Reuten Proposes EU Parliament Right of Inquiry
A draft regulation would let Parliament set up committees to investigate alleged breaches of EU law or maladministration.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Legislative Policy
Live Poll
Do you trust the federal government to act on wrongdoing it investigates itself?
Thijs Reuten has submitted a draft regulation to MEPs that would establish a European Parliament right of inquiry, a long-unresolved matter. The proposed committees could investigate alleged contraventions or maladministration in implementation of Union law.
Why it matters
Parliamentary committees of inquiry are not courts and issue only non-binding recommendations, so their reach depends on cooperation from other EU bodies. Any such right requires consent from the Council and the Commission under Article 226 TFEU, which neither is obliged to negotiate.
A committee of inquiry needs at least a quarter of MEPs to request it and generally operates for one year. Whether the Council and Commission will agree to the proposal remains unresolved.
The players
Thijs Reuten
Thijs Reuten is a Dutch Member of the European Parliament who submitted the draft regulation establishing a parliamentary right of inquiry.
AFCO Committee
The Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament is the body scheduled to discuss the proposed right of inquiry.
The details
The draft would let a committee conduct fact-finding visits, request hearings, and commission expert reports. Committees must suspend work if a matter comes before an EU court, and cannot investigate matters already in judicial proceedings.
Timeline
10 November: The AFCO committee is scheduled to discuss the proposed right of inquiry.
11 November: Member States' ambassadors to the EU will take up the issue.
Legislative Policy
Any European Parliament right of inquiry must be authorized under Article 226 TFEU, which requires consent from the Council and the Commission. This proposal tests whether Parliament can secure that consent for its own oversight tools.
If adopted, the right would let Parliament investigate how EU law is applied, but findings would be non-binding recommendations. Readers should watch whether the Council and Commission agree to negotiate, since that determines whether the power takes effect.
The takeaway
A parliamentary inquiry can expose problems in how EU law is applied, but its findings carry no binding force. Whether the proposal gains traction depends on the Council and Commission agreeing to engage.
What happens next
The AFCO committee discusses the proposal on 10 November, and Member States' ambassadors take it up on 11 November.
Further reading
Explore more on Legislative Policy and how EU lawmaking is shaped.
More information
Read the draft regulation on parliamentary committee of inquiry directly.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Agence Europe.
Live Poll
Do you trust the federal government to act on wrongdoing it investigates itself?
