EP Rules of Procedure, Rule 51: procedures with joint committee meetings with regard to international agreements in the field of international trade, interpretation

The European Parliament decided to append the interpretation of Rules 51 and 192 of its Rules of Procedure (procedure with joint committee meetings, coordinator meetings and the supply of information to non-attached Members).

Rule 51

“This Rule can be applied to the procedure leading to a recommendation to approve or reject the conclusion of an international agreement pursuant to Rules 90(5) and 81(1) provided that the conditions set out in it are fulfilled”.

Rule 192

“Non-attached Members do not constitute a political group within the meaning of Rule 30 and they cannot therefore designate coordinators, who are the only Members entitled to attend coordinator meetings.

The function of coordinator meetings is to prepare committee decisions and they may not replace committee meetings without explicit delegation. Hence ex-ante delegation is required for decisions taken at coordinator meetings. In the absence of such delegation, coordinators may only adopt recommendations requiring formal ex-post approval by the committee.

In all cases, non-attached Members must be guaranteed access to information, in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination, through the supply of information and the presence of a member of the non-attached Members' secretariat at coordinator meetings”.