4

General Rules of Procedure

General Rules of Procedure

1.	Scope: These rules are self sufficient except for some modifications provided by the Secretariat since all institutions of the European Union do not necessarily follow the same procedure. No other rules of procedure are applicable.

2.	Delegates: Delegates are assigned to four different EU bodies. With regards to

a)	European Council: Each nation may be represented by two delegates, one of which shall act as a Head of Government or Member State. The other delegate plays the role of a deputy.

b)	Commission: Delegates shall act as commissioners whose total number is 20

c)	General Affairs Council: Each nation may be represented by two delegates, one of which shall act as a a Foreign Affairs Minister of a Member State. The other delegate plays the role of a deputy.

6)	European Parliament: delegates act as members of the parliament having a specific political affinity. One MEP corresponds to one delegate.

Observer countries will be allowed to vote on procedural matters but not on substantive matters.

3.	Credentials: The credentials of the delegates have been accepted upon registration. Actions relating to the modification of rights, privileges or credentials of any member may not be initiated without the written consent of the President of the Conference.

4.	Language: The official language of the conference is English. In case of a speech in a language other than the official language ,the representative shall provide for translation in to the official language. The time for translation will be included to the speaking time.

5.	Statements by EUROFORUM Secretariat: The President of the Conference or any member of the Secretariat designated by him/her may at any time make either oral or written statements at the committees.

6.	General Duties of the Delegates: Each delegate attending the conference has the duty to respect the decisions of his/her committee Chair. It is important to behave in respect of cooperation and consensus. All delegates shall avoid any kind of disruptive attitude during the whole conference. All delegates are urged to participate to all scheduled sessions

7.	Courtesy: All delegates shall show courtesy and respect to the Committee staff and to other delegates. The Chair shall immediately call to order the delegate who fails to comply with this rule.

8.	General Duties of EUROFORUM Secretariat and the President of the Conference: The President of the Conference shall hold his/her position throughout the conference. The EUROFORUM Secretariat will perform all the administrative work that the conference requires. The EUROFORUM Secretariat will basically have the right to designate staff for certain tasks, and will be responsible for receiving, printing and distributing the resolutions. The President of the Conference shall direct the staff. He/She will also be in Chair of the European Parliament.

9.	Quorum: A quorum is necessary to reach a substantive vote. The number for quorum may vary from one working committee to another. In EP, the Chair of a Committee may permit a debate to proceed when at least _ of the actual members are present. In General Affairs Council, a quorum is reached when S members are present. In European Council and Commission, the Chair shall rule whether a quorum is reached by taking into consideration the opinions of all members present A quorum of one forth is required for the Parliament.

10.	Appeal: Any decision of the Chair, with the exception of those that are explicitly stated to be unappealable1 may be appealed immediately by a delegate. The chair may speak briefly in defense of the ruling. The appeal shall then be put to a vote, and the decision of the chair shall stand unless overruled by a majority of those members present and voting. The chairs decision not to sign a draft document is never appealable. A Yes vote indicates support of the chairs ruling; a No vote indicates opposition to that ruling. The Chair’s ruling shall stand unless overruled by a majority of No votes.

Agenda

11.	Debate: After the agenda has been determined, one continuously open speakers’ list shall be established for the purpose of general debate. This speakers list shall be followed for all debate on the topic area, except when superseded by procedural motions, amendments, or the introduction of a draft document. Speakers may speak generally on the topic area being considered and may address any draft document currently on the floor. Once a draft document has been introduced, it remains on the floor and may be debated until it fails, the committee postpones debate on it, or the committee moves to the next topic area.

12.	Caucusing: The purpose of the caucus is to facilitate the substantive discussion outside the rules of formal debate. Delegates may move to caucus when the floor is open prior to the closure of debate. The delegate must suggest a time limit and a reason for the caucus which shall not exceed twenty minutes. The motion shall immediately be put to a vote and requires a simple majority to pass. The Chair may rule the motion out of order and this decision is not subject to appeal.

13.	Moderated Caucus:The purpose of the moderated caucus is to facilitate substantive debate at critical junctures in the discussion. In a moderated caucus, the chair will temporarily depart from the speakers list and call on delegates to speak at his/her discretion. A motion for a moderated caucus is in order at any time when the floor is open, prior to closure of debate. The delegate making the motion must briefly explain its purpose and specify a time limit for the caucus not to exceed twenty minutes. The motion shall immediately be put to a vote. A majority of members present and voting is required for passage. The chair may rule the motion out of order and his/her decision is not subject to appeal.

