Comitology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Comitology is the study of comity: the informal and voluntary recognition by courts of one jurisdiction of the laws and judicial decisions of another. In the European Union it refers to the committee system which oversees the acts implemented by the European Commission.
The committees, which are forums for discussion, are made up of representatives from EU member states and are chaired by the Commission. They ensure that the Commission is able to establish a dialogue with national administrations before implementing measures. The Commission ensures that they reflect, as far as possible, the situation in each country in question.
The procedures that determine the relationship between the Commission and the committees are based on a Council of the European Union decision from June 28, 1999. on procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (1999/468/EC ; OJ L 184/23 of 17.7.1999) ("the Comitology Decision").
In Article 7 paragraph 5 of that Decision it is stipulated that references of the documents transmitted are made available to the public.
The Commission was therefore obliged to create register of Comitology documents which covers transmitted documents since 1st of January 2003 which have not been sent to the European Parliament.
The Commission has also added - following a unilateral political commitment - a web-based repository to the register which enables the user to get direct access to certain documents which also contains a link for requesting the document, if is not made public in the repository (in accordance with the rules of the Regulation No. 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 (OJ L 145/43 of 31.5.2001)).
The register in general contains in general the following types of documents :
- agendas of committee meetings,
- draft implementing measures,
- summary records of committee meetings,
- voting results of opinions delivered by a committee.
In 2006 an amendment was made to the 1999 Comitology Decision, after concern that there was a substantial democratic deficit in the process of comitology due to the almost non-existent part played by the European Parliament (which is the most democratic of the institutions within the EU). Council Decision 2006/512/EC set up a new procedure which could be used in delegated decision-making. It introduced the Regulatory Procedure with Scrutiny which could be used on non-essential elements of a basic instrument which was adopted under the co-decision procedure (a primary legislative procedure). Essentially it gives the European Parliament an opportunity to oppose and block proposals if it exceeds the implementing powers given by the primary legislation, it's incompatible with the aim or content of the primary instrument, or if it is in conflict with the central principles of subsidiarity or proportionality. By giving the European Parliament a greater say in delegated decision-making it has helped to reduce the democratic deficit within the EU.
[edit] Transparency of Council working groups
What has been achieved for the Committees of the Commission is not reached for the Council yet.
The drafting of the EU Constitution allowed for an opportunity to make the Council of the European Union more transparent.
While the Constitution treaty orders that all official Council meetings discussing new EU laws, have to be public, this has already been decided at European Council of Seville, so in reality, the Constitution fails to seek for any improvement.
This means that the Constitution Treaty which has been signed in Rome but which failed in the ratification process will not have bring more transparency to the hundreds of law-making committees which prepare decisions to the point of adoption. It fails to give citizens a real insight into how their laws are decided in these committee which adopt or prepare 85% of all EU-laws.
The previous European Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman, has proposed a transparency and administrative reform. The European Parliament has proposed that all meetings and documents be open unless a ⅔ majority decide otherwise.
This proposal has assembled support from 200 members and substitute members of the Convention, including all the members of the national parliaments, but it was still not inserted into the EU Constitution by the Praesidium.
See also: Transparency (humanities), Political corruption
