European Movement - Accountability Report 2011

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

  • 8/2/2019 European Movement - Accountability Report 2011

    1/2

    EM Ireland Accountability Report 2011

    Executive SummaryThis is the second year of European Movement Irelands Accountability Report, the goal of whichis to track Irelands engagement with the EU through a series of statistical indicators. These

    indicators range from measuring Irish input at the pre-legislative stage to the stage of final

    decision-making at the Council of the European Union. As this is the second Accountability report

    published by EM Ireland, a comparative element between the data recorded in 2010 and that

    recorded in 2011 is possible and will therefore be offered where relevant.

    It is crucial to point out at this stage that although the Accountability Report 2011 endeavours to

    track Irelands engagement with the EU throughout the calendar year (i.e. 01 January 2011 31

    December 2011), the General Election that took place in Ireland on 25 February 2011 resulted in

    a change of administration and some subsequent structural changes. Therefore, for the purposes

    of a number of the indicators in this report, tracking only begins after the 31st Dil is in session

    i.e. 9 March 2011. This is highlighted where relevant in each of the respective chapters.

    Below you will find details of the methodology behind the report and a summary of the key

    findings of the Accountability Report 2011.

    The full report is available to download from the EM Ireland sitewww.europeanmovement.ie.

    MethodologyData integrity was of central importance in the compilation of this report and much time wasdedicated to ensuring that tracking the information took place using only mathematical systems;

    thereby decreasing any opportunity for subjectivity.

    Through consultation with internal steering groups and an external group of experts, EM Ireland

    ensured that a high standard system of data collection was created and maintained. A bespoke

    tracking spreadsheet was created and deemed most suitable for the purposes of recording the data

    for this report.

    European Movement Ireland consulted a range of sources in the compilation of this report,including:

    The website of the European Parliament (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/) VoteWatch.eu (www.votewatch.eu) The websites of Irish MEPs The official attendance lists of EU level meetings Official EU press releases The website of the Council of the European Unions website (www.consilium.europa.eu)

    Official Oireachtas Committee reports from the European Union Affairs Committee and the

    Oireachtas website (www.oireachtas.ie)

    http://www.europeanmovement.ie/http://www.europeanmovement.ie/http://www.europeanmovement.ie/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/http://www.votewatch.eu/http://www.votewatch.eu/http://www.votewatch.eu/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/http://www.oireachtas.ie/http://www.oireachtas.ie/http://www.oireachtas.ie/http://www.oireachtas.ie/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/http://www.votewatch.eu/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/http://www.europeanmovement.ie/
  • 8/2/2019 European Movement - Accountability Report 2011

    2/2

    Key Findings

    Chapter 1 Commission Consultations 23 Commissions consultations were reviewed for this report. The percentage of the total

    submissions to these 23 Consultations that originated in Ireland ranges from 0% to 5%; with

    an average of 0.9 %. This represents a decrease of 0.7% from the 2010 average of 1.6%

    From an Irish perspective, there is a clear opportunity for civil society/NGO and publicopinion to have a stronger input into this stage of the European legislative procedure and

    EM Ireland looks forward to playing a leading role in facilitating this enhanced engagement

    Chapter 2

    European Parliament Average Irish MEP attendance at plenary sessions stands at 85% for 2011. This is a decreaseof 1% from 2010

    Irish MEPs asked 683 Parliamentary Questions in 2011. This is a drop from nearly 1,000Parliamentary Questions during 2010

    Irish MEPs made a total of 727 speeches in the European Parliament in 2011. This is anincrease of approximately 100 speeches from 2010

    There is Irish MEP representation on 14 of the 20 standing committees of the EuropeanParliament

    During 2011, 5 reports were drawn up by an Irish MEP acting as Rapporteur Irish MEPs are represented on 15 out of 41 Parliamentary Delegations

    Chapter 3 European Council and Councils of the EU Ireland has an overall ministerial attendance rate at the meetings of the Council of the

    European Union of 86% with either a lead Minister or Junior Minister attending 61 out of a

    total of 71 meetings that took place once the 31st

    Dil was in session in 2011. This is an

    increase of 9% from the data recorded from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010

    Ireland ranks 2nd in terms of European ministerial attendance at Council Eight out of ten Council configurations have an Irish ministerial attendance rate of 80% or

    higher

    Ireland outperforms both France (79%) and Germany (61%) in terms of average attendance In comparing Ireland to the other EU Countries who are also in EU-IMF programmes, it can

    be seen that Ireland has the highest average ministerial attendance rate with 86%; Greece

    has an average ministerial attendance rate of 63% and Portugals rate stands at 55%

    Chapter 4 Oireachtas Engagement The Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs met a total of 17 times between

    9 March 2011 and 31 December 2011 under the 31st

    Dil

    The attendance record of members of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairsunder the 31

    stDil from 9 March 2011-31 December 2011 was 71%

    Pre-Council briefings took place in relation to 3 out of the 11 General Affairs Meetings thattook place between 9 March 2011 and 31 December 2011. This represents a percentagetotal of 27%