14.	Closure of debate: When the floor is open, a delegate may move to close debate on the procedural matter under discussion or any single draft document. The chair may, subject to appeal, rule such a motion dilatory. When closure of debate is moved, the chair may recognize up to two speakers against the motion. No speaker in favour of the motion shall be recognized. Closure of debate requires the support of qualified majority of the members present and voting. If the committee is in favour of closure, the chair shall declare the closure of debate, and the draft document shall brought to an immediate vote. A motion to close debate will not be in order before the committee has heard two speeches on the topic/draft document/amendment.

15.	Suspension or Adjournment of the Meeting: Whenever the floor is open, a delegate may move the suspension of the meeting ,to suspend all Committee functions until the next meeting, or the the adjournment of the meeting, to suspend all Committee functions for the duration of the Conference. The Moderator may rule such motions out of order; these decisions shall not be subject to appeal. Such motions shall not be debatable but shall be immediately put to the vote and shall require a majority to pass. A motion to adjourn shall be out of order prior to the lapse of threequarters of the time allotted for the last meeting of the Committee.

16.	Postponement.of debate: Whenever the floor is open, a delegate may move for the postponement of debate on a draft document or amendment currently on the floor. The motion shall require a two-thirds vote to pass and shall be debatable to the extent of one speaker in favour and one opposed. No debate or action shall be allowed on any draft document or amendment on which debate has been postponed.

17.	Speakers List: The Committee shall have at all times an open speakers list for the topic area being discussed which shall be drawn up at the start of debate on the issue chosen to be discussed. Separate speakers list shall be established as needed for procedural motions and debate on amendments. A delegate may add his/her name to the speakers list by submitting a written request to the Chair provided that the delegate is not already on the speakers list. The names of the next several delegates to speak shall be posted for the convenience of the committee. The Speakers” list for the second topic area will not be open until the Committee has proceeded on that topic

18.	Speeches: No delegate may address the Committee without having previously obtained the permission of the Chair. The Chair shall call a speaker to order if his /her remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion or display a lack of courtesy.

The PPRs, at the first EP Committee Session will make an opening statement of 3 minutes. They shall also make closing statements of 2 minutes during the Closing Session in order to explain the vote of their Political Party.

In the European Council or the General Affairs Council, the chair may allow countries to make opening speeches of up to 4 minutes on each topic area. This is not an obligation. Opening speeches will be done according to alphabetical order.

19.	Time limit on speeches: The Chair may limit the time allotted to each speaker. The minimum time limit shall be ten seconds. When a delegate exceeds his/her allotted time, the Chair may call the speaker to order without delay.the limitation of the debate time will include the time taken for replies to point of information but will not include the time taken to ask points of information or other interruptions

20.	Yields: A delegate granted the right to speak on a substantive issue may yield in one of three ways: to another delegate, to questions or to the Chair.

-	Yield to another delegate: His/her remaining time shall be given to that delegate, who may not, however, then yield back to the original delegate.

-	Yield to questions: Questioners shall be selected by the Chair and limited to one question each. The Chair shall have the right to call to another delegate whose question is, in the opinion of the Chair, rhetorical and leading and not designated to elicit information. Only the speaker’s answer to questions shall be deducted from the speaker’s remaining time.

-	Yield to the Chair: Such a yield should be made if the delegate does not wish his/her speech to be subject to comments, the Chair shall then move to the next speaker. Time dedicated to the PPR’s for their opening statements at the beginning of Committee sessions, closing statements at the closing sessions and the presentations before the elections can only be yielded to the Chair.

Only one yield is allowed: a speaker who is yielded may not yield at all. Yields are in order only on substantive speeches. A delegate must declare yields by the conclusion of his/her speech.

21.	Comments: If a substantive speech involves no yields, the Chair may recognize up to two delegates, other than the initial speaker, to comment for thirty seconds on the specific content of the speech just completed. Commentators may not yield. No comments shall be in order during debate on procedural motions.

22.	Right of Reply: A delegate whose personal or national integrity has been impugned by another delegate may request a Right of Reply. The Chair’s decision whether to grant the Right of Reply is not appealable, and a delegate granted the Right of Reply will not address the Committee except at the request of the Chair. A Right of Reply to a Right of Reply is not in order.

