Members' Research Service By / September 13, 2024

The European Parliament’s new Rules of Procedure: Parliament 2024 reforms [Policy podcast]

Parliament’s competence to establish its own rules of procedure (RoP) is enshrined in Article 232 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and further detailed in Rule 243 (ex 237) of the Rules of Procedure (RoP).

© European Union 2024 - Source : EP / Philippe STIRNWEISS

Written by Rafał Mańko.

The European Parliament’s new Rules of Procedure entered into force on 16 July 2024 – the first day of Parliament’s 10th term. The ‘Parliament 2024’ reforms sought primarily to streamline legislative procedures, enhance budgetary control and improve scrutiny of the Commission.

The reforms have tackled conflicts of committee competences to expedite the attribution of files to committees. To address cases of cross-cutting issues falling within the competence of more than three committees, the Conference of Presidents (CoP) can propose the setting up of a temporary legislative committee, as a last resort. Use of the urgent procedure in plenary is limited to clearly justified cases, but committees will have greater possibilities to adopt reports using simplified or accelerated procedures. There are also new rules on co-rapporteurship that will allow for up to three co-rapporteurs, as an exceptional measure.

All proposals with budgetary implications will undergo a specific budgetary assessment by the Committee on Budgets, to ensure that Parliament uses its legislative and budgetary powers as effectively as possible. In addition, the Budgetary Control Committee will be involved in the consideration of any proposals involving non-traditional (i.e. ‘off-budget’) financial instruments, in anticipation of the discharge procedure.

A new format for ‘special scrutiny hearings’ will enable Parliament ‘to question one or more Commissioners on an issue of major political importance’. The rules for hearings of the Commissioners-designate (renamed ‘confirmation hearings’) have been clarified in time for the hearings of the new set of commissioners-designate scheduled for autumn 2024.

The reforms also affect plenary, with new speaking-time attribution rules and the creation of a new plenary debate format.


Read the complete briefing on ‘The European Parliament’s new Rules of Procedure: Parliament 2024 reforms‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Listen to podcast ‘The European Parliament’s new Rules of Procedure: Parliament 2024 reforms‘ on YouTube.

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.


Related Articles

Comments are closed for this post.

Discover more from Epthinktank

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

EPRS Logo
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.