Social Democrat MEP Victor Negrescu’s report on the special legislative procedures, defining the commitment to the principle of loyal cooperation in the European decision-making process and demanding legal justification for all vetoes, was adopted with a large majority by the European Parliament at the last plenary session of 2023.

In his speech, the Romanian MEP explained that “In the document approved with the large majority in the Constitutional Affairs Committee, with the wide support of the shadow rapporteurs that I very much appreciated, we clearly say that decisions at EU level should not be delayed nor blocked by an unjustified veto, as they were for instance in the last 13 years regarding the Schengen enlargement with Romania and Bulgaria. We also say that the Council needs to respect the recommendations and the roles of the Commission and of the Parliament and to engage in an open and constructive dialogue. Moreover, we need legal clarity on the use of the special legislative procedures to prevent institutional blockages”, added the European Parliament’s Quaestor Victor Negrescu.

The report, thus, underlines the need for sincere cooperation between European institutions, respect for treaty-based rules and timely and transparent decision-making.

”Last but not least, and this is of crucial importance, the Parliament calls upon member states to give justification to their vetoes and votes that should have legal explanations correlated to Treaty provisions, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and that should be in full accordance with the EU values. This is fundamental for the full respect of the mutual sincere cooperation principle and the rights of all EU citizens. That is why our report calls upon the European Parliament to refer to the Court of Justice of the European Union when a vote or a decision does not respect these key principles of the European Union”, added MEP Victor Negrescu.

The report selects politically relevant cases where the Council has not engaged in sincere cooperation, highlighting through these examples where and how the special procedure applies.

The Treaty provisions on legislative procedures are clear when it comes to the involvement of the institutions and the level of their participation.

However, in some cases, there have been no serious negotiations between Parliament and the Council, which shows the difficulty of determining the outer limits of the obligations of loyalty and the rights and powers of the institutions.

For example, as regards the right of inquiry, Parliament reproaches the Council for not being willing to cooperate, while the Council claims that it would only enter into negotiations on the basis of a draft that fully reflects the Council’s position. In the meantime, the draft is in its third parliamentary term, but there have not yet been any reasonable political discussions on the dossier.

In other cases, such as the Schengen agreement, a special legislative procedure is for the Council to adopt a legislative act after obtaining Parliament’s opinion. The report stresses that this procedure is also essential in the case of consultation and recalls the situation regarding the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen free movement area, which has been delayed for several years and blocked by an unjustified veto, recalling Parliament’s and the Commission’s request to make this happen as soon as possible.

”I’m also glad that this report strongly supports the accession of Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen area, calling for an immediate decision in favor of both countries. And we all agreed that both countries respect all the criteria and a decision should be made soon. Beyond the important legal clarification it provides, the report represents a clear political message that we are all defending the key role of our institution, of the European Parliament and of the Treaties”, MEP Victor Negrescu concluded.