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This comparative analysis of the national legislation on rape in European Union Member States provides an overview of legal provisions with a focus on the notion of consent. According to the proposed EU directive on violence against women and domestic violence, lack of consent from victims of rape should be made a constitutive element of the crime.

In September 2020, the European Commission proposed a new pact on asylum and migration, which includes a proposal for a regulation dealing with crisis and force majeure in the area of migration and asylum. The proposal aims to establish a mechanism for dealing with mass influxes and irregular arrivals of third-country nationals in a Member State. The proposed regulation sets out a solidarity mechanism procedure, allowing derogations from the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR) as regards ...

This EPRS paper analyses progress made in carrying through the policy agenda set by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and her College of Commissioners when they took office in December 2019. It looks in particular at the state of play with respect to delivery of the agenda's six key priorities, as we enter the final year running up to the 2024 European elections. The von der Leyen Commission – either on taking office or more recently – has announced a total of 597 planned ...

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the AFCO Committee, examines the legislative procedures in the Treaties. It focuses on special legislative procedures where either Parliament or the Council adopts an act with the participation (consultation or consent) of the other institution. This should not mean, however, that the participating institution could not influence the substance of the act. Instead ...

During the first plenary session of October 2022, the European Parliament is expected to vote on two political agreements on proposals related to the European Health Union initiative: the proposed regulation on serious cross-border health threats (SCBHT), and the proposed regulation on extending the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC). Complementing the launch of the Health Emergency and Response Authority (HERA), and adoption of a renewed mandate for the European Medicines ...

This in-depth analysis commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee, looks at the past and current developments in the EU better regulation agenda. The author finds that, despite important achievements that put the EU at the forefront in this field, many of the most ambitious reforms announced over the past few years are still far from complete. The in-depth analysis offers several policy recommendations ...

The purpose of better regulation is to make European Union laws and policies simpler, more targeted and easier to comply with. Since the early 2000s, better lawmaking has been high on the European agenda, and in April 2021 the European Commission published a new communication on better lawmaking. Parliament will debate and vote on the JURI committee's report on this communication during the July plenary session.

Since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty (2009), the EU national parliaments have had the right to control the principle of subsidiarity through the Early Warning System (EWS). This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee, examines how the EWS has worked over the past 12 years. It also looks into the interaction of the European Commission, local and regional entities, the Committee ...

Ex-ante impact assessment and ex-post evaluation are regulatory policy tools that help inform the policy-making process with evidence-based analysis. Both tools are geared towards raising the quality of policies and legislation. While Better Regulation is widely deemed a prerogative of the executive branch, increasingly, parliaments are also emerging as actors. This study sheds light on the parliamentary dimension of Better Regulation. Based on a survey, it maps the capacities and experiences of ...

On 13 April 2016, the Commission, Parliament and Council signed the Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA) on Better Law-Making, replacing its 2003 predecessor. About two years on from its entry into force, Parliament is expected to vote on an own-initiative joint report on the interpretation and implementation of the IIA during its May II plenary session. The report takes stock of progress made and identifies the main issues outstanding.