The Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) resumes its work, having on the agenda the report submitted by MEP Victor Negrescu on special legislative procedures and key institutional conflicts between the EU Council and the European Parliament.

The document is to be debated and voted on by the above-mentioned committee and the plenary session of the European Parliament. The MEP presents a series of legal solutions to strengthen the European Union’s responsiveness in line with its treaties, thus respecting the principle of transparency.

Among the main measures proposed by Victor Negrescu are:

• The obligation for Member States to justify that their opposition is in line with the provisions of the Treaties, that it respects the fundamental rights of all EU citizens and EU Member States, as well as those of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;
• If the veto is contrary to EU law, the MEP proposes that the veto be declared null and void;
• Setting a precise timetable for the adoption of an act by the Council of the European Union;
• A simplified validation or voting system.

The proposals submitted by Victor Negrescu are already supported by the shadow rapporteurs of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, appointed by the other political groups in the European Parliament.

It should be noted that these measures are in line with the demands made by European citizens at the Conference on the Future of Europe, which was a citizen-led series of debates and discussions that ran from April 2021 to May 2022, and which enabled people from across Europe to share their ideas and help shape our common future.

This includes the possibility of switching from unanimity voting to qualified majority voting through the ”passerelle clauses” (bridging clauses).