JURI Report At the meeting of 13-14 June 2016

The June 2016 meeting of the Committee on Legal Affairs will bring the much-awaited

structured dialogue with the Commission. The meeting will open on 13 June with an

exchange of views with Commissioner responsible for justice, Vera Jourová, followed by the

presentation of an in-depth analysis of cross-border restitution claims for looted art. Sergio

Gaetano Cofferati will then report back to the committee on the interinstitutional negotiations

on the proposed shareholders’ rights directive. Later, Jean-Marie Cavada will present, on

behalf of the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights and Copyright Reform, the

working document on copyright reform. There will also be reports to the committee on the

mission to Georgia in March 2016 and on the negotiations on the implementation of the

interinstitutional agreement on better law-making. The session will conclude with the

consideration in camera of a number of immunity cases.

The public part of the meeting, on the morning of 14 June, will commence with the

presentation of the draft legislative initiative report by Tadeusz Zwiefka on cross-border

aspects of adoptions, which includes a proposal for legislation on the recognition of

adoptions. The votes, at 10 a.m., will include votes on the two regulations on the property

rights of international couples, for which Jean-Marie Cavada is rapporteur. After the

presentation of the draft report by Kostas Chrysogonos draft report on liability for offshore oil

and gas operations, the committee will hold a workshop on the future of European company

law.

In the afternoon of 14 June, in the first place the Commission will briefly present the results of

the public consultation on non-binding guidelines on disclosure of non-financial information

by certain large companies. The committee will then, together with the Delegation to the

EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, hold a hearing on the reform of the

judiciary in Ukraine.

Finally, on 15 June, from 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., the Committee will hold a workshop on

common minimum standards of civil procedure in the EU.

____________________________________________________________________________

Hearing on the Reform of the Judiciary in

Ukraine, on 14.06.2016

The Committee on Legal Affairs will hold a public hearing

on the Reform of the Judiciary in Ukraine on 14 June 2016,

at 15.30-18.30 in JAN 6Q2 in association with the

Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association

Committee. Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová will make

introductory remarks at the event, which will bring together

Ukrainian civil society representatives and public leaders,

including Deputy Speaker Oksana Syroid, Justice Minister

Pavlo Petrenko and Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko. In

addition to the overall topic of reforming the judiciary and

the fight against corruption, the hearing will focus on

recent constitutional amendments and the reform of the

prosecution service in the Ukraine. The hearing will be

webstreamed.

ISSUE 23

JUNE 2016

NEXT MEETING

11-12 JULY 2016

JURI Website

EPRS

LATEST ANALYSES

The Evidentiary Effects of Authentic Acts in the Member States of the

European Union, in the Context of Successions

Cross Border Acquisitions of

Residential Property in

the EU: Problems Encountered by Citizens

Cross-Border Restitution Claims of Art Looted in Armed Conflicts and

Wars

Cross-border Placement of Children in the European Union

Adoption: Cross-Border Legal Issues

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment

Partnership (TTIP): The Sluggish State of

Negotiations

_________________________________________________________________________________

2

UPCOMING EVENTS

Workshop ‘The Future of European Company Law’, on 14.06.2016

This workshop, organised by the Policy Department for Citizens’

Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee,

will host two independent external experts, Vanessa Knapp OBE

(Order of the British Empire) and Professor Jessica Schmidt. They will

come to Brussels to engage with MEPs in the workshop ‘The Future of

European Company Law’, and will contribute by presenting their

briefing papers. The issues of this workshop will be twofold:

Vanessa Knapp (UK), a member of the Commission’s expert group on

company law, will speak on ‘Issues relating to digitalisation in

company law’, and more specifically on the many ways in which

companies can benefit from greater use of modern communication

tools.

Professor Jessica Schmidt (Germany), an outstanding academic

specialising in corporate governance from Bayreuth University, will

speak in the second contribution, ‘The Future of European Company

Law’, on questions concerning cross-border operations such as

mergers, transfer of seat and division She will examine the issues of

how far the European legislation is sufficient and whether and to what

extent the European legislator should act. The event will be webstreamed.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Workshop on Common minimum standards of civil procedure, on 15.6.2016

On 15 June 2016, the Committee on Legal Affairs will hold a

workshop on common minimum standards of civil procedure in the

EU. This workshop relates to the legislative initiative report

(rapporteur: Emil Radev) on the same topic (2015/2084 (INL)). Civil

procedure provides the means for the enforcement of the

substantive rights and duties of legal subjects in legal proceedings.

As such, it is inextricably linked with the fundamental right to a fair

trial and effective remedy guaranteed under the Charter of

Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Article 47 CFREU) and

the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 6 ECHR).

European citizens, especially those who move across borders, are

now far more likely to come into contact with the civil procedure of

another Member State. As part of the move towards a European Area

of Justice based on mutual trust, common standards of civil

procedure now seem indispensable. Against this background, this

workshop will bring together Members of the European Parliament

and a number of experts, practitioners, academics and stakeholders with a view to discussing the question of the

convergence of civil procedure in Europe through the creation of minimum standards in EU law.

