European priorities for 2017
Which issues will the European Commission focus on in 2017? Which of these priorities will be given special attention by the House of Representatives? On Tuesday 20 December 2016, the House drew up it annual list of European priorities, by means of a vote in the Plenary Hall.
Every year, the European Commission presents its work programme for the year to come. In its work programme 2017 the European Commission says it aims at a new migration policy and the creation of a digital single market. Think, for instance, of free data transfer and "WIFI4EU", free Wi-Fi in public places.
List of priorities of the House
Every year the House of Representatives decides on the basis of the European work programme which subjects it wants to pay extra attention to. On Tuesday 20 December 2016, the House drew up its list of priorities by means of a vote. Early in 2017, the list of priorities of the Senate and the House of Representatives will be shared with the national parliaments of the EU Member States. This is done at the request of the House of Representatives, in order to foster cooperation between the national parliaments of Europe.
Parliamentary reservation and subsidiarity test
Every standing committee of the House selects the subjects it wants to be included in the priority list. On some issues the House will enter a so-called parliamentary reservation, which enables the House to scrutinize the position of the Government in the European negotiations more extensively. Other proposals are subject to the subsidiarity test, in order to identify at which level a subject should be dealt with.
Consultation about the European work programme