European Commission and European Council:

23.	Definitions:

-	Commission proposal: Legislative proposals which can be in the form of regulation or directive or decision or recommendation/opinion.

-	Commission Communication: Commission document which has not any legal binding value. It reflects the Commission’s opinion on non-EC EU issues.

-	Final Communique: European Council declaration written in informal format.

24.	Form of Debate : In general debate on a topic area, there may be more than one final communique/proposal/communication on the floor at any time. Any of the final communiques/proposals/communications on the floor may be discussed at any time. Delegates may also discuss two or more final communiques/proposals/communications when they have the floor. Only one final communique/proposal/communication per agenda item may be passed by the committee. A final communique/proposal/communication will remain on the floor until debate on that specific final communique/proposal/communication is postponed or closed or another final communique/proposal/communication on the agenda item is passed . A time limit to debate on the topic area may be put by the Chair. But once a final communique/proposal/communication is passed , debate on the topic area is over and the committee will move to debate on the next item on the agenda.

25.	Working Papers : Delegates may propose working papers for consideration by the committee. Working papers are informal, unofficial documents that aid the committee in their discussion of the substantive matter at hand . They need not be written in formal format but requires the approval in order to be distributed.

26; Introduction of a Final Document: Delegates may move to introduce a final final communique/proposal/communication once it has been approved by the Chair and distributed to the committee. Such an introduction shall be procedural in nature. The content of the introduction shall be the reading of the final communique/proposal/communication as a whole where upon delegate who has introduced the final communique/proposal/communication shall be granted the floor for the allotted time limit. During this time the speaker may only yield to points of information which shall be limited to grammatical or technical questions and may not pertain to the substance of the final communique/proposal/communication.

27.	Amendments: Delegates may amend any draft final document which has been introduced. An amendment must have the approval of the chair. Amendments to amendments are out of order; however, an amended part of a draft final document may be further amended.

An approved amendment may be introduced when the floor is open. General debate shall be suspended and a speakers list shall be established for and against the amendment.

A motion to close debate will be in order after the committee has heard one speaker for the amendment and one against. The chair recognizes two speakers against the motion to close debate, and a vote of two-thirds is required for closure.

When debate is closed on the amendment, the committee shall move to an immediate vote. Once the committee has acted upon the amendment, general debate according to the general speakers list shall resume.

General Affairs Council

28.	Definitions:

Common Position: Legislative proposal written in the format of regulation or directive or decision or recommendation/opinion in accordance with the Commission’s initial proposal, while bearing in mind the opinion of parliament.

Council Intergovernmental Decision: GAO document that reflects the common opinion of EU member states on non-EC EU issues.

29.Form of Debate:

A) If the topic discussed requires the application of one of the three legislative procedures,(the consultation, the co decision or the cooperation procedure), then the form of debate shall be as follows:

In general debate on a topic area, there may be more than one Common Position on the floor at any time. Delegates may also discuss two or more Common

Positions when they have the floor. The committee may pass only one Common Position per agenda item. A Common Position may will remain on the floor until debate on that specific Common Position is postponed or closed or another Common Position on the agenda item is passed. The chair may put a time limit to debate on the topic area and the committee will move to debate on the next item on the agenda. A Common Position adopted by the General Affairs Council is a new proposal composed which shall be written in accordance with the initial Commission Proposal while taking in to account the Opinion of Parliament.

Working Papers: Delegates may propose working papers for consideration by the committee. Working papers are informal, unofficial documents that aid the committee in their discussion of the substantive matter at hand. They need not be written in formal format but requires the approval in order to be distributed.

Introduction of a Common Position: Delegates may move to introduce a Common Position once it has been approved by the Chair and distributed to the committee. Such an introduction shall be procedural in nature. The content of the introduction shall be limited to the reading of the Common Position as a whole where upon delegate who has introduced the Common Position shall be granted the floor for the allotted time limit. During this time the speaker may only yield to points of information that shall be limited to grammatical and technical questions and may not pertain to the substance of the Common Position.

Amendments: Delegates may amend any Common Position draft that has been introduced. An amendment must have the approval of the chair. Amendments to amendments are out of order; however, an amended part of a Common Position may be further amended.

An approved amendment may be introduced when the floor is open. General debate shall be suspended and a speaker’s list shall be established for and against the amendment.

