Dear Chair, dear Sven.

Honourable Members.

I am very pleased to be here today for this structured dialogue, the first of the mandate. We have the opportunity to discuss essential institutional files crucial for the EUs future.

This also provides the opportunity to thank the members of this committee for the good cooperation during the hearing last October.

As indicated by President von der Leyen in her political guidelines, strengthening our partnership with Parliament is a priority.

Good relations and smooth cooperation between our institutions are of great importance.

In 2019, President von der Leyen pledged to give Parliament a stronger role in legislation.

We have fulfilled this by responding 100% positively to all resolutions under Article 225 that required a response, to address Parliaments concerns timely and constructively.

The President also requested cooperation with Parliamentary Committees on these resolutions.

I will closely follow this matter, and the Commission will continue to fulfill its commitment to Parliament.

To strengthen joint political responsibility and improve dialogue, we are committed to a swift revision of the Framework Agreement between our institutions.

Our bilateral discussions are based on the nine political principles agreed last October between Presidents von der Leyen and Metsola.

There have been 9 technical and 3 political meetings with good progress, although the revision is taking longer than expected due to the number of amendments.

We will discuss the remaining issues in upcoming political meetings.

Ultimately, it may be necessary to change our internal working methods and Rules of Procedure to implement the revised Framework Agreement.

Our interinstitutional system only works if we maintain the balance and prerogatives as laid out in the Treaties.

My negotiating mandate is to fully respect existing Interinstitutional Agreements and not prejudge future revision.

My aim is to conclude the revision process timely within the mandate of the two Presidents to improve the cooperation between Commission and Parliament.

Another important file is the right of inquiry, recognized by the Commission without prejudice to other institutions powers.

I support the launch of informal talks and thank rapporteur Thijs Reuten for his efforts.

I hope all three institutions adopt a solution-oriented attitude in these discussions.

The Commission is ready to work based on the 2023 non-paper, but any interinstitutional negotiation should be based on a clear mandate from Parliament.

Progress cannot be achieved by a revised non-paper alone.

I count on the current rapporteur to develop an approach learning from recent successful inquiry committees.

Honourable Members.

Finally, the EU institutions agreed to develop common ethical standards, strengthening trust in EU governance.

The Commission remains committed to these objectives and to making the Ethics Body operational.

Further interinstitutional steps are needed. Parliament is chairing this process in 2025.

We closely follow Parliaments work on implementing the Agreement establishing the Ethics Body.

We note the report has been rejected and are interested in how Parliament intends to proceed with implementing the Interinstitutional Agreement.

I will stop there and look forward to our exchange.