"The EPP Group welcomes the European Commission's decision to withdraw its proposal for a Council Regulation on the exercise of the right to take collective action within the context of the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services, commonly known as the Monti II Regulation. "This decision shows national parliaments' growing role in EU legislation", declared Csaba Őry MEP, EPP Group Coordinator in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament (EP), and Andreas Schwab MEP, EPP Group Coordinator in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection of the EP.

The European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs yesterday informed Members of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee of the EP that the Commission is withdrawing the so-called Monti II Regulation.

"We appreciate the efforts of the European Commission for delivering all the necessary legislation to ensure the full implementation and enforcement of the Single Market acquis. But this proposal touches Article 153 (5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which states that the definition of the right to strike is an exclusive national competence. The EPP Group has informed the Commission of its definitive point of view on this important matter several times and this is also why the national parliaments have triggered the so-called 'yellow card' procedure for the first time since the entry-into-force of the Lisbon Treaty. "We shouldn't forget the fact that 12 out of 40 national Parliaments or Parliamentary Chambers have adopted a reasoned opinion stating that this draft legislative act does not comply with the principle of subsidiarity", added the MEPs.

"We are glad that the Commission accepted the democratic decision of the national parliaments and the concerns of the European Parliament in the end and decided to withdraw the Monti II proposal. This is a major milestone in the cooperation of these Institutions and expresses their growing influence in EU legislation under the Lisbon Treaty", they concluded.

For further information:
Csaba ŐRY MEP, Tel: +33-3-88-1745833
Andreas SCHWAB MEP, Tel: +33-3-88-1745938
Miklós Panyi, EPP Group Press and Communications Service, Tel: +32-473-866137

Notes to Editors:
The EPP Group is by far the largest political group in the European Parliament with 271 Members and 3 Croatian Observer Members.