A motion to close the debate will be in order after the committee has heard one speaker for the amendment and one against. The chair recognizes two speakers against the motion to close the debate, and a vote of two-thirds is required for closure.

When the debate is closed on the amendment, the committee shall move to a immediate vote. Once the committee has acted upon the amendment, general debate according to the general speakers list shall resume.
B) If the topic discussed requires the application of an International Procedure, then the form of debate shall be the following;

In general debate on a topic area, there may be more than one Intergovernmental Decision on the floor at any time. Any of the Intergovernmental Decision on the floor may be discussed at any lime. Delegates may also discuss two or more Intergovernmental Decisions when they have the floor. The committee may pass only one Intergovernmental Decision per agenda item. An Intergovernmental Decision will remain on the floor until debate onthat specific Intergovernmental Decision is postponed or closed or another Intergovernmental Decision on the agenda item is passed. The Chair may put a time limit to debate on the topic area. But once an Intergovernmental Decision is passed, debate on the topic area is over and the committee will move to debate on the next item on the agenda.

Working Papers: Delegates may propose working papers for consideration by the committee. Working papers are informal, unofficial documents that aid the committee in their discussion of the substantive matter at hand. They need not be written in formal format but requires the approval in order to be distributed.

Common Position/ Intergovernmental Decision: Common Position/ Intergovernmental Decision requires the approval of the chair to be submitted for debate. Signing Common Position/ Intergovernmental Decision need not indicate support of document.

Introduction of a Intergovernmental Decision: Delegates may move to introduce a decision once it has been approved by the Chair and distributed to the committee. Such an introduction shall be procedural in nature. The content of the introduction shall be limited to the reading of the Decision as a whole where upon delegate who has introduced the Decision shall be granted the floor for the allotted time limit. During this time the speaker may only yield to points of information that shall be limited to grammatical and technical questions and may not pertain to the substance of the Intergovernmental Decision.

Amendments: Delegates may amend any Intergovernmental Decision draft that has been introduced. An amendment must have the approval of the chair. Amendments to amendments are out of order; however, an amended part of an Intergovernmental Decision may be further amended. An approved amendment may be introduced when the floor is open. General debate shall be suspended and a speaker’s list shall be established for and against the amendment.

A motion to close the debate will be in order after the committee has heard one speaker for the amendment and one against. The chair recognizes two speakers against the motion to close the debate, and a vote of two-thirds is required for closure.

When the debate is closed on the amendment, the committee shall move to a immediate vote. Once the committee has acted upon the amendment, general debate according to the general speakers list shall resume.

European Parliament:

30)	Definitions:

Please refer to the appropriate section in this guide to see the form of debate in the opening and closing session.
31)	Form of Debate:

A) If the topic discussed requires the application of one of the three legislative procedures,(the consultation, the co decision or the cooperation procedure), then the form of debate shall be as follows:

In general debate on a topic area, there may be more than one Committee Report on the floor at any time. Any of the Committee Reports on the floor may be discussed at any time. Delegates may also discuss two or more Committee Reports when they have the floor. The committee may pass only one Committee Report per agenda item. A Committee Report may will remain on the floor until debate on that specific Committee Report is postponed or closed or another Committee Report on the agenda item is passed. The Chair may put a time limit to debate on the topic area. But once a Committee Report is passed, debate on the topic area is over and the Committee will move to debate on the next item on the agenda. A Committee Report adopted by the EP Committees is composed of amendments made on the initial Commission Proposal. The EP Committees may not reject nor adopt a Commission Proposal as a whole.

Working Papers: Delegates may propose working papers for consideration by the committee. Working papers are informal, unofficial documents that aid the committee in their discussion of the substantive matter at hand. They need not be written in formal format but requires the approval in order to be distributed.

Introduction of a Intergovernmental Decision: Delegates may move to introduce a Committee Report once it has been approved by the Chair and distributed to the committee. Such an introduction shall be procedural in nature. The content of the introduction shall be limited to the reading of the Committee Report as a whole where upon delegate who has introduced the Committee Report shall be granted the floor for the allotted time limit. During this time the speaker may only yield to points of information that shall be limited to grammatical and technical questions and may not pertain to the substance of the Committee Report.

