EU LAW-MAKING: INTER-INSTITUTIONAL LEGISLATIVE QUALITY TALKS ON HOLD.

• Position: European Union

The Conclusions adopted by EU leaders at the June 2002 Summit in Seville called on the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission to adopt an Inter-Institutional Agreement to improve the standard of law-making and the way this is reflected in new legislation. This also applies to the time period (see European Report 2695, same Section). The Inter-Institutional Agreement failed to appear and the Council had to make do without it when the time came, last January, one month late, to adopt the EU's 2003 strategy programme (see European Report 2746). Nor did the Greek Presidency manage to conclude the IIA in time for the March 21 EU Summit, as planned.

The talks are mainly running aground over the reluctance of the Committee of Member States' Permanent Representatives to the EU (COREPER) to countenance the European Parliament's bid to improve transparency. The Council is therefore opposing the multiannual programming of legislative proceedings as well as the disclosure of all the stages of the legislative process, including the conciliation procedure, much to the chagrin of the Parliament. It also spurns any reference to a routine Ministerial attendance during Parliamentary committee meetings. As for the way in which the Parliament should be consulted during the...