Rule 138 : Questions for written answer

1.   Any Member, a political group or a committee may put questions for written answer to the President of the European Council, to the Council, to the Commission or to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in accordance with criteria laid down in an annex to these Rules of Procedure (1). The content of questions shall be the sole responsibility of their authors.

2.   Questions shall be submitted in electronic form to the President. Issues concerning the admissibility of a question shall be decided by the President. The President's decision shall not be based exclusively on the provisions of the annex referred to in paragraph 1 but on the provisions of these Rules of Procedure in general. The questioner shall be notified of the President's reasoned decision.

3.   Each Member, political group or committee may submit a maximum of twenty questions over a rolling period of three months. As a general rule, the questions shall be answered by the addressee within six weeks of being forwarded to it. However, any Member, political group or committee may every month designate one of its questions as a “priority question” to be answered by the addressee within three weeks of being forwarded to it.

4.   A question may be supported by Members other than the author. Such questions shall only count  towards  the author’s and not the supporter’s maximum number of questions  under  paragraph 3.

5.   If a question was not answered by the addressee within the deadline provided for in paragraph 3, the committee responsible may decide to place it on the agenda for its next meeting.

6.   Questions, and answers, including their related annexes, thereto, shall be published on Parliament’s website.