The workshop is organised by DG IPOL's Policy Department C from 09.00 to 12.30 in room ASP 1G2 at the European

Parliament in Brussels. The event will be webstreamed.

________________________________________________________________________________

3

VOTE

Compétence, loi applicable, reconnaissance et exécution des décisions en matière

de régimes matrimoniaux et d'effets patrimoniaux des partenariats enregistrés

Lors de cette réunion, la commission

votera sur les projets de rapport de

Jean-Marie Cavada et sur les

amendements y afférents, qui sont

relativement peu nombreux.

Les propositions de règlements du

Conseil relatifs à la compétence, à la loi

applicable, à la reconnaissance et à

l'exécution des décisions en matière de

régimes matrimoniaux et d'effets

patrimoniaux des partenariats enregistrés

sont les deuxièmes en la matière. Après

le blocage des négociations entre États

membres – tout accord devant être unanime en matière de droit de la famille –, cette proposition revient

au Parlement sous la forme d'une coopération renforcée.

La proposition de règlement de 2016 n'est pas identique à la proposition initiale de la Commission de

2011 – au contraire, elle intègre de nombreuses modifications proposées par le Parlement en 2013 et

correspond ainsi au texte auquel 23 États membres étaient prêts à donner leur accord fin 2015.

Le règlement sera un instrument très utile pour les couples

internationaux au sein de l'Union européenne. Il couvre, en matière de

régimes matrimoniaux, la compétence et la loi applicable, ainsi que la

reconnaissance et l'exécution de décisions. Toutefois, il exclut de son

domaine, notamment, les questions concernant la capacité des époux,

l’existence, la validité ou la reconnaissance d’un mariage, les

obligations alimentaires et la succession du conjoint décédé.

L'autonomie des État membres en matière de droit de la famille semble

donc sauvegardée. Le règlement n'affecte pas, non plus, le fond du

droit des États membres sur les régimes matrimoniaux. En matière

d'effets patrimoniaux des partenariats enregistrés, la proposition

reprend largement les mêmes règles que pour les régimes

matrimoniaux, avec les modifications qui s'imposent. Les demandes du

Parlement ont donc été entendues.

Le rapporteur retient que ces propositions de règlements sur les régimes matrimoniaux et les effets

patrimoniaux des partenariats enregistrés sont clairement dans l'intérêt de l'Union et de ses couples

internationaux. Elles permettront de mettre fin à de nombreux cas de confusion et de difficulté juridique.

Les propositions actuelles ont intégré une bonne partie des amendements proposés précédemment par le

Parlement. Le rapporteur propose donc que le Parlement donne un avis favorable sur ces propositions.

Procédure: 2016/0059(CNS),

2016/0060(CNS)

Documents de base:

COM(2016)0106,

COM(2016)0107

Base juridique: Article 81(3)

TFUE

Rapporteur: Jean-Marie Cavada

Administrateur: Alexander Keys

Agenda prévisionnel

Adoption JURI: 14.06.2016

Adoption PLÉNIÈRE: 23.06.2016

_________________________________________________________________________________

4

CONSIDERATION OF DRAFT REPORT

Liability, compensation and financial security for offshore and gas operations

According to Article 39 of Directive 2013/30/EU (the ‘Offshore

Safety Directive’), the Commission is required to submit reports

on:

a) the availability of financial security instruments, and on the

handling of compensation claims, accompanied, where

appropriate, by proposals;

b) its assessment of the effectiveness of the liability regimes in

the Union in respect of the damage caused by offshore oil and

gas operations and of the appropriateness of broadening

liability provisions, accompanied, where appropriate, by

proposals;

c) its findings regarding the appropriateness of bringing certain conduct leading to a major accident within the

scope of Directive 2008/99/EC on the protection of the environment through criminal law, accompanied, where

appropriate, by legislative proposals, subject to appropriate information being made available by Member States.

The Commission published its findings on all the above aspects in a single report on 14 September 2015 (Report

from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on liability, compensation and financial security

for offshore and gas operations pursuant to Article 39 of Directive 2013/30/EU - COM(2015)0422).

The Offshore Safety Directive defines the elements of a comprehensive EU-wide framework for preventing major

accidents and limiting their consequences. As regards liability for offshore accidents and their consequences, this is

vested unequivocally with offshore licensees, i.e. the individual or joint holders of authorisations for oil/gas

prospection, exploration, and/or production operations issued in accordance with Directive 94/22/EC. It also makes

the licensees strictly liable for any environmental damage resulting from their operations.

The following dilemmas in relation to offshore oil and gas are of particular importance: who is liable for what kinds

of damage and loss and to whom; how to ensure liable parties’ sufficient financial capacity to provide rightful

compensation for the damage and loss for which they are liable; and how to disburse compensation so as to reach

legitimate claimants quickly, while minimising the risks of cascading impacts on the broader economy.

