MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PRESIDENTIAL TROIKA OF COSAC 18 JULY 2005 PRESENT AT THE MEETING: Lord  Grenfell  (UK,  House  of  Lords),  joint  Chairman;  Mr  Jimmy  Hood  (UK,  House  of Commons),   joint   Chairman;   Mr   Ben   Fayot   (Luxembourg   Parliament);   Mr   Albrecht Konecny   (Federal   Council   of   Austrian   Parliament);   Mr   Werner   Fasslabend   (National Council   of   the   Austrian   Parliament);   and    Mr    Edward   MacMillan-Scott   (European Parliament). AGENDA: 1) Agenda of the XXXIV COSAC in London on 9-11 October 2005; 2) Any other business. 1) Agenda of the XXXIV COSAC in London Lord Grenfell started the meeting of the Presidential Troika by welcoming the delegations to Westminster. Lord  Grenfell  then  introduced  the  agenda  that  the  UK  was  proposing  for  the  plenary meeting of the XXXIV COSAC to be held in October in London, which had been circulated to  delegates  in  advance  of  the  Troika  meeting.  Lord  Grenfell  noted  that  there  were  two additional proposals for agenda points that had been considered by the UK Presidency. First,  the  UK  had  received  a  letter  from  Mr  van  der  Linden,  Chairman  of  the  European Affairs Committee of the Dutch Senate, requesting that the XXXIV COSAC should discuss the  Commission’s  proposal  for  an  EU  Agency  for  Fundamental  Rights.  The  European Affairs Committee of the Dutch Senate was concerned that the proposed EU Agency should not  unnecessarily  duplicate  the  work  that  was  already  being  done  by  other  international organisations,  especially,  the  Council  of  Europe  and  the  Organisation  for  Security  and Cooperation in Europe. The Presidential Troika discussed the proposal from the Dutch Senate and  agreed that the item  should  not  be  placed  on  the  proposed  agenda  for  the  XXXIV  COSAC.  In  choosing items for the agenda, it was important to select those issues where a discussion in COSAC could  add  value  to  the  subject.  On  the  proposal  from  the  Dutch  Senate,  Lord  Grenfell suggested that it would be unlikely that COSAC could agree on the way forward, and so it was  difficult  to  see  what  COSAC  could  usefully  contribute  to  the  issue.  Any  possible overlap between the proposed EU Agency  and other international organisations should be resolved by the institutions themselves and could not be settled by COSAC. The  second  additional  proposal  for  the  October  agenda  arose  from  the  Contribution  from the XXXIII COSAC in May in Luxembourg, where COSAC agreed to return to the issue of the  management  and  control  of  the  EU  Budget  and  agreed  to  invite  the  President  of  the Court of Auditors for further discussion. The   Presidential   Troika   discussed   the   proposal   for   COSAC   to   further   discuss   the management and control of the EU Budget and agreed that the subject should not be placed on the agenda of the XXXIV COSAC as a separate item. Lord Grenfell noted that the issue

could be raised at the October meeting under the debate on future topics for discussion in COSAC (in accordance with Article 7 of COSAC’s  Rules of Procedure). There  being  no  further  proposals  from  the  delegations,  the  Presidential  Troika  agreed  to propose  to the COSAC Chairpersons  the draft agenda for the XXXIV COSAC in October in London as attached to these minutes. 2) Any other business Special Guests Lord Grenfell informed the Presidential Troika that the UK had received requests from the Presidents  of  the  Regional  Partnership  Parliaments  and  from  the  President  of COSAP  for COSAP to be invited as a special guest to COSAC meetings. The UK had also received a letter from  the President of CALRE asking for CALRE to be invited as a special guest to COSAC meetings and proposing a written agreement between COSAC and CALRE. The Presidential Troika agreed that the requests for COSAP and CALRE to be  invited to COSAC meetings should be considered by the COSAC Chairpersons as part of their debate on the interpretation of Article 4.3 of COSAC’s Rules of Procedure. Following this debate, the  UK Presidency should  write to  the President of the Regional Partnership Parliaments, the President of COSAP and the President of CALRE to inform them of the outcome of the debate. The  Presidential  Troika  agreed  to  recommend  to  the  COSAC  chairpersons   that  under COSAC’s  current  Rules  of  Procedure  future  COSAC  presidencies  could,  after  consulting the  Presidential  Troika,  issue  invitations  to  the  national  parliament  of  Ukraine,  COSAP, CALRE or other outside institutions to participate in COSAC meetings as special guests if there was an item on the agenda of definite clear interest to them.  The Presidential Troika further  agreed  to  recommend  to  the  COSAC  chairpersons  that  it  would  be  important  to consider invitations on a case-by-case basis and to avoid a permanent list of special guests, which  would  be  inflexible.  The  Presidential  Troika  considered  it  would  be  important  for Presidential Troikas to give particular attention in the future to the issue of special guests, and  the  Presidential  Troika  accordingly  agreed  to  give  consideration  to  the  issue  of  who should  be  invited  as  special  guests  to  the  XXXIV  COSAC  in  October  in  London.  Lord Grenfell invited the other delegations to send any proposals to the UK Presidency as soon as possible. Contribution Lord Grenfell informed the Presidential Troika that the UK Presidency had received a draft contribution for the XXXIV COSAC from Mr Herman De Croo, Chairman of the Federal Advisory  Committee  of  the  Belgian  Parliament.  An  exchange  of  views  took  place.  The Presidential Troika agreed that the draft should be put on the table for consideration by the Chairpersons.  The  issues  in  Mr  De  Croo’s  draft  text  could  then  be  raised  in  a  relevant debate by any delegate wishing to do so rather than having a separate item on the agenda for the meeting of the Chairpersons. Lord Grenfell  informed the Presidential Troika that, in accordance with  Article 10.3 of the Rules   of   Procedure,  the  UK   Presidency   would  issue   a   draft   contribution  to   COSAC delegations in good time before the XXXIV COSAC to give them a reasonable period for scrutiny  and  remarks.  The  final  draft  would  be  prepared  by  the  COSAC  Chairpersons  at their meeting on the afternoon of 10 October 2005 for adoption by COSAC the following day.