The European Parliament’s amendment to the Rules of Procedure due to the epidemic situation raises issues regarding rule of law

At today’s plenary session, the European Parliament (EP) has changed the rules of procedure due the emergency situation of the coronavirus epidemic, 10 months after its outbreak. According to the Fidesz-KDNP group in the European Parliament, the adopted amendments raise procedural and substantive problems; the involvement of the EP is in conflict with the Treaties, and therefore, the amendments cannot be supported.

The epidemic situation in the European Parliament and the remote voting used during this situation have raised concerns about the legality of such voting, which our delegation has repeatedly expressed. In the European Union, the bearer of sovereignty is not the European Parliament, but the Member States as lords of the EU Treaties. However, under the amendment to the Rules of Procedure adopted today, the European Parliament confers special powers on the President of the EP and restricts the rights of Members, suggesting that the EP has repeatedly veered from its proper role and responsibilities under the Treaty. 

Furthermore, the Rules of Procedure do not provide for the possibility of amending the rules of procedures by electronic, remote voting, nor do they contain any similar rule. However, the European Parliament has today voted in accordance with the same legally questionable procedure, which was intended to eliminate irregularities in the voting method.

Such an important amendment to the rules of procedures infringes upon the principle of the rule of law based on legal certainty, predictability and the spirit of the Treaties. Therefore, the Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary group did not support the amendment to the Rules of Procedure on the state of emergency.

Background: Due to exceptional circumstances, the European Parliament has been mostly voting remotely since March, with Members being able to vote by remote vote and all MEPs exercising their rights digitally due to the public health situation. However, the Rules of Procedures of the European Parliament, do not allow remote operation, so the Committee on Constitutional Affairs has drafted an amendment to it. The report was adopted by the plenary of the European Parliament on 17 December, but under the same system of remote voting that embodies the problems of legality.