INTERVIEW WITH MEP ISABELLE THOMAS (S&D, FRANCE) : 'PARLIAMENT IS BECOMING AWARE OF ITS NEW POWERS'.

Implementation of the new rules introduced by the TFEU has obliged each institution to get its bearings, sometimes with difficulty

One of the distinguishing features of the legislature drawing to a close has been the adjustment to the new rules established by the Lisbon Treaty (TFEU). The European Parliament acquired new powers that, in some cases, it is still managing hesitantly. Isabelle Thomas (S&D, France), rapporteur for the Committee on Fisheries (PECH) on compliance with the TFEU of the fisheries control regulation, assessed this exercise for Europolitics.

How do you rate implementation of the TFEU?

The near-universal application of co-decision is something of a revolution because it makes Parliament a veritable co-legislator. But it is only slowly measuring the extent of its powers. There was not an abrupt change but there has been more of a slowly growing awareness and Parliament has made little use of its possibility to stop the process. We saw it used with the report on ACTA {Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement - Ed], where it rejected the...