Amendments: Delegates may amend any Committee Report which has been introduced. An amendment must have the approval of the chair. Amendments to amendments are out of order; however, an amended part of an Intergovernmental Decision may be further amended. An approved amendment may be introduced when the floor is open. General debate shall be suspended and a speaker’s list shall be established for and against the amendment.

A motion to close the debate will be in order after the committee has heard one speaker for the amendment and one against. The chair recognizes two speakers against the motion to close the debate and a vote of two-thirds is required for closure.

When debate is closed on the amendment, the committee shall move to an immediate vote. Once the committee has acted upon the amendment, general debate according to the general speakers list shall resume.

Please refer to the EP Committees Section to see a more detailed functioning of the EP Committee.

If the topic discussed requires the application of one of an Intergovernmental Procedure then the form of debate shall be as the following:

In general debate on a topic area, there may be more than one EP Communication on the floor at any time. Any of the EP Communications ~n the floor may be discussed at any time. Delegates may also discuss two or more EP Communications when they have the floor. The committee may pass only one Committee Report per agenda item. An EP Communication may will remain on the floor until debate on that specific EP Communication is postponed or closed or another EP Communication on the agenda item is passed. The Chair may put a time limit to debate on the topic area. But once a EP Communication is passed, debate on the topic area is over and the Committee will move to debate on the next item on the agenda.

Working Papers: Delegates may propose working papers for consideration by the committee. Working papers are informal, unofficial documents that aid the committee in their discussion of the substantive matter at hand. They need not be written in formal format but requires the approval in order to be distributed.

Introduction of an EP Communication: Delegates may move to introduce an EP Communication once it has been approved by the Chair and distributed to the committee. Such an introduction shall be procedural in nature. The content of the introduction shall be limited to the reading of the EP Communication as a whole where upon delegate who has introduced the EP Communication shall be granted the floor for the allotted time limit. During this time the speaker may only yield to points of information that shall be limited to grammatical and technical questions and may not pertain to the substance of the EP Communication.

Amendments in European Parliament Committees:

Delegates may amend any Committee Report that has been introduced. An amendment must have the approval of the chair. Amendments to amendments are out of order; however, an amended part of a Committee Report may be further amended.

An approved amendment may be introduced when the floor is open. General debate shall be suspended and a speaker’s list shall be established for and against the amendment.

A motion to close the debate will be in order after the committee has heard one speaker for the amendment and one against. The chair recognizes two speakers against the motion to close the debate and a vote of two-thirds is required for closure.

When debate is closed on the amendment, the committee shall move to an immediate vote. Once the committee has acted upon the amendment, general debate according to the general speakers list shall resume.

For the amendments in the EP Committees, signature of at least five Members of Parliament or of at least two Political Parties Representatives is required.

Political Party Groups:

32) Form of Debate: In general debate on a topic area, there may be more than one Political party Common Policy Guidelines on the floor at any time. Any of the Political party Common Policy Guidelines on the floor may be discussed at any time. Delegates may also discuss two or more Political party Common Policy Guidelines when they have the floor. The committee may pass only one Political party Common Policy Guidelines per agenda item. A Political party Common Policy Guidelines may remain on the floor until debate on that specific Political party Common Policy Guidelines is postponed or closed or another Political party Common Policy Guidelines on the agenda item is passed. The Chair may put a time limit to debate on the topic area. But once a Political party Common Policy Guidelines is passed, debate on the topic area is over and the Committee will move to debate on the next item on the agenda. A Political party Common Policy Guidelines adopted by the EP Committees is composed of amendments made on the initial Commission Proposal. The EP Committees may not reject nor adopt a Commission Proposal as a whole.

Working Papers: Delegates may propose working papers for consideration by the committee. Working papers are informal, unofficial documents that aid the committee in their discussion of the substantive matter at hand. They need not be written in formal format but requires the approval in order to be distributed

Introduction of a Political Party Common Policy Guideline: Delegates may move to introduce an Political Party Common Policy Guideline once it has been approved by the Chair and distributed to the committee. Such an introduction shall be procedural in nature. The content of the introduction shall be limited to the reading of Political Party Common Policy Guideline as a whole where upon delegate who has introduced the Political Party Common Policy Guideline shall be granted the floor for the allotted time limit. During this time the speaker may only yield to points of information that shall be limited to grammatical and technical questions and may not pertain to the substance of the Political Party Common Policy Guideline. 
Amendments in European Parliament Committees:

Delegates may amend any Committee Report that has been introduced. An amendment must have the approval of the chair. Amendments to amendments are out of order; however, an amended part of a Committee Report may be further amended.

