Parliament president and EU countries are playing procedural politics to pass a law to scan internet services for child abuse material.
Sam Clark
On Monday, Metsola’s EPP is widely expected to file a formal request to hold an urgent vote on the bill. On Tuesday, lawmakers vote on whether to hold that urgent vote. And finally, on Thursday, the plenary chamber would vote on the actual proposal.
Using this unusual procedure means backers of the bill — the center-right European People’s Party, to which Metsola belongs, and EU capitals — have the upper hand.
To reject or amend the bill coming from Council, the Parliament requires an “absolute” majority, meaning at least half of all members of the Parliament, or 361 votes. To adopt it requires a mere “simple” majority, meaning half of the members present on that day.
When Parliament voted down the Council position in March, it did so with 311 votes against the proposal, 228 in favor of it and 92 abstentions — an outcome that, in a potential vote on Thursday, would fall short of killing the bill.
If the Parliament can’t reach a decision after three months, the Council’s position is automatically adopted, the procedural rules state.
In the current Parliament, finding an absolute majority is “really quite difficult,” said Christine Reh, a professor of European politics at the Hertie School in Berlin.
Max Griera contributed reporting.
