2006/512/EC: Council Decision of  17 July 2006  amending Decision 1999/468/EC laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission
Date: 2006-07-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: European Commission, capacity to exercise rights, comitology, institutional reform, interinstitutional relations, legislative-executive relations, power of implementation, powers of the institutions (EU)

22.7.2006

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 200/11

COUNCIL DECISION

of 17 July 2006

amending Decision 1999/468/EC laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing
powers conferred on the Commission

(2006/512/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European
Community, and in particular the third indent of Article 202
thereof,

Article 1

Decision 1999/468/EC is hereby amended as follows:

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Whereas:

1. at the end of recital 5, the following shall be added:

‘with the exception of
procedure with scrutiny’;

those governing the regulatory

2. after recital (7), the following recital shall be inserted:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The Council adopted Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June
1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of
implementing powers conferred on the Commission (2).
limited number of
That Decision provided for
procedures for the exercise of such powers.

a

‘(7a)

That Decision should be amended in order to introduce a
new type of procedure for the exercise of implementing
powers, the regulatory procedure with scrutiny, which
allows the legislator to oppose the adoption of draft
measures where it indicates that the draft exceeds the
implementing powers provided
basic
instrument, or that the draft is incompatible with the
aim or
to
that
respect the principles of subsidiarity or proportionality.

the content of

instrument or

in the

fails

for

It is necessary to follow the new regulatory procedure
with scrutiny for measures of general scope designed to
amend non-essential elements of a basic instrument
adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to
in Article 251 of
including by deleting
those elements or by supplementing the
some of
addition of new non-essential
instrument by
elements.

the Treaty,

the

in

adopted

accordance with

It is necessary to follow the regulatory procedure with
scrutiny as regards measures of general scope which
seek to amend non-essential elements of a basic
instrument
the
procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty,
inter alia by deleting some of those elements or by
supplementing the instrument by the addition of new
nonessential elements. This procedure should enable
the two arms of the legislative authority to scrutinise
such measures before they are adopted. The essential
elements of a legislative act may only be amended by
the legislator on the basis of the Treaty;’;

3. recital (10) shall be replaced by the following:

‘(10) The third purpose of
the

to

European

Parliament

this Decision is to improve
by
information
providing that the Commission should inform it on
a regular basis of committee proceedings, that the
Commission should transmit to it documents related
to activities of committees and inform it whenever the
Commission transmits to the Council measures or
proposals
taken; particular
attention will be paid to the provision of information
to the European Parliament on the proceedings of
the regulatory
in the framework of
committees
procedure with scrutiny, so as to ensure that
the
European Parliament
takes a decision within the
stipulated deadline.’;

for measures

to be

(4)

it should be ensured that the
In this same framework,
European Parliament receives better information on the
work of committees,

4.

in Article 1:

(1) Not yet published in the Official Journal.
(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

‘5a’ shall be inserted between ‘5’ and ‘and 6’ in the last line;

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Official Journal of the European Union

22.7.2006

5.

in Article 2:

(a) in the first paragraph the words ‘1. Without prejudice to
paragraph 2,’ shall be inserted at the beginning of the
text;

(b) the following paragraph shall be added:

(b) the European Parliament, acting by a majority of

its
component members, or
the Council, acting by a
qualified majority, may oppose the adoption of the said
draft by the Commission, justifying their opposition by
the draft measures proposed by the
indicating that
Commission exceed the implementing powers provided
for in the basic instrument or that
is not
compatible with the aim or the content of the basic
instrument or does not respect the principles of subsi-
diarity or proportionality;

the draft

scope

for
designed

‘2. Where a basic instrument, adopted in accordance
with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the
the adoption of measures of
Treaty, provides
general
non-essential
elements of that instrument, inter alia by deleting some
of those elements or by supplementing the instrument by
the
those
measures shall be adopted in accordance with the regu-
latory procedure with scrutiny.’;

addition of new non-essential

elements,

amend

to

the latter

(c) if, within three months from the date of referral to them,
the European Parliament or the Council opposes the draft
shall not be adopted by the
measures,
the Commission may
Commission.
submit
the
measures or present a legislative proposal on the basis
of the Treaty;

to the Committee an amended draft of

In that

event,

6.

in Article 4(2) and Article 5(2), the terms ‘and (4)’ shall be
added after ‘Article 205(2)’;

the European
(d) if, on expiry of
Parliament nor
the Council has opposed the draft
measures, the latter shall be adopted by the Commission.

that period, neither

7. after Article 5, the following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 5a

Regulatory procedure with scrutiny

4.
If the measures envisaged by the Commission are not
in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, or if no
opinion is delivered, the following procedure shall apply:

The Commission shall be assisted by a Regulatory
1.
Procedure with Scrutiny Committee composed of the repre-
sentatives of the Member States and chaired by the repre-
sentative of the Commission.