An approved amendment may be introduced when the floor is open. General debate shall be suspended and a speaker’s list shall be established for and against the amendment.

A motion to close the debate will be in order after the committee has heard one speaker for the amendment and one against. The chair recognizes two speakers against the motion to close the debate and a vote of two-thirds is required for closure.

When debate is closed on the amendment, the committee shall move to an immediate vote. Once the committee has acted upon the amendment, general debate according to the general speakers list shall resume.

For the amendments in the EP Committees, signature of at least five Members of Parliament or of at least two Political Parties Representatives is required.
Amendments:	

Delegates may amend any Political Party Common Policy Guideline that has been introduced. An amendment must have the approval of the chair. Amendments to amendments are out of order; however, an amended part of a Political Party Common Policy Guideline may be further amended.An approved amendment may be introduced when the floor is open. General debate shall be suspended and a speaker’s list shall be established for and against the amendment.

A motion to close the debate will be in order after the committee has heard one speaker for the amendment and one against. The chair recognizes two speakers against the motion to close the debate and a vote of two-thirds is required for closure.	

When debate is closed on the amendment, the committee shall move to an immediate vote. Once the committee has acted upon the amendment, general debate according to the general speakers list shall resume.	

Please refer to “Pre-session of the Political Parties” to see the form of debate which shall take place during all three Political Party Meetings.

33) Competence: Questions of competence are limited to questioning whether the committee has proper jurisdiction to discuss a document or amendment. A motion to question the competence of the committee to discuss a final document or amendment is in order only immediately after the draft final document or amendment has been introduced. The motion requires a two-thirds vote p to pass and is debatable to the extend of one speaker for and one against. Questions of competence of a committee to discuss an approved topic area are not in order. 

Parliamentary Points

Interruption of Speeches and Rising to Points: No interruption is acceptable in the duration of a speech by a point except a personal privilege. It is allowed to raise for a point when the floor is
open or when the speaker yields the floor to points of information, to another delegate or to the Committee Chair.

34)	Points of Personal Privilege: Such points must refer to the comfort and well-being of the delegate, may not refer to content of any speech, or may only interrupt a speech if the speech can not be clearly heard or if the delegate experiences uncomfortable conditions that prevent him/her from fully participating in the work of the committee.

35)	Points of Order: Such point may relate to procedural matters only, and may interrupt a speech only when the speech itself is out of order. Delegates should rise to this point only to indicate an instance of incorrect parliamentary procedure. The chair may rule out of order those points that are dilatory or improper.

36)	Points of Information: Such points may be directed to the chair or to the speaker who has the floor, presuming the speaker has consented to yield to points of information. A point of information must be formulated as a question. As series of questions will not be in order. The point of information must be limited to one question.

37)	Points of Parliamentary Inquiry: Such points are points of information directed to the Chair concerning rules of procedures.

38)	Division of the Question: After debate on a substantive motion has been closed a delegate may move that different parts of the motion be voted on separately. Sub-clauses may not be divided in this way. The only substantive vote on a motion to divide the question is the final vote on the final communiqu~/proposal/communication; that is, voting on whether to divide the question is itself a procedural matter.

The Chair will, at this point take any further motions to divide the question and will arrange them in order of most least severe. The most severe proposal shall be the first debated.

If an objection is made to the proposal to divide, two speakers for and two against the motion will be heard, whereupon the motion shall be voted on. If the motion receives the simple majority needed to pass the resolution or the amendment shall be divided part to determine whether it shall be included in the final substantive vote on the resolution as a whole.

Those parts of a substantive proposal that are subsequently passed shall be recombined in to the final document and shall be put to a (substantive) vote as a whole. If all the main clauses of the draft document are rejected, then the proposal shall be considered to have been rejected as a whole.

Voting:	Each member may vote “Yes” or “No” or “Abstain” on substantive matters.

A Simple Majority requires “yes” votes from more than half of the members voting either “Yes” or “No”. Abstentions will not count either for or against the adoption of a motion. The resolution will pass if the number for exceeds the number against regardless of abstentions. Ties fail.

