COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL - Effects of the entry into force of the Nice Treaty on current legislative procedures

After the entry into force of the Nice Treaty on 1 February 2003, the Community legislators will be required to act on Commission proposals presented before that date and which are now at different stages of the legislative procedure.

The entry into force of the Nice Treaty will affect these pending proposals in a variety of ways :

1. For some pending proposals, The legislative procedure will be different.

* First, there are the pending proposals founded on a legal basis which will no longer require the consultation procedure but the codecision procedure. These are:

* the proposal for a Council Regulation creating a European enforcement order for uncontested claims (COM(2002) 159), based on Article 61c EC ;

* the proposal for a Council Decision adopting a multi-annual programme (2003-2005) for the monitoring of eEurope, dissemination of good practices and the improvement of network and information security (MODINIS) (COM(2002) 425), based on Article 157 paragraph 3 EC.

* Second, there are the pending proposals founded on a legal basis which will no longer require unanimous voting in Council but qualified-majority voting. These are:

* the proposal for a Council Decision on the representation and position taking of the Community at international level in the context of Economic and Monetary Union (COM(1998) 637), based on Article 111 paragraph 4 ;

* the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States (COM(2001) 257), based on Articles 12, 18, 40, 44 and 52 ;

* the proposal for a Council Directive repealing Council Directives 68/414/EEC and 98/93/EC imposing an obligation on Member States of the EEC to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products, and Council Directive 73/238/EEC on measures to mitigate the effects of difficulties in the supply of crude oil and petroleum products (COM(2002) 488/4), based on Article 100 EC ;

* the proposal for a Council Decision repealing Council Decision 68/416/EEC on the conclusion and implementation of individual agreements between governments relating to the obligation of Member States to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil and/or petroleum products and Council Decision 77/706/EEC on the setting of a Community target for a reduction in the consumption of primary sources of energy in the event of difficulties in the supply of crude oil and petroleum products (COM(2002) 488/5), based on Article 100 EC.

2. For a small number of proposals, the legal basis will be different as a result of the amendments introduced by the Nice Treaty.

* Thus, the addition of a paragraph 2 to Article 191 TEC provides a specific legal basis for the amended proposal for a Council Regulation on the statute and financing of European political parties COM(2001) 343) which is to substitute Article 308 TEC. This change in the legal basis means the proposal will now need to be adopted by the codecision procedure rather than the consultation procedure.

* Also, the new Article 181A TEC on economic, financial and technical cooperation with third countries is to replace Article 308 in a certain number of pending proposals. In these cases - with one exception - the voting procedure in the Council shifts from unanimity to qualified majority:

- the proposal for a Council and Commission Decision on the conclusion of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States of the one part, and the Republic of Belarus, of the other part (COM(1995) 44);

- the proposal for a Council and Commission decision on the conclusion of a Protocol to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States and the Russian Federation (COM(1996) 150); for this proposal the voting requires unanimity since Article 93 TEC is one of the legal bases;

- the proposal for a Council and Commission Decision on the conclusion of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States and Turkmenistan (COM(1997) 693);

- the proposal for a Council Decision providing exceptional financial assistance to Azerbaijan (COM(1998) 205).

- the proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the pre-accession period (COM(2002) 519);

With this communication, the Commission formally amends these proposals as indicated above.

3. The Commission informs the legislator

The Commission intends to withdraw the modified proposal COM(2001) 343 and to present in the near future a new proposal based on Article 191 TEC.