The publication of the above Commission report in accordance with Article 39 of

the Offshore Safety Directive has thus offered the Committee on Legal Affairs

and its rapporteur, Kostas Chrysogonos, a timely opportunity to make concrete

recommendations for the reinforcement of liability for damage from offshore

accidents in oil and gas prospection, exploration and production in the EU.

At this meeting, the rapporteur, Mr Chrysogonos, will present his draft report on

‘liability, compensation and financial security for offshore oil and gas operations’.

The draft report focuses on the importance of updating existing liability systems

in the Member States to ensure the application of the polluter-pays principle not

only to environmental but also traditional damages, be they bodily injuries,

property damages or economic losses – consequential or pure. The rapporteur is

of the opinion that an incident in European waters should not adversely affect

the future of the offshore oil and gas operations of the state in question, nor that

of the entire EU - were the incident to occur in an area that was largely

dependent on tourism for revenue - and that, therefore, compensation and

financial security systems for offshore oil and gas operations in the EU should be

brought up to speed.

Procedure: 2015/2352(INI)

Basic doc: COM(2015)0422

Legal basis: Rule 52 RoP

Rapporteur: Kostas

Chrysogonos

Administrator: Zampia

Vernadaki

Opinion giving committee:

ENVI, ITRE

Preliminary Timetable

Draft Report: 14.06.2016

Deadline for amendments:

21.06.2016

Adoption JURI: 26.09.2016

________________________________________________________________________________

5

REPORT BACK TO COMMITTEE

Interpretation and implementation of the interinstitutional agreement on better

law-making

On 13 April 2016 the European Parliament, the Council and the

Commission signed a new interinstitutional agreement (IIA) on better

law-making. The Committee on Legal Affairs and the Committee on

Constitutional Affairs have, therefore, decided to create a joint Working

Group (WG) on the interpretation and implementation of the IIA with a

view to preparing an own-initiative report on the same topic.

Rapporteurs on the latter are Pavel Svoboda, for the Committee on

Legal Affairs, and Richard Corbett, for the Committee on Constitutional

Affairs.

On 10 May 2016, the WG held its constituent meeting, during which it also adopted its mission statement and an

indicative timetable, and held an exchange of views with Deputy Secretary-General Francesca Ratti, who is in charge

of Parliament’s Task Force on the implementation of the IIA on

Better Law-Making.

On 7 June 2016, the WG held its second meeting. In particular, it

discussed the possible arrangements for implementing the IIA

provisions on programming and verification of legal bases, and

considered the changes to the Rules of Procedure which may be

necessary following the entry into force of the IIA. These issues were

discussed in the presence of Jerzy Buzek, Chair of the Conference of

Committee Chairs, and Rainer Wieland, Chair of the AFCO Working

Group ‘Revisiting the Rules of Procedure’, who also contributed to

the exchange of views.

At this meeting, the Rapporteur for the Committee on Legal Affairs

will report back to the Committee.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Amendment to Directive 2007/36/EC as regards the encouragement of long-term

shareholder engagement and to Directive 2013/34/EU as regards certain elements of the

corporate governance statement

On 8 July 2015 Parliament adopted its position at first reading on the proposal for a Directive amending

Directive 2007/36/EC as regards the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement and Directive

2013/34/EU as regards certain elements of the corporate governance statement, commonly known as the

Shareholder's Rights Directive (SHRD). The proposal aims primarily at (i) improving engagement of institutional

investors and asset managers; (ii) strengthening the link between pay and performance of directors; (iii)

improving shareholder oversight on related party transactions; (iv) enhancing transparency of proxy advisors;

and (v) facilitating the exercise of rights flowing from securities for investors. Negotiations between the

institutions to find an agreement on the final text of the directive are ongoing. At this meeting the Rapporteur

for the file, Mr Sergio Cofferati, will report back to committee on the results of the second trilogue, which took

place on 30 May 2016.

Procedure: 2016/2018(INI)

Basic doc: Interinstitutional Agreement

of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making

Legal basis: Rules 52 and 55 RoP

Rapporteur: Pavel Svoboda (JURI),

Richard Corbett (AFCO)

Administrator: Andrea Scrimali (JURI),

Annemieke Beugelink (AFCO)

Opinion giving committee: INTA,

EMPL, ENVI, PETI

_________________________________________________________________________________

6

PRESENTATION OF DRAFT REPORT

Cross-border aspects of adoptions At this meeting, the rapporteur, Tadeusz Zwiefka, will present his draft report on cross-border aspects of adoptions.

The draft report contains a general section covering a number of aspects of adoption law. The specific request for

legislative action, including a draft regulation, only concerns the cross-border recognition of adoption orders issued

in a Member State.

