EP Rules of procedure, rule 136: provisions governing the right of inquiry

The report by Mr FAYOT (PSE, L) was adopted on the basis of the interinstitutional agreement of 20 December 1994 guaranteeing and defining the setting up of temporary committees of inquiry, as provided for in Article 136 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament. The Committee on Rules of Procedure, which was instructed by the President of the European Parliament to adapt Article 136 to the new situation created by the interinstitutional agreement, seized the opportunity to limit the choice to just two types of committee of inquiry: 1) the committee provided for under Article 135 (2) and 2) a committee of inquiry in the proper sense of the term. In addition, the committee responsible for the content of the rules proposed a number of reforms relating to: a) the raison d'Ωtre of the temporary committee, by stating the precise subject of the inquiry (Article 136, amendment to paragraph 3); b) the composition, which should not be overly extensive, but which should include at least one representative from each political group; c) the internal organization: chairman and two vice-chairmen, rapporteurs and specific missions or delegations (Article 136, amendment to paragraph 5); d) rules on the speed and flexibility of work: maximum duration of 12 months (Article 136, amendment to paragraph 4) and flexible procedures, for example by taking more frequent recourse to oral procedures and by a certain indulgence in the use of languages; e) definition of the two recipients of the result of the inquiry: the President of the European Parliament and the European Parliament itself; g) a series of rules to ensure that work is correct, prompt and confidential (Article 136, amendments to paragraphs 8, 9 and 10).