This week the S&D Group is backing giving the European Parliament the power to propose new EU laws.

In a debate today, and a vote tomorrow in plenary, the S&D Group will be part of a strong majority calling for the European Parliament to be given a general and direct right to initiate legislation, a right enjoyed by all National Parliaments in the Member States. The call for this new right echoes citizens’ recommendations in the Conference on the Future of Europe that concluded last month.

Brando Benifei, S&D negotiator on the right of initiative, said:

“The European Parliament is certainly a unique democratic assembly, but when it comes to the right to propose legislation we are unique for all the wrong reasons. It is wrong that the only directly elected body in the EU does not have the right of initiative.

“President von der Leyen supported our right to propose laws in 2019 and this year citizens in the Conference on the Future of Europe sent a clear and resounding recommendation to strengthen democracy and accountability in exactly this direction. The clear winner with this reform will be democracy.

“The European Parliament is ready for more powers and we are ready to embark on Treaty change in this respect, because a stronger Parliament means stronger democracy.”