The committee held a workshop on ‘Adoption: Cross-border Legal Issues’

on 1 December 2015. The outcome of that workshop was, inter alia, that

there could be a need for a European instrument on the recognition of

domestic adoptions. International adoptions are regulated by the 1993

Hague Convention, but there are no instruments allowing for the

automatic recognition of a purely domestic adoption in another Member

State, for example where a family moves to another Member State after

an adoption. Failure to recognise such adoptions can lead both to legal

problems, requiring lengthy recognition or re-adoption procedures, and

to practical problems in the child’s life, concerning for example consent

for medical procedures or school enrolment.

At this meeting, DG EPRS will also present a European Added Value Assessment on the need for legislation on the

recognition of adoptions.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

EXCHANGE OF VIEWS

Commissioners’ declarations of interests Under point 1(a) of Annex XVI to the Rules of Procedure (Guidelines for the approval of the Commission), the

declarations of interests of the Commissioners-designate must be sent for scrutiny to the committee responsible for

legal affairs. An interpretation appended to this provision clarifies that this scrutiny consists not only in verifying that

the declaration has been duly completed but also in assessing whether a conflict of interests may be inferred from

the content of the declaration. It is then for the committee responsible for the hearing to decide whether or not it

requires further information from the Commissioner-designate.

In its resolution of 8 September 2015 on procedures and practices

regarding Commissioner hearings, lessons to be taken from the

2014 process (2015/2040(INI)), Parliament considered that

‘confirmation by the Committee on Legal Affairs of the absence of

any conflict of interests, based on a substantive analysis of the

declarations of financial interests, constitutes an essential

precondition for the holding of the hearing by the committee

responsible’ (para 4). As a consequence, the Committee on Legal

Affairs was invited to ‘issue guidelines in the form of a

recommendation or initiative report, with a view to facilitating

reform of the procedures relating to Commissioners’ declarations

of interests’ (para 13).

At this meeting a first exchange of views will take place.

Procedure: 2016/2080 (INI)

Basic doc: EP resolution of 08.09.2015 on

procedures and practices regarding

Commissioner hearings, lessons to be taken

from the 2014 process (2015/2040(INI))

Legal basis: Rule 52 RoP

Rapporteur: Pascal Durand

Administrator: Andrea Scrimali

Opinion giving committee: CONT

Preliminary Timetable

Exchange of views: 13-14.06.2016

Procedure: 2015/2086(INL)

Legal basis: Article 225 TFEU

Rapporteur: Tadeusz Zwiefka

Administrator: Alexander Keys

Opinion giving committee: PETI

Preliminary Timetable

Draft report: 14.06.2016

Deadline for amendments:

30.06.2016

________________________________________________________________________________

7

PRESENTATION OF DRAFT OPINION

Recognition of professional qualifications in inland navigation The proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the recognition of professional

qualifications in inland navigation covers both freight and passenger transport by inland waterway, but not private

transport and recreational craft. It applies to the entire EU inland navigation network, albeit with possible exceptions

for inland waterways with no cross-border traffic.

The European inland waterway system is used to transport goods and passengers on canals, waterways, rivers, lakes,

etc. The network has a total length of roughly 41 000 km and links 12 Member States. The carriage of goods by

interconnected European inland waterways accounts for more than 140 billion tonne-kilometres of freight transport

in the EU (Eurostat 2011).

Inland waterway transport also fully meets the requirements of the three pillars of sustainable development. In terms

of cost, inland waterway transport is competitive with road transport. In environmental terms, it combines fuel

economy with low greenhouse gas emissions, thereby helping to contain global warming. Lastly, in terms of social

costs and benefits, it is a safe form of transport with a low accident rate and high growth potential, offering major

job creation prospects, in particular in port areas. For all these reasons, steps should be taken to encourage the

development of this alternative mode of transport.

This, indeed, is the aim of the proposal for a directive, which seeks, by

means of the recognition of qualifications, to raise the profile of a

profession which at present is characterised by a lack of mobility and

personnel shortages in many Member States.

Workers currently face problems in securing mutual recognition of

professional qualifications and overcoming unnecessary barriers, for

example in the form of specific local knowledge requirements. In the

light of this, moves to introduce minimum requirements concerning

the qualifications of boat operators and boat commanders appear

justified.

Your rapporteur supports the proposal for a directive, albeit with a

number of amendments.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Presentation of the study ‘Cross-border restitution

claims of art looted in armed conflicts and wars and

alternatives to court litigations’

A study entitled ‘Cross-border restitution claims of art looted

in armed conflicts and wars and alternatives to court

litigations’ will be presented by Professor Marc-André

Renold of the University of Geneva, Director of that

university’s Art-Law Centre and holder of the UNESCO Chair

in International Cultural Heritage Law there. This study,

which was commissioned by the Policy Department for

Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of

JURI, examines the legal difficulties related to restitution

claims relating to art looted during past and present armed

conflicts, and proposes policy recommendations to achieve

just and fair solutions.

