Unilateral statements in the minutes of the Council

"Unilateral statements in the minutes of the Council" is an own-initiative report, meaning Parliament sets out its own position on the subject without enacting binding law. The Committee on Constitutional Affairs handled it under the subjects of the Council of the Union, interinstitutional relations, and EU law. The tabled amendments warn that unilateral statements by Member States or the Council might adversely affect Parliament's legislative powers, harm the quality of Union legislation and undermine legal certainty. They reaffirm that statements not incorporated into a legal text have no legal force, call on negotiating partners to avoid unilateral statements especially at second reading, insist that States systematically publish correlation tables, and call for all declarations to be notified to Parliament with Member States' declarations not published in the Official Journal.