The European Parliament’s conference of presidents today decided to block negotiations with Council on a number of legislative files in the justice and home affairs area and the EU budget for 2013 (2). The decision comes in response to last week's decision by home affairs ministers to exclude the European Parliament from the decision-making process (co-decision) on a key legislative file on the evaluation of Schengen (1). Commenting on the decision, Greens/EFA co-president Dany Cohn-Bendit said:

“The European Parliament has today stood firm and showed that it will not take the Council's dirty, anti-democratic tricks on Schengen lying down. The major political groups were unified in their decision to block these legislative files with a view to showing the Council we mean business.

"The underhanded tactic by the Council to exclude the EP from the decision-making process on Schengen evaluation is scandalous. It creates a dangerous precedent, which would undermine the democratic decision-making process in the EU. The Council should take this rebuke seriously and back down. If not, the EP must consider further steps to defend Schengen and the EU's democratic process.”

(1) See the Greens/EFA press release on the Council decision last week: http://www.greens-efa.eu/border-controls-and-schengen-7413.html

(2) The legislative files to be blocked are:

 - Coehlo report on the establishment of an evaluation mechanism to verify application of the Schengen acquis

- Weber report on the reintroduction of border controls http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?id=594041

- Amendment of Schengen border code and Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement (Papanikolaou report)http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2011...(COD)&l=en

- Attacks against information systems (Hohlmeier report) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?id=587653

- European Investigation Order http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?id=586561

- Budget 2013

- Internal Security Fund http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?lang=en&refere...(2011)0750

- EU PNR http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?id=589738

Richard More O'Ferrall,

Press and media officer,

Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament

Mobile: +32-477-443842 - Ph. +32-22841669 (Brussels); +33-388174042

www.greens-efa.eu - http://twitter.com/GreensEP