Getting the Parliament's rules right

Simon Taylor has taken an uncharacteristically misinformed position on the clarification of the European Parliament's rules, in particular Rule 19, which was endorsed by the Parliament on 31 January (‘A doubly immature Parliament', 7-13 February).
Firstly, the article claims that minority views would be suppressed under the interpretation of the presi-dent's powers under Rule 19. This is simply not the case. The Parliament hosts a wide range of political views and in debates speaking time is shared proportion-ally between the political groups. This means that in debate all views are heard. Nothing has been done to curtail this.
Secondly, the article states that President Hans-Gert Pöttering is “setting aside” the Parliament's own rules of procedure. No, it was simply confirmed that they already permit the president to call an end to excessive use of points of order, procedural motions etc, but only where they are intended to cause the “prolonged and serious obstruction” to the business of the Parliament. This is a reserve power which can only be used to protect the Parliament from attempts to bring proceedings to a halt.
Thirdly, the article mis-understands the point about roll call votes. They are not called because of potential inaccuracy of a show of hands – that is checked whenever needed by an electronic vote. Roll call votes are about obtaining a printout of how every mem-ber voted and are indeed costly – which is why most groups call them only for politically significant votes.

Richard Corbett MEP
Brussels