(a) the Commission shall without delay submit a proposal
relating to the measures to be taken to the Council and
shall forward it to the European Parliament at the same
time;

2.
The representative of the Commission shall submit to
the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The
Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a
time-limit which the chairman may lay down according to
the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by
the majority laid down in Article 205(2) and (4) of the
Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council
is
from the Commission.
required to adopt on a proposal
The votes of
the Member States
within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner set
out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.

the representatives of

(b) the Council shall act on the proposal by a qualified
majority within two months from the date of referral
to it;

(c) if, within that period, the Council opposes the proposed
measures by a qualified majority, the measures shall not
be adopted. In that event, the Commission may submit
to the Council an amended proposal or present a legi-
slative proposal on the basis of the Treaty;

If the measures envisaged by the Commission are in
the

3.
accordance with the opinion of
following procedure shall apply:

the Committee,

(a) the Commission shall without delay submit the draft
measures for scrutiny by the European Parliament and
the Council;

(d) if the Council envisages adopting the proposed measures,
it shall without delay submit
them to the European
Parliament. If the Council does not act within the two-
the Commission shall without delay
month period,
submit
scrutiny by the European
Parliament;

the measures

for

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 200/13

(e) the European Parliament, acting by a majority of

its
from the
component members within four months
in accordance with point
forwarding of
the proposal
in
(a), may oppose the adoption of
justifying their opposition by indicating that
question,
the proposed measures
implementing
powers provided for in the basic instrument or are not
compatible with the aim or the content of the basic
instrument or do not respect the principles of subsi-
diarity or proportionality;

the measures

exceed

the

(f)

if, within that period, the European Parliament opposes
the proposed measures, the latter shall not be adopted. In
that
to the
Committee an amended draft of
the measures or
present a legislative proposal on the basis of the Treaty;

the Commission may

submit

event,

(g) if, on expiry of that period, the European Parliament has
not opposed the proposed measures, the latter shall be
adopted by the Council or by the Commission, as the
case may be.

5.
By way of derogation from paragraphs 3 and 4, a basic
instrument may in duly substantiated exceptional cases
provide:

(a) that the time-limits laid down in paragraphs 3(c), 4(b)
and 4(e) shall be extended by an additional month, when
justified by the complexity of the measures; or

Commission shall adopt the measures, which shall imme-
diately be implemented. The Commission shall without
delay communicate them to the European Parliament and
to the Council;

(b) within a time-limit of one month following that commu-
nication, the European Parliament, acting by a majority
of its component members, or the Council, acting by a
qualified majority, may oppose the measures adopted by
the Commission, on the grounds that
the measures
exceed the implementing powers provided for in the
basic instrument or are not compatible with the aim or
the content of the basic instrument or do not respect the
principles of subsidiarity or proportionality;

(c) in the event of opposition by the European Parliament or
the Council, the Commission shall repeal the measures. It
may however provisionally maintain the measures in
force if warranted on health protection, safety or envi-
ronmental grounds. In that event, it shall without delay
the
submit
measures or a legislative proposal on the basis of the
Treaty. The provisional measures shall remain in force
until they are replaced by a definitive instrument.’.

to the Committee an amended draft of

8. In Article 7(3) at the end of the first sentence, the following

shall be added:

‘following arrangements which ensure that the transmission
system is transparent and that the information forwarded
and the various stages of the procedure are identified.’.

(b) that the time-limits laid down in paragraphs 3(c), 4(b)
and 4(e) shall be curtailed where justified on the grounds
of efficiency.

Article 2

A basic instrument may provide that if, on imperative
6.
grounds of urgency,
the regulatory
the timelimits
procedure with scrutiny referred to in paragraphs 3, 4 and
5 cannot be complied with, the following procedure shall
apply:

for

This Decision shall take effect on the day following that of its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, 17 July 2006.

(a) if the measures envisaged by the Commission are in
the

accordance with the opinion of

the Committee,

For the Council
The President

E. TUOMIOJA