EP wil meer zeggenschap over EU-budget voor ontwikkeling, democratie en mensenrechten buiten de EU (en)

MEPs reiterated their demands for better parliamentary scrutiny of EU funding for development, democracy and human rights projects in third countries when they voted by large majorities on Thursday at second reading on the revision of three EU external financing instruments.

At its first-reading vote last October, Parliament overwhelmingly backed a call to use "delegated acts" for external assistance financing instruments. This would give Parliament a de facto veto, enabling MEPs to require changes to such projects. EU governments rejected MEPs' demands but Parliament stuck to its guns at second reading today. As the Council seems unlikely to accept Parliament's position, the legislation may well go to conciliation.

"What we are asking is to be treated on equal footing with Council when exercising the democratic scrutiny rights", said Parliament's rapporteur on the Development Co-operation Instrument, Gay Mitchell (EPP, IE), adding "if we lose this battle, we may have to wait for a new Treaty in order to finally obtain the powers that the Lisbon Treaty is giving us now".

This money pays for a range of causes, from civil society organisations in Belarus to Tunisian human rights and democracy activists. One of the best known instruments is the European Instrument for the promotion of Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), which has a budget of €1.104 million for 2007-2013.

With the Lisbon Treaty in force, Parliament co-decides with the Council on almost all new laws but lacks real control over implementing EU instruments for external co-operation. However, Article 290 of the Lisbon Treaty empowers Parliament to object to or even to revoke certain decisions proposed by the Commission on where and how money is spent.