Unilateral statements entered in the minutes of Council meetings European Parliament resolution of 27 September 2011 on unilateral statements entered in the minutes of Council meetings (2011/2090(INI))
Date: 2011-09-27
Institutions: Committee on Constitutional Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: Council of the European Union, Court of Justice of the European Union, European Parliament, division of powers, institutional cooperation, interpretation of the law, principle of legal certainty








CE2013056EN.01008601.xml










26.2.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CE 56/86





Tuesday 27 September 2011Unilateral statements entered in the minutes of Council meetings
P7_TA(2011)0411
European Parliament resolution of 27 September 2011 on unilateral statements entered in the minutes of Council meetings (2011/2090(INI))
2013/C 56 E/09

The European Parliament,






—


having regard to the letter of 8 December 2009 from the Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs to the Chair of its Committee on Constitutional Affairs,










—


having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 22 December 1998 on common guidelines for the quality of drafting of Community legislation (1),










—


having regard to the answers by the Council and the Commission respectively to Written Question P-3977/2010 and E-3981/2010,










—


having regard to Rule 48 of its Rules of Procedure,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (A7-0269/2011),










A.


whereas the Court of Justice has the clear and exclusive competence to rule on the interpretation of Union law, be it primary or secondary,










B.


whereas the Court of Justice has repeatedly confirmed that declarations are not legally binding,










C.


whereas the Council has the duty to inform Parliament fully of its position in the context of legislative procedures (2),










D.


whereas under the Treaty the institutions are required to practise mutual sincere cooperation (3),










E.


whereas unilateral statements by Member States or the Council might adversely affect Parliament’s legislative powers, are damaging to the quality of Union legislation and undermine the principle of legal certainty,










F.


whereas no statement entered in the minutes of meetings of the Council or of the conciliation committee at any stage of the legislative procedure can pre-empt the outcome of negotiations between the two branches of the legislative authority,










1.


Reaffirms that statements and declarations which are not incorporated into a legal text but which concern it, regardless of whether they are issued by one or more Member States, have no legal force and may undermine the coherence of Union law and its clear interpretation;










2.


Insists that unilateral statements must not diminish or compromise the need for all States to observe systematically the discipline of publishing correlation tables, setting out the ways and means EU law is to be transposed into domestic law, in the interests of the efficient and transparent implementation of legislation across the whole of the Union;










3.


Calls for all statements to be notified to Parliament, and with regard to statements by Member States, for them not to be published in series L of the Official Journal of the European Union;










4.


Calls on the Council to forward the minutes of the legislative part of its meetings to Parliament at the same time as to the national parliaments and Member State governments;










5.


Reserves the right to use any lawful means at its disposal should unilateral statements have been deliberately intended to produce legal effects;










6.


Calls on the Council and Commission to enter into negotiations with Parliament, on the basis of Article 295 TFEU, with a view to updating the Joint Declaration on practical arrangements for the codecision procedure (now ordinary legislative procedure) in order to take account of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon and to clearly delimit the scope of unilateral statements;










7.


Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.






(1)  OJ C 73, 17.3.1999, p. 1.

(2)  Article 294 TFEU (at first reading).

(3)  Article 13 TEU.