SECOND REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, Section II – European Council and Council

Tabled by Ondřej Knotek

… Stresses that, while unanimity voting remains a core principle of the Treaties, Removed: its application in certain circumstances and in critical policy areas can affect the Union's timelines and effectiveness, including by paralysing the Union’s decision-making process and thereby leaving it vulnerable to being blocked or prone to blackmail by individual Member States, particularly those that fail to respect the rule of law; calls for targeted Treaty reforms or, alternatively, practical improvements within the existing Treaty framework, in order to strengthen transparency, democratic decision-making, accountability and the efficiency of the Council's work; calls on the Council to follow up on previous Parliament resolutions calling for such reforms; Added: and its recourse to it constitutes a legitimate expression of democratic accountability by Member States’ governments; underlines that any debate on decision-making efficiency must fully respect the Treaties and cannot undermine the principle of conferral between the Union and its Member States;

Wording as published by the EP, in English. PE788.346