Procedure: 2016/0050(COD)

Basic doc: COM(2016)0082

Legal basis: Article 91(1) TFEU

Rapporteur: Joëlle Bergeron

Administrator: Alexander Keys

Preliminary Timetable

Draft opinion: 13.06.2016

Deadline for amendments: 16.06.2016

Adoption JURI (possibly): 12.07.2016

_________________________________________________________________________________

8

CONSIDERATION OF AMENDMENTS

Monitoring the application of Union law - 2014 Annual Report

Members have tabled 63 amendments to the draft report by Heidi Hautala on ‘Monitoring the application of Union

law - 2014 Annual Report’. The Commission’s 32nd Annual Report on Monitoring the Application of EU Law shows

that the environment, transport and the internal market and services remained the policy areas in which the most

infringement cases were open in 2014. It also states that the number of formal infringement procedures has

decreased as a result of the effectiveness of the informal ‘EU pilot procedure’. However, in her draft report the

rapporteur points out that on the basis of the limited access to information that Parliament still has with regard to

the EU pilot procedure and pending cases, it is difficult to evaluate to what extent the reduction in formal

infringement procedures actually reflects better compliance with EU law by Member States, rather than compromise

solutions between the Commission and infringing Member States. The draft report emphasises, further, that effective

application of EU law is essential if the Union is to meet its policy objectives, and that ultimately it is a question of

respecting the principle of the rule of law. The rapporteur considers that a regulation on the administrative

procedure of the Union’s own administration would be both useful and

feasible to enact. She also believes that Parliament could and should

play a more structured role in analysing legal developments in

accession countries and countries with association agreements, and in

developing appropriate support in this respect for those countries.

While Member States are responsible for the transposition of directives

and the correct application of EU law, it follows from Article 22 TEU that

the Commission has the responsibility for monitoring whether Member

States’ laws and their practical application complies with the EU

legislation. For this purpose, Articles 258 and 260 TFEU empower the

Commission, if necessary, to bring actions before the Court of Justice

against a Member State on grounds of infringement. Parliament, in

turn, has both a responsibility to politically ‘monitor the monitoring’ of

the Commission, and an interest in ensuring that the legislation it

adopts actually becomes reality in the Member States.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Presentation by the Commission of the results of the public consultation on non-binding

guidelines On 15 January 2016 the Commission launched a public

consultation on non-binding guidelines on methodology for

reporting non-financial information, in line with Directive

2014/95/EU on disclosure of non-financial and diversity

information by certain large undertakings and groups. The

consultation closed on 15 April 2016. Its purpose was to collect

views from stakeholders to feed into the Commission’s

upcoming guidelines. The guidelines will assist companies in the

reporting process, providing them with a methodology that will

facilitate the disclosure of relevant, useful and comparable non-financial information. At this meeting, the

Commission will briefly present the results of the consultation, and an exchange of views will follow.

Procedure: 2015/2326(INI)

Basic doc: COM(2015)0329

Legal basis: Rule 52

Rapporteur: Heidi Hautala

Administrator: Kjell Sevón

Opinion giving committee:

ECON, EMPL, PETI, AFCO

Preliminary Timetable

Consideration of amendments:

13.06.2016

Adoption JURI: 12.07.2016

Adoption PLENARY: 12-15.09.2016

________________________________________________________________________________

9

Presentation of working document on copyright reform

At this meeting, Jean-Marie Cavada, coordinator of the

Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights and

Copyright Reform, will present a working document,

prepared by the project team (composed of staff from

the administration and political advisors) and revised

and endorsed by the members of the working group.

The working document concludes the first year of

meetings that have been organised once a month by

the working group, and aims to summarise the main

points raised in the discussions. The sources used are

therefore deliberately limited to the aspects that were

raised at the meetings. In addition, the working

document does not aim to reproduce the academic studies that were carried out under the auspices of the

previous Working Group on Copyright.

Although it is true that the scope of the working group’s activities includes all intellectual property rights issues and

therefore goes beyond copyright alone, the group decided to start by focusing on copyright, given the importance

of the expected reform of the EU legal framework in this area. The working document accordingly focuses on

copyright reform.

The working document presents the topics that have been recurrent throughout the meetings:

remuneration/compensation of authors and creators, territoriality, territorial licencing and geo-blocking, copyright

enforcement in the digital environment, exceptions and limitations, liability of internet service providers, and legal

basis of EU copyright legislation. For each topic, mention is made of the main challenges and the solutions

proposed, either by stakeholders or by the academics invited. The document also underlines the issues that are still

under consideration and that would require further analysis by the working group. A section entitled ‘Other topics’

indicates those areas that have not been extensively addressed and that could be further examined, such as the

situation of linguistic minorities or private copying levies.

