Fasone Cristina, Longo Fabio
THE INTERNATIONAL ROLE OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - IL RUOLO INTERNAZIONALE DELLE COMMISSIONI PERMANENTI DEL PARLAMENTO EUROPEO
(Relazione alla III Conferenza sugli affari internazionali dell'Unione Europea, Bruxelles, 3-5 maggio 2012)
in Diritto pubblico comparato ed europeo, 2012, fasc. 4 pag. 1455 - 1471
(Bibliografia: a pié di pagina o nel corpo del testo)
The European Parliament (EP) finds in its standing committees the linchpins of its work. As Westlake observed Committees are the "legislative backbones" of the EP. They have been the most evident beneficiaries in terms of decision-making power achieved throughout the parallel processes of extension of the EP's powers and re-definition of parliamentary procedure and practice. The EP committees' empowerment together with the strengthening of the Parliament's role in international affairs after the Treaty of Lisbon - e.g. from the negotiation and the conclusion of international agreements (art. 218 TFUE) to the scrutiny of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and of the conduct of the High Representative (art. 36 TEU) - have made these parliamentary bodies a crucial subject of study in order to understand to what extent the European Parliament's role has grown on the international scene. The article focuses on the contribution that parliamentary committees provide in shaping a more relevant international role for the EP in the post-Lisbon era, mainly by looking at: the EP's Committee on development, as the "guardian" overseeing the implementation of the European development and cooperation policy; the Committee on foreign affairs; the Committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs, which has been actively involved in the negotiation of fundamental international treaties in the last few years (art. 90 EP rules), such as the one on data protection, sometime challenging the U.S. position. Moreover, almost all the EP's standing committees are engaged in more or less stable relations with committees set up in third Countries' Parliaments, thus reinforcing the action of the EP's delegations.
Sommario: 1. Introduction: the European Union and its multiple voices in foreign policy. - 2. The committees as the linchpins of the EP activities. - 3. The "international competences" of the EP, after the Treaty of Lisbon: the strengthening of the oversight and the "international networking functions". - 4. Case studies. - 4.1. The AFET [Committee on Foreign Affairs] Committee: overseeing the CFSP, the High Representative and the European External action Service. - 4.2. The LIBE [Committee on Civil Liberties] Committee: the negotiation of international agreements on civil liberties. - 4.3. The DEVE [Committee on Development] and INTA [Committee on International Trade] Committees: the carrying out of the development and cooperation policy and of the international trade. - 5. Is there a conflict of jurisdiction among committees and delegations? - 6. Concluding remarks.
In tema di: Il ruolo internazionale del Parlamento europeo. Le Commissioni quali cardini delle attività del Parlamento europeo. Le "competenze internazionali", tramite le Commissioni, del Parlamento europeo, dopo il Trattato di Lisbona: il rafforzamento della sorveglianza e le "funzioni di networking internazionali". Il contributo delle commissioni parlamentari allo sviluppo e ad una politica di cooperazione, alla negoziazione di accordi internazionali in materia di libertà civili, ad una realizzazione della politica di sviluppo e di cooperazione nel commercio internazionale. Il possibile conflitto di giurisdizione tra commissioni e delegazioni.
Fonti
- Tr. UE (Lisbona - 2009) art. 36
- Trattato sul funzionamento dell'Unione europea art. 218, comma 6
- Trattato sul funzionamento dell'Unione europea art. 226
- Trattato sul funzionamento dell'Unione europea art. 284, comma 3
- Trattato sul funzionamento dell'Unione europea art. 314
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