A Two-Thirds Majority requires at least twice as many “yes” votes as “no” votes. Voting shall be done by placard except in the case of a roll call vote. After the end of voting procedures on a final document, one speaker from each side (yes, no, abstain) will be allowed to explain their vote at the discretion of the Chair. There will be no rights to explain vote on amendments.

A Qualified Majority Each country is given a different number of votes in rough proportion to its population size. 

An Absolute Majority: There must be no countries that say “no”. Also called unanimity.

Different voting procedures shall apply to different matters taken into consideration in different institutions of European Union.

Please refer to the appropriate section of this guide to see how each voting procedure functions in each institution.

RollCall Voting: After debate has been closed on any final Communique/proposal/communication or amendment a delegate may request a roll call vote. 2 other members of the committee must second such a motion. There is no roll call voting in Opening and Closing Sessions of the European Parliament. A motion for a roll-call vote is in order only for substantive motions. If the required number seconds is met the vote on the motion shall be a roll call vote. Delegates being called must vote as “Yes”, “No”, “Abstain”. There will be no more than two rounds of voting.

Precedence of Motions

Points and motions will be considered in the following order. All other rules shall be considered in any order of precedence.

1)	Parliamentary Points

Points of Personal Privilege (Rule 34)
Points of Order (Rule 35)
Points of Information (Rule 36)
Points of Parliamentary Inquiry (Rule 37)

2)	Procedural Motions that are not debatable

Suspensions and adjournment of the meeting (Rule 16)
Caucusing (Rule 14)
Moderated Caucusing (Rule 15)

3)	Procedural Motions applicable to a resolution or amendment under consideration

Closure of Debate (Rule 16)
Postponement of Debate (Rule 17)
Division of the Question (Rule 38)
Competence (Rule 32)

4)	Substantive Motions

Introduce an amendment (Rule 27)
Introduce a resolution (Rule 26)

Rules that are not arranged in any order of precedence
4)	Quorum (Rule 9)
5)	Agenda (Rule 12)
6)	Yields (Rule 21)
7)	Roll Call (Rule 39)

Awards

The main purpose and the nature of EUROFOFIUM is to create an active learning environment for future leaders. It is really important to preserve the atmosphere of EUROFORUM convenient to European Union in the spirit of cooperation and consensus. It is at each delegates hand to contribute to the learning environment of the simulation and to pose a successful presentation as exemplary delegates to the others. At the end of the Conference the EUROFORUM Secretariat will present awards to the delegates who fulfill the following criteria stated below to recognize the exceptional work of the delegates. The awards are determined for 9 working committees including the committees of European Parliament.

-	Active participation in formal and informal committee sessions

-	Willingness to co-operate with other delegates

-	Comprehension and presentation of Euroforum Union Policies

-	Effort to bring different aspects to the problems and ability to propose far-reaching soluI tions to the debated Topic Areas

-	Capacity to debate and convince the other delegates with his/her arguments

	- Skill in verbal expression, in formulation of documents

Guide To Writing A Resolution

Heading

1 )The title must be centered, in capital letters, above the main body of the resolution. The title can be as simple as is Draft Resolution

2)On the left margin and two lines below the title should be:

-The committee name
-The topic addressed by the resolution

Note Galatasaray Euro forum resolutions should not have sponsors.

Body

The resolution is written in the format of a long sentence. Just as grammatical rules make a language more uniform in its usage, so is the resolution in its format.

1)	The first section, consisting of Preambulatory Clauses, describes the problem being addressed, recalls past actions taken, explains the purpose of the resolution, and offers support for the operative clauses that follow.

2)	Each clause in the preamble begins with an underlined word and ends with a comma.

3)	Operative Clauses are numbered and state the action to be taken by the body. These clauses all begin with present tense active verbs, which are generally stronger words than those used in the Preamble. A semi-colon except the last, which ends with a period, follows each operative clause.

Content

Of course, the most important characteristic of the final resolution is the content, which the Director before approval will carefully scrutinize. A well-written resolution demonstrates:

1)	Familiarity with the problem: Relevant background information and previous United Nations actions are included.

2)	Recognition of the lssues:Arguments on the topic are specified early. At a minimum, the resolution should address in some form the issues listed in the “Questions a Resolution Must Answer~ section of the study guide.

3)	Conciseness: Every clause and phrase should have purpose.

4)	Good Form:An otherwise sound resolution suffers from clumsy grammar and should not suffer from sloppy format