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
Date: 2003-02-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Treaty of Nice, codecision procedure, drafting of EU law, legal basis, proposal (EU), qualified majority

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 6.2.2003
COM(2003) 61 final

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

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.

(cid:1)  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:

(cid:1)  the proposal for a Council Regulation creating a European enforcement order for

uncontested claims (COM(2002) 159), based on Article 61c EC ;

(cid:1)  the  proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  adopting  a  multi-annual  programme  (2003-
2005)  for  the  monitoring  of  eEurope,  dissemination  of  good  practices  and  the
(MODINIS)
network 
improvement 
(COM(2002) 425), based on Article 157 paragraph 3 EC.

information 

security 

and 

of 

(cid:1)  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:

(cid:1)  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 ;

(cid:1)  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 ;

(cid:1)  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 ;

(cid:1)  the  proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  repealing  Council  Decision  68/416/EEC  on
individual  agreements  between
the  conclusion  and 
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

implementation  of 

2

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.

(cid:1)  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.

(cid:1)  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 
the  Russian  Federation
(COM(1996)  150);  for  this  proposal  the  voting  requires  unanimity  since
Article 93 TEC is one of the legal bases;

their  Member  States  and 

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).

for  a  Council  Regulation  amending  Regulation 

the  proposal 
(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.

3