Today, European Commissioners met at 1 pm and adopted their Annual Work Programme for 2023.
The Work Programme was adopted without discussion. Heads of Cabinet will have done the lifting last Friday.
The Commissioners focused instead on the adoption of a package of measures to address rising energy prices in the EU and a citizens’ initiative from vegans.
More importantly, we witnessed the end of political discontinuity (see the previous post).
The sacrifice of political discontinuity
It is surprising to see so many legislative proposals being put forward so late in the mandate of this Commission and European Parliament. In recent years, no new legislative proposals have been tabled 12 months before the European Elections (May 2024). This Commission has bypassed this operational rule.
This has four direct consequences.
First, both the European Parliament and the Council will have an extraordinarily heavy legislative agenda to deal with. The Committee I know best, the Environment Committee, will bear the brunt of a lot of the workload. Many of those MEPs have aged 5 years dealing with the Fit for 55 package. That workload won’t let up.
Second, the new European Parliament (May 2024 )and the new European Commission (November 2024) will face a choice on how to proceed with proposals that have not been finalized. Those are difficult choices.
Third, new legislative proposals, especially dealing with the impact of the war, could still be tabled
And, it will place a physical strain on Commission resources to churn out legislative proposals at breakneck speed. Preparing and drafting good quality legislation is rarely done fast. The toll on experienced staff will increase.
Some questions you may ask
If you can’t see your file, first, check both Annexes – Priority and REFIT proposals. Second, if your file is on a previous work programme, that commitment stands.
If the proposal can be adopted by way of secondary legislation (RPS measures, Delegated act, or implementing act), be aware that there is time enough before April 2024 for the adoption and scrutiny of those files.