Background

The Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights and Copyright Reform was set up by the Committee on Legal

Affairs in autumn 2014 after the new Parliament took office, with the aim of carrying on the work undertaken by the

Working Group on Copyright set up under the previous legislatures.

The idea was to stimulate the reflection of Members on IPR issues, facilitating specific information, providing

exchanges of views with the widest possible range of stakeholders having an interest in the matter, and enabling

Members to engage in in-depth examination of the challenges and prospects at stake.

Since December 2014, the Working Group has organised 15 meetings in the form of hearings, at which all classes of

stakeholder have had the opportunity to express their views. 69 persons have been heard so far. Those heard have

included authors, creators, performers’ representatives, rightholders’ representatives, academics, legal practitioners

and researchers, libraries, research institutes and public bodies, internet service providers, representatives of online

platforms and other internet actors, and consumers’ associations, as well as EU institutions and agencies.

In order to have more open discussions, the members of the working group decided not to open the meetings to

the public, but to inform the general public via a dedicated web page on which all relevant information and

documents (agendas, minutes, presentations, etc) are published and freely accessible.

_________________________________________________________________________________

10

PAST EVENTS

Joint IMCO-JURI Public Hearing on Contractual relations and Consumer Remedies in the

Digital Sphere, on 24.05.2016

________________________________________________________________________________

11

E-justice/E-codex Conference - 19-20 May 2016, Amsterdam

On 19 and 20 May 2016, a conference on

e-Justice/e-CODEX was held in

Amsterdam, on the initiative of the

Netherlands Presidency of the Council.

The conference marked the end of the

e-CODEX project, the large-scale project

on pan-European interoperability for the

domain of Justice. This event has also

signalled the transition of e-CODEX from

a pilot scheme into a structured

mechanism for extending interoperability

among legal and judicial authorities in

Europe.

Another important topic of the conference was the relation

between technology and the rule of law on the one hand,

and the serving of citizens and businesses in accessing

Justice on the other.

Present at the event were the Ministers of Justice of the

Netherlands and Germany, the Commissioner responsible

for justice, representatives of the legal professions and the

wider community of e-Justice, and the vice-chair of the

Committee on Legal Affairs, Mady Delvaux.

In her speech, Ms Delvaux emphasised the vital importance

of an effective judicial system, for the citizens and also for a

sustainable and well-functioning economy. Using a

high-profile JURI file, namely the European Small Claims

Procedure, as a showcase to exemplify the committee’s

interest and involvement in e-justice, she raised the issue of

gaps in the dissemination of information on available tools

and simplified processes even among legal professionals, as

well as the need for European judicial training at national

and EU level.

Last but not least, Ms Delvaux stressed that

e-justice and modern technologies bring to

the fore the ever-present issue of mutual

trust between the legal systems of the EU

Member States.

The programme of the event can be found

here.

_________________________________________________________________________________

12

JURI visit to Tbilisi, Georgia, on 29 March – 1 April, 2016

A delegation of the Committee on

Legal Affairs visited Georgia on 29

March – 1 April 2016 to meet with

public and private interlocutors

with the goal of creating better

links and relations in view of

JURI's responsibility for judicial

cooperation in civil matters and

to acquire more knowledge

regarding the judicial reform that

Georgia is currently

implementing.

The Members with Giorgi Kvirikashvili, the Prime Minister of Georgia

Following introductory meetings with Mr Janos Herman, Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia

and Mr Kestutis Jankauskas, the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission to Georgia, the delegation met with

Mr David Usupashvili, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament, and Mr. Ucha Nannuashvili, Public Defender

of Georgia.

The JURI delegation then engaged

in a round table with civil society

organisations, including the

Georgian Young Lawyers

Association, Eastern Partnership -

Georgian National Platform,

Transparency International and

Liberal Academy NGO, and ended

the first day of the visit with a

working dinner hosted by Mr Victor

Dolidze, Co-President of the

EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly.

Meeting at the European Union Monitoring Mission to Georgia

The second day of the mission started with a meeting with Mr David Bakradze, the Leader of the

Parliamentary Minority, following which Members were received by the Chairperson of the Supreme Court

of Georgia, Mr Nino Gvenetadze and by the President of the Constitutional Court, Mr George Papuashvili.

Following a working lunch with Mr Gigi Gigiadze,

the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the

afternoon of the second day Members held

meetings with the Prime Minister of Georgia, Mr

Giorgi Kvirikashvili and the Minister of Justice, Mrs

Tea Tsulukiani. The delegation then ended the

mission with a working dinner hosted by Mr David

Bakradze, State Minister of Georgia on European

and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

At this meeting, the Members of the delegation, Mr

Svoboda and Mrs Hautala, will report back to the

committee on the outcome of the discussions at the

meetings held in Georgia.

