The European Parliament (EP) is trying to win new powers within the European Union, including the ability to force individual members of the European Commission to step down while in office, dpa cited an internal document as revealing today. The EU's parliament and commission are negotiating a so-called "inter-institutional agreement" to regulate their relationship for the current legislative term, due to expire in 2014. According to a draft text obtained by the German News Agency, dpa, "if parliament asks the commission president to withdraw confidence in an individual member of the commission, he will seriously consider whether he should request that member to resign (...) or explain his refusal to do so." The document shows how members of parliament (MEPs) are keen to flex their muscles after receiving new powers from the Lisbon Treaty, which reformed the EU's internal operations in December. So far, parliament has proved capable of exercising de-facto veto powers on individual commissioners only before they are nominated. The threat to issue a no-confidence vote on the entire EU executive due to take office in February, for example, proved sufficient to induce Bulgaria's Rumiana Jeleva to step down last week. In 1999 MEPs tried to force France's Edith Cresson to resign, after she was accused of financial improprieties. She refused, and the entire team headed by Luxembourg's Jacques Santer chose to step down collectively to avoid a no-confidence vote in the assembly. Now MEPs are set on increasing their capacity to force a mid-term resignation. Though the mechanism foreseen by the inter-institutional agreement will not give them a legal right to obtain one, it is hard to imagine a commissioner holding on to his seat with parliament openly gunning for him. The agreement seeks to extend the legislature's influence in a number of other areas. The commission is asked to guarantee "equal treatment" between MEPs and the EU council, the institution where national governments sit; the parliament's president is to be invited to some meetings of the college of commissioners; the EU executive is to present laws based on parliament's suggestions within one year, or otherwise it is expected to explain its refusal in front of MEPs.
