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Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament
8th parliamentary term - July 2018
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CONTENTS
APPENDIX
INDEX
NOTE TO THE READER
COMPENDIUM OF THE MAIN LEGAL ACTS RELATED TO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE

TITLE VII : SESSIONS
CHAPTER 5 : QUORUM, AMENDMENTS AND VOTING

Rule 170 : Admissibility of amendments (1)

1.   Without prejudice to the additional conditions laid down in Rule 52(4) concerning own initiative reports and Rule 69(2) concerning amendments to the Council's position, no amendment shall be admissible if:

(a)   it does not directly relate to the text which it seeks to amend;

(b)   it seeks to delete or replace the whole of a text;

(c)   it seeks to amend more than one of the individual articles or paragraphs of the text to which it relates with the exception of compromise amendments and amendments which seek to make identical changes to a particular form of words throughout the text;

(d)   it seeks to amend a proposal for codification of Union legislation; however, the second subparagraph of Rule 103(3) shall apply mutatis mutandis;

(e)   it seeks to amend those parts of a proposal recasting Union legislation which remain unchanged in such proposal; however, the second subparagraph of Rule 104(2) and the third subparagraph of Rule 104(3) shall apply mutatis mutandis;

(f)   it only seeks to ensure the linguistic correctness, or address the terminological consistency, of the text in the language in which the amendment is tabled; in this case, the President shall seek a suitable linguistic remedy together with those concerned.

2.   The President shall decide whether amendments are admissible.

The President's decision under paragraph 2 concerning the admissibility of amendments is not based exclusively on the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Rule but on the provisions of the Rules in general.

3.   A political group or Members reaching at least the low threshold may table an alternative motion for a resolution seeking to replace a motion for a non-legislative resolution contained in a committee report.

In such a case, the group or the Members concerned may not table amendments to the motion for a resolution by the committee responsible. The alternative motion for a resolution may not be longer than the committee's motion for a resolution. It shall be put to a single vote in Parliament without amendment.

Rule 123(4) and (5) concerning joint motions for resolutions shall apply mutatis mutandis.

4.   With the agreement of the President, amendments may, exceptionally, be tabled after the close of the deadline for amendments if they are compromise amendments, or if there are technical problems. The President shall decide on the admissibility of such amendments. The President shall obtain the agreement of Parliament to do so before putting such amendments to the vote.

The following general criteria for admissibility of compromise amendments may be applied:

-   as a general rule, the compromise amendments relate to parts of the text which have been the subject of amendments prior to the deadline for tabling amendments;

-   as a general rule, the compromise amendments are tabled by political groups representing a majority in Parliament, the Chairs or rapporteurs of the committees concerned or the authors of other amendments;

-   as a general rule, the compromise amendments entail the withdrawal of other amendments to the same passage.

Only the President may propose that a compromise amendment be considered. In order for a compromise amendment to be put to the vote, the President must obtain the agreement of Parliament by asking whether there are any objections to such a vote being held. If an objection is raised, Parliament shall decide on the matter by a majority of the votes cast.
(1) Rule 170 applies mutatis mutandis to committees (see Rule 209).
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