.   Subject to prior authorisation by the Conference of Presidents, a standing or temporary committee may, in the interests of its work, appoint one or more subcommittees, of which it shall at the same time determine the composition, pursuant to Rule 177, and area of responsibility. Subcommittees shall report to the committee that set them up.

2.   The procedure for subcommittees shall be the same as for committees.

3.   Substitutes shall be allowed to sit on subcommittees under the same conditions as on committees.

4.   The application of these provisions must safeguard the interdependence between a subcommittee and the committee within which it is set up. For this purpose all the full members of a subcommittee shall be chosen from among the members of the parent committee.

1.   At the first committee meeting after the election of committee members pursuant to Rule 177, the committee shall elect a bureau consisting of a chairman and one, two or three vice-chairmen who shall be elected in separate ballots.

2.   Where the number of nominations corresponds to the number of seats to be filled, the election may take place by acclamation.

Where this is not the case, or at the request of one-sixth of the members of the committee, the election shall take place by secret ballot.

If there is only one candidate, the election shall be won by an absolute majority of the votes cast, these to include votes cast for and against.

Where there is more than one candidate at the first ballot, the candidate who obtains an absolute majority of the votes cast, as defined in the preceding subparagraph, shall be elected. At the second ballot, the candidate who obtains the highest number of votes shall be elected. In the event of a tie, the oldest candidate shall be elected.

Where a second ballot is required, new candidates may be nominated.

1.   A committee shall meet when convened by its chairman or at the request of the President.

2.   The Commission and Council may take part in committee meetings if invited to do so on behalf of a committee by its chairman.

By special decision of a committee, any other person may be invited to attend and to speak at a meeting.

By analogy, the decision on whether to allow Members' personal assistants to be present at committee meetings shall be left to the discretion of each committee.

The committee responsible may, subject to approval by the Bureau, organise a hearing of experts if it considers such a hearing essential to the effective conduct of its work on a particular subject.

Committees asked for opinions may attend the hearing if they so wish.

3.   Without prejudice to Rule 46(6) and unless a committee decides otherwise, Members may attend meetings of committees to which they do not belong but may not take part in their deliberations.

Such Members may, however, be allowed by the committee to take part in its proceedings in an advisory capacity.

1.   Any Member may table amendments for consideration in the committee responsible.

2.   A committee may validly vote when one-quarter of its members are actually present. However, if so requested by one-sixth of its members before voting begins, the vote shall be valid only if the majority of the component members of the committee have taken part in it.

3.   Voting in committee shall be by show of hands, unless a quarter of the committee's members request a vote by roll call. In this case the vote shall be taken in accordance with Rule 160(2).

4.   The chairman may take part in discussions and may vote, but without having a casting vote.

5.   In the light of the amendments tabled, the committee may, instead of proceeding to a vote, request the rapporteur to submit a new draft taking account of as many of the amendments as possible. A new deadline shall then be set for amendments to this draft.

1.   On a proposal from the Conference of Presidents, Parliament shall set up standing interparliamentary delegations and decide on their nature and the number of their members bearing in mind their duties. The members shall be elected during the first or second part-session following the re-election of Parliament for the duration of the parliamentary term.

2.   Members of the delegations shall be elected after nominations have been submitted to the Conference of Presidents by the political groups and the non-attached Members. The Conference of Presidents shall submit to Parliament proposals designed to ensure as far as possible fair representation of Member States and of political views. Rule 177(2), (3), (5) and (6) shall apply.

3.   The bureaux of the delegations shall be constituted in accordance with the procedure laid down for the standing committees pursuant to Rule 182.

4.   Parliament shall determine the general powers of the individual delegations. It may at any time decide to increase or restrict these powers.

5.   The implementing provisions needed to enable the delegations to carry out their work shall be adopted by the Conference of Presidents on a proposal from the Conference of Delegation Chairmen.

6.   The chairman of a delegation shall submit to the committee responsible for foreign affairs and security a report on the activities of the delegation.

1.   Parliament's bodies, particularly the committees, shall cooperate with their counterparts at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in fields of mutual interest, with the aim in particular of improving the efficiency of their work and avoiding duplication of effort.

2.   The Conference of Presidents, in agreement with the competent authorities of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, shall decide the arrangements for implementing these provisions.

1.   The European Parliament may set up joint parliamentary committees with the parliaments of States associated with the Community or States with which accession negotiations have been initiated.

Such committees may formulate recommendations for the parliaments involved. In the case of the European Parliament, these recommendations shall be referred to the committee responsible, which shall put forward proposals on the action to be taken.

2.   The general responsibilities of the various joint parliamentary committees shall be defined by the European Parliament and by the agreements with the third countries.

3.   Joint parliamentary committees shall be governed by the procedures laid down in the agreement in question. Such procedures shall be based on the principle of parity between the delegation of the European Parliament and the delegation of the parliament involved.

4.   Joint parliamentary committees shall draw up their own rules of procedure and submit them for approval to the bureaux of the European Parliament and of the parliament involved.

5.   The election of the members of European Parliament delegations to joint parliamentary committees and the constitution of the bureaux of these delegations shall take place in accordance with the procedure laid down for interparliamentary delegations.