________________________________________________________________________________

13

SCRUTINY OF DELEGATED ACTS AND IMPLEMENTING MEASURES

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU)

.../... of 19.05.2016 supplementing

Directive 2004/109/EC of the European

Parliament and of the Council with regard

to regulatory technical standards on access

to regulated information at Union level

Directive 2013/50/EU has amended the

Transparency Directive (2004/109/EC) so that

it calls for the development and operation of

a European Electronic Access Point (EEAP) for

regulated information under the Transparency

Directive by the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA).

The amending directive (2013/50/EU) also requires ESMA to develop draft regulatory technical standards

setting technical requirements regarding access to regulated information at Union level. The

accompanying text sets out those draft regulatory technical standards.

The Transparency Directive required the creation of one Officially Appointed Mechanism (OAM), to be

responsible for the central storage of regulated information in each Member State. This requirement has

already been implemented at the level of the Member States.

In order to promote cross-border investment and provide investors with easy access to regulated

information, Article 21a of the Transparency Directive requires ESMA to develop and operate a web portal

serving as a European Electronic Access Point, starting from 1 January 2018. The requirement implies an

interconnection system formed by ‘the portal serving as the EEAP’ on the one hand, and the OAMs on the

other. Consequently, the EEAP is not meant to replace the storage function of the existing OAMs, but,

rather, to provide a centralised access to the information already stored at national level.

The infrastructure proposed by ESMA following the consultation process is intended to provide end-users

with a two-step access to regulated information, so that end-users have, in a first step, the possibility to

access the search facility on the EEAP website (by issuer and by type of regulated information), and, in a

second step, access to the documents containing regulated information through hyperlinks to the specific

regulated information stored at the OAM level.

The proposed EEAP system will allow easier cross-border access to regulated information, reduce search

time and, potentially, cut the costs of access to information. Thus, investors will obtain search results faster

as they will no longer have to search through 28 different OAMs, going straight to a single entry point

instead. As the information exchanged between the EEAP and the OAMs will only relate to the metadata

necessary to identify the issuer and the type of information required, the system will retrieve the

information in a faster manner without incurring unnecessary costs for the storage of regulated

information.

The power to adopt the regulatory technical standards is delegated to the Commission in accordance with

Articles 10 to 14 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010.

The rapporteur is of the view that no objection should be raised to the delegated act in question.

_________________________________________________________________________________

14

Commission implementing decision of XXX amending Decision 2008/961/EC on the use by third

countries’ issuers of securities of certain third country's national accounting standards and

International Financial Reporting Standards to prepare their consolidated financial statements

The Commission intends to extend the temporary recognition of Indian Generally Accepted Accounting

Principles (GAAP) as equivalent to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) until 31 March 2016.

In order to introduce this extension (retroactively), the Commission has prepared a package o f delegated

and implementing acts. The implementing act in question is the latest one.

The package was accompanied by a Commission staff working paper that provides an update on the

progress of the authorities of India towards convergence with IFRS and explains how the Commission’s

staff came to the recommendation to extend the equivalence until 31 March 2016.

Pursuant to Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and

general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of

implementing powers, where a basic act is adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, either the

European Parliament or the Council may at any time indicate to the Commission that, in its view, a draft

implementing act exceeds the implementing powers provided for in the basic act. In such a case, the

Commission shall review the draft implementing act, taking account of the positions expressed, and shall

inform the European Parliament and the Council whether it intends to maintain, amend or withdraw the

draft implementing act.

In March 2015 the Committee on Legal Affairs considered that no objection should be raised to two draft

delegated acts which were part of the same package. The rapporteur is of the view that no objection

should be raised to the implementing act in question either.

Commission implementing decision of XXX on the adequacy of the competent authorities of certain

third countries and territories pursuant to Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of

the Council

Under Article 47(1) of Directive 2006/43/EC of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on statutory audits of

annual accounts and consolidated accounts, amending Council

Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC and repealing Council

Directive 84/253/EEC, the competent authorities of Member States

may allow the transfer of audit working papers or other documents

held by statutory auditors or audit firms approved by them and of

inspection or investigation reports relating to the audits in question

to the competent authorities of a third country only if those

authorities meet requirements that have been declared adequate by

the Commission and there are reciprocal working arrangements between them and the competent

authorities of the Member States concerned.

This draft implementing decision identifies the competent authorities of third countries or territories

meeting the requirements which will allow them to be considered adequate within the meaning of Article

47(1)(c) of Directive 2006/43/EC for the purpose of transfers of audit working papers or other documents

and of inspection and investigation reports under Article 47(1) of that directive.

Pursuant to Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and

general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of

Procedures: 2016/2663(RPS),

2016/2673RPS)

Legal basis: Article 3(1) of

Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002

Rapporteur for opinion:

Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann

Administrator: Andrea Scrimali

Committee responsible: ECON

________________________________________________________________________________

15

implementing powers, where a basic act is adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, either the

European Parliament or the Council may at any time indicate to the Commission that, in its view, a draft

implementing act exceeds the implementing powers provided for in the basic act. In such a case, the

Commission shall review the draft implementing act, taking account of the positions expressed, and shall

inform the European Parliament and the Council whether it intends to maintain, amend or withdraw the

draft implementing act.

