Translation of "Gesetzgebungsvorhaben" in English

The first point is that our group welcomes the Commission’s initiative of withdrawing 68 pieces of legislation.

Early policy dialogue about forthcoming legislation may reduce the potential for international friction.

Similar legislation was beingdrafted in other Member States.

The first results are expected to be translated into concrete plans for legislation during the current legislative period.

The additional information about the fact that the Commission is evaluating certain legislative plans does not help in this respect.

This year has seen perhaps some of the biggest legislative projects of this decade brought to conclusion.

The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions supported the legislative initiative as well.

I would like to start with the Convention on thirdcountry nationals, which is certainly the more complex legislative project.

These fall into four groups: those which are unnecessary; those which are based on misunderstandings; those which are destructive; and those which have no place here at all, because they have nothing to do with this legislative project.

The only difficulty that there was in this legislative proposal - and I do not want to hide this, it was also discussed a little - was, of course, that of framing this ambitious legislation so that we would not be losing jobs in the European Union, but safeguarding them.

In adopting these two legislative projects, the European Union is proving that it is able to act decisively in order to jointly overcome the challenges in the core sectors of sustainable development, environmental protection and safety at sea.

In closing, I would like to say that I find it very regrettable that the Czech Presidency has not deemed it worth the effort to send a representative to Parliament for this important legislative proposal.

Let me remind you that the Commissioner himself put forward proposals in May 2010 in accordance with the Commission's legislative initiative.

In particular, it is important that she managed, by achieving a very broad majority in committee, to ensure that the requirements of the small institutions - the savings banks, the cooperative banks, the small and medium-sized businesses - are also given due consideration in this important legislative project and that what is called internal rating, i.e. the internal assessment of credit risks, will be given the same status as external rating, as proposed by the Basel Committee.

As you know, the Commission’s announcement that pending legislative proposals would be withdrawn or amended was the cause of some excitement in our House, and not just from an institutional point of view.

In spite of these improvements, however, I believe that the emerging majority is only prepared to go halfway, no doubt partly influenced by the absence of consent in the Council and by the desire to bring the legislative project to a conclusion.

This is one of this House's most problematic legislative proposals, and you have so far piloted us through its depths and shallows very well.

I wish specifically to appeal to these Member States to submit their reports next year so that we can have a European legislative proposal on reducing rates of VAT for labour-intensive services by the end of this parliamentary term.

Then, before this year is out – perhaps even, Mr President-in-Office, under your presidency in its first half – we will be able to adopt the Lisbon Strategy’s most important legislative component.

I would like to underline that for us, representatives from the Eastern European states, this is a legislative project that in two important instances expresses our own proposals made in committee debates and successfully incorporated into Parliament as well.

Thinking qualitatively, however, I can say that Finland has done well in legislative projects and taken them forward.

Indeed, as legislators, we have a duty to inform ourselves as fully and accurately as possible before taking decisions on any legislative initiative that we are dealing with, and take account of the concerns of stakeholders with all their conflicting views.

Let me echo my colleague Mr Olajos, who rightly emphasised that, with this legislative proposal, we have really hit upon an issue that directly affects the safety of the public and of the environment, and thus we are by no means creating superfluous European regulations that, as it were, only serve to burden the economy.

The public finds it incomprehensible that although important legislative projects like the one on increased compensation arrangements for overbooking in passenger air transport was negotiated in Council, they have not been adopted.

If this is all about making information available, then it goes without saying that the Commission is entitled to set up information systems as appropriate without drafting legislation.

As European Parliament rapporteur, I appeal to the Italian Presidency to give priority to these two legislative proposals, since promoting rail transport and ports could well be in Italy's national interest also.