This process is complex. First of all, all competent committees appoint an MEP to lead the process as a so-called ‘rapporteur’. This rapporteur is responsible for preparing a draft report. Once this report is presented, as a second step, all other members of that committee are given the opportunity to submit amendments to that draft report.
The third step are the committee negotiations. From each political group, one MEP is appointed as shadow rapporteur. The rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs negotiate in shadow meetings to arrive at a single text. This process can take several months.
Once an agreement has been reached between the rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs, it has to be agreed by the whole committee. It is not uncommon for texts to be amended at this stage and sometimes the text is even referred back to the negotiating table. After the committees agreed to a text, it was formally sent to the IMCO committee, being the lead committee on the DSA & DMA.
A similar process takes place in the IMCO committee itself, but the rapporteurs of the competent committees are also allowed to attend the committee negotiations. It is up to the rapporteur in the lead committee to weigh up all the interests of the various committees and arrive at one final text. The result of the negotiations is then voted on by the entire lead committee. This final text is eventually referred to the plenary session, where all members of parliament meet.
Due to the size and relevance of the DSA & DMA, many committees have been involved. For the DSA, ITRE (industry), JURI (legal affairs) and LIBE (justice) have a ‘high authority’. For the DMA, they are ECON (economic affairs) and ITRE (industry). In addition, numerous other committees have been involved that do draft an opinion report with a lower authority.