The rapporteur is of the view that no objection should be raised to the implementing act in question.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Exchange of views with Vĕra Jourová

The Committee on Legal Affairs will hold an exchange of views with

Vĕra Jourová, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and

Gender Equality, in the context of the structured dialogue between

Parliament and the Commission, on 13 June at 15.00.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

IN CAMERA

VERIFICATION OF CREDENTIALS (RULE 3)

The President has announced to plenary that the competent national authorities have

given notice of the appointment of the following as Member(s) of the European

Parliament, with effect from the dates shown below:

• Mr Jakop DALUNDE (to replace Mr Peter ERIKSSON), as from 7 June 2016.

In accordance with Rule 3 of the Rules of Procedure, on the basis of a

report by the JURI Committee, Parliament will verify the credentials

without delay and rule on the validity of the mandate of each of its

newly elected Members. Parliament will also rule on any dispute

referred to it pursuant to the provisions of the Act of 20 September

1976, except those based on national electoral laws.

It is not possible to confirm the validity of the mandate of a Member

unless the written declarations required on the basis of Article 7 of the

Act of 20 September 1976 and Annex I to the Rules have been made.

Until such time as a Member’s credentials have been verified or a ruling has been given on any dispute, the

Member will take his or her seat in Parliament and in its bodies and enjoy all the rights attaching thereto.

Legal basis: Rule 3 RoP

Rapporteur: Pavel Svoboda

Administrator: Andrea Scrimali

Preliminary Timetable

Exchange of views: 13-14.06.2016

Adoption JURI: 13-14.06.2016

_________________________________________________________________________________

16

SUBSCRIPTIONS CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

JURI Report: juri-secretariat@europarl.europa.eu European Parliament - Committee on Legal Affairs

JURI Press Releases: lega-press@europarl.europa.eu Head of Secretariat: Robert BRAY

WATCH LIVE: EP website or EuroparlTV Responsible Administrator: Alexander KEYS

Re-Watch: EP multimedia library Editorial/Production Assistant: Natalia EWIAKOVA

IMMUNITIES

Mario Borghezio

EXCHANGE OF VIEWS

AND ADOPTION (possibly)

Type of procedure:

Defence of immunity

Procedure: 2016/2028 (IMM)

Legal basis: RoP Rule 7

Notice to Members: 06/2016,

09/2016, 10/2016, 13/2016

Rapporteur: Angel Dzhambazki

Administrator: Andrea Scrimali

Preliminary Timetable:

Exchange of views: 15.03.2016,

23.05.2016, 13.06.2016

Hearing: 23.05.2016

Adoption JURI: 13.06.2016 (tbc)

Csaba Molnar

EXCHANGE OF VIEWS

Type of procedure:

Waiver of immunity

Procedure: 2016/2069 (IMM)

Legal basis: RoP Rule 6

Notice to Members: 12/2016

Rapporteur: Laura Ferrara

Administrator: Andrea

Scrimali

Preliminary Timetable:

Exchange of views: 13.06.2016

Rosario Crocetta

EXCHANGE OF VIEWS

Type of procedure:

Defence of immunity

Procedure: 2016/2015 (IMM)

Legal basis: RoP Rule 7

Notice to Members: 05/2016

Rapporteur: Heidi Hautala

Administrator: Andrea Scrimali

Preliminary Timetable:

Exchange of views: 15.03.2016,

23.05.2016, 13.06.2016

Hearing: 15.03.2016

Georgios

Grammatikakis

EXCHANGE OF VIEWS

Type of procedure:

Waiver of immunity

Procedure: 2016/2084 (IMM)

Legal basis: RoP Rule 6

Notice to Members: 17/2016

Rapporteur: António Marinho e

Pinto

Administrator: Zampia Vernadaki

Preliminary Timetable:

Exchange of views: 13.06.2016

Istvan Ujhelyi

CONSIDERATION OF A

DRAFT REPORT +

ADOPTION (possibly)

Type of procedure:

Waiver of immunity

Procedure: 2015/2237 (IMM)

Legal basis: RoP Rule 6

Notice to Members: 26/2015

Rapporteur: Tadeusz Zwiefka

Administrator: Magnus

Nordanskog

Preliminary Timetable:

Consideration of a draft report:

13.06.2016

Vote (possibly): 13.06.2016

Jane Collins

EXCHANGE OF VIEWS

Type of procedure:

Defence of immunity

Procedure: 2015/2087(IMM)

Legal basis: RoP Rule 7

Notice to Members:

15/2016, 16/2016

Rapporteur: Tadeusz Zwiefka

Administrator: Alexander

Keys

Preliminary Timetable:

Exchange of views: 14.06.2016

Hearing: 11/12.07.2016

Vote: 05.09.2016