In a closed session, the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) has spoken out against the EU Commission's use of Article 122 of the Treaties, which bypasses consultation with the European Parliament, on the proposal for a Council Regulation establishing the Safe instrument, one of the economic pillars of Ursula von der Leyen's EU Rearm plan. This was explained by the press service of the European Parliament. The JURI committee approved a legal opinion stating that the use of Article 122 "is not an appropriate legal basis for this proposal" and will forward its recommendation to the President of the European Parliament for further consideration.
The ball is now in the court of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who can now decide whether to inform the plenary of the outcome of the vote on the report, which is only advisory, during the next plenary session. Once this step has been completed, the Legal Affairs Committee can report its conclusions orally to the plenary. The President now also has the option of bringing an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union on behalf of the Parliament, in accordance with the recommendation of the committee responsible. Metsola may also put the decision to bring an action to a vote in Parliament. If the President intends to depart from the recommendation of the Committee on Legal Affairs, she shall inform the committee and refer the matter to the Conference of Presidents. If the Conference of Presidents also considers that Parliament should not submit observations or intervene before the Court of Justice, the matter may be put to a final vote in plenary.
