Parliamentary Rules of Procedure - European Parliament - Europa

When selecting a house’s delegation to the concili-
ation committee, there are a number of models. in
the German Federal Republic, the Vermittlungsauss-
chuss is composed of 16 members of the Bundesrat
(one per Land) and an equal number of senior
members of the Bundestag who conduct all such
negotiations and hence become well versed in the
art of negotiation and compromise. conversely, in
the Us congress, House and senate delegations to
the “conference committee” are composed afresh
each time of members involved in the matter and
who voted in favour of their respective house’s
position.
The European Parliament chose the middle ground
of these two models. it provides for three of the
members of the conciliation delegation to be per-
manent members drawn from the Vice Presidents
of the House (who are experts in the process, procedures,
precedents) while the remaining members
the uS Congress
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are drawn predominantly from the parliamentary
committee that has dealt with the issue (and therefore
experts on the subject matter). normally this
includes the chair of the responsible parliamentary
committee and the member who acted as rapporteur
on the subject. The total delegation must
reflect the political balance and composition of the
entire House and its political groups.
it is conceivable that these matters are not set out
in the rules of procedure but rather follow established
practice and custom. However, writing them
into the rules of procedure generates more legal
certainty and transparency for the wider public.
Simplified procedures
Many parliaments have simplified procedures for
consideration of technical/non controversial legislation.
One way to test whether legislation is controversial
is at the committee stage. if the proposal is
approved by consensus (or by a very high majority)
in committee, it can then be fast-tracked through
the plenary stage of proceedings.
The italian Parliament provides for the definitive
adoption by committee if there is a sufficient
majority. in the European Parliament, texts adopted
with fewer than 1/10th of committee members