Legislative Agenda > Structured Dialogue



Regular dialogue is a central element of the close cooperation between the European Parliament and the European Commission. It takes the form of the structured dialogue established between each Member of the European Commission and the Committees of the European Parliament.

The structured dialogue is an official inter-institutional procedure, designed to ensure that the EU institutions work much more closely together in the field of legislative planning. It is an ongoing annual process which begins each year in January and ends in May.

The European Commissioners are invited on a regular basis by each parliamentarian Committee. Then it is a crucial opportunity for Members and for Political Groups to ask very precise questions to Commissioners. In the numerous exchanges between parliamentary Committees and European Commissioners, the EPP Members put across their points of view when asking the Commissioners about the issues that they see as priorities. Commissioners must describe the state of play of the implementation of the pending Commission Work Programme (CWP), justify any delays and present future priorities for the coming year.

Therefore, each Committee's exchange of views with their Commissioners should deal with the implementation of the pending CWP as well as looking ahead to the forthcoming CWP for the following year. This enables the EPP Group to judge whether the European Commission has made sufficient progress in areas of particular concern to the centre-right.

On the basis of this open dialogue held up until May, the EPP Group prepares a resolution containing its political priorities, which is voted on at the July plenary part-session. For the EPP Group, the structured dialogue is therefore a key political stage.

Resolution on the Commission Work Programme for 2012 *.pdfen