| |
|
-
Name of Intern: Tee Yen Yen
-
Country: Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia
- Internship
period: 2 October 2006 – 29 October 2006
Observations and Impressions
- I have observed that
the monitoring of time during a debate or meeting is an important task
simply because the time allocated for each representative to speak is
merely 1-2 minutes notably during plenary and I have observed the EP has
controlled quite well. If the time has been abused, then other
representatives might have no chance to present their report or points and
the whole session will be affected.
- Within the committee I
have observed that all members can debate in a very direct, frank and free
manner without any obstacle on the sensitive issues. Perhaps this is the
reason why the EU can
practise
the
liberalism & democracy effectively even they have to deal with 25
countries from different cultures and languages.
- The European
Parliament have to work within the constraints of multilingualism and
about one third (1/3) of its administrative staff dealt with linguistic
tasks. Many debates held within the parliament and its committees are made
possible with the assistance of simultaneous interpretation into twenty
official languages of the Union. The number of official languages will be
increased from 20 to 21 in line with the enlargement of EU and the
concrete needs of the users.
- The workflow on how
the EP passed laws (co-decision between EP and the Council) :
-
Commission propose a legislative text
-
EP
usually suggests changes to the commission’s proposal in the form of
amendments (1st reading).
-
Council
either approves Parliament’s amendments or modifies them by adopting a
common position
-
On the
basis of a recommendation by the relevant standing committee, the EP
delivers an opinion at second reading: approves, rejects or amends the
Council position by an absolute majority of its members
-
Commission takes account of EP’s amendments & forwards an amended proposal
to the Council. The Council can adopt the amendments by a qualified
majority or, modify only by a unanimous vote.
-
If the
vast majority of two parties reach an agreement, EP is invited to confirm
the agreement at the 3rd reading. If no agreement is reached,
the proposal for a Community legislation is deemed not to have been
adopted (lapses).
- The comic published by
the ALDE in Oct 2006 - ‘Operation Red Dragon’ offered the knowledge on how
the case or petition raised can be finally proposed to the EP for
decision. It is very informative comic and readers can easily understand
the roles of EP in a simple and effective manner.
|
|
