Europaudvalget 2011-12
EUU Alm.del Bilag 521
Offentligt
CONTRIBUTION OF THE XLVII COSAC
Copenhagen, 22-24 April 2012
1. Re-launching the Single Market
1.1. COSAC recognises that for the last 20 years the Single Market has been a key drivingforce in European integration that has facilitated free movement of goods, persons,services and capital and stimulated economic growth and employment in Europe as wellas in other parts of the world.1.2. The Single Market, together with the social cohesion policies and democratic participationof people, is an essential element in fighting the effects of the current financial andeconomic crisis within the “Europe 2020 strategy”. COSAC therefore welcomes theEuropean Commission’s Single Market Act, which seeks to revitalise the Single Marketthat has a key role to play in fostering growth and employment in Europe.1.3. COSAC notes that the political consideration of initiatives in this field may raise substantivediscussions in national Parliaments and the European Parliament.1.4. COSAC believes that the 12 priority key actions of the Single Market Act will be crucial tosupport growth and employment in Europe.1.5. COSAC therefore urges the Council and the European Parliament to bring the 12 prioritykey actions of the Single Market Act to a successful conclusion as soon as possible,without prejudice to the principle of subsidiarity, with the aim of creating new momentumand dynamism in the European economy.1.6. COSAC however notes that the Single Market still has untapped potential and thereforewelcomes the Commission’s plan to further deepen the Single Market by taking stock ofprogress achieved with the Single Market Act before the end of 2012 with the aim oflaunching a comprehensive set of new proposals for priority actions.1.7. COSAC calls on national Parliaments and the European Parliament to consider how toimprove citizens’ confidence and consumer opportunities in the Single Market and makethem more aware of the opportunities it offers to them.1.8. COSAC underlines the importance of the social dimension of the Single Market with theoverall objective of achieving a strong Single Market that is socially, economically andenvironmentally sustainable.A Single Market for Services
2.1. COSAC emphasises that a well-functioning Single Market in services is an importantprerequisite for generating growth and jobs in Europe. COSAC therefore calls on all EUMember States to ensure full and complete implementation of the Services Directive.
2.2. COSAC furthermore welcomes the Commission’s proposal to extend an improvedEuropean standardisation system to services and thereby making standardisationprocedures more effective, efficient, timely and inclusive.2.3. COSAC looks forward to the presentation of the Commission’s report on the ServicesDirective in June at the European Council.3.
Sustainable growth and green economy
3.1. COSAC welcomes the EU’s objective of promoting the transition to a resource efficient andgreen economy in Europe. COSAC supports the creation of a sustainable Single Marketthrough the development of an inclusive, low-carbon, green knowledge-based economy.3.2. COSAC welcomes the Commission’s roadmap to a resource efficient Europe which buildson many existing instruments such as waste legislation, green public procurement, researchprogrammes and eco-design, and calls for continuous actions on ambitious andcomprehensive EU energy policy, targeted at the creation of the integrated energyinfrastructure and single energy market, which takes into account the resources andeconomic situation of each Member State.
The Digital Single Market
4.1. COSAC underlines the need to complete a truly single and secure Digital Market by 2015,estimated by the Commission to be worth 110 billion Euros a year, to facilitate crossborder use of on-line services, secure on-line payments and introduce an effective disputesettlement mechanism.4.2. In order to deploy the full potential of the digital economy COSAC calls on the Commissionand Member States to ensure a rapid implementation of the Commission’s action plan one-commerce to remove the obstacles which slow down development of Europe's Interneteconomy.4.3. COSAC looks forward to the submission of a new proposal on e-signature and onagreement of rules on online dispute resolution and on roaming by June 2012.5.
Transposition and enforcement
5.1. COSAC welcomes the Commission's 2011 "Governance Check-up" that for the first timepresents an integrated view of the various tools used in a "Single Market governancecycle", including the internal Market Scoreboard, Solvit annual report and "Your Europe"website. However COSAC notes that there is a need for closer monitoring of theapplication of Single Market legislation. COSAC therefore welcomes the Commission'scommitment to continue improving governance aspects of the Single Market with the aimof reducing the number of infringements proceedings.
5.2. COSAC calls on Member States to improve their transposition and application of EUlegislation to ensure a level playing field for all in the Single Market. COSAC regrets that16 Member States did not meet the 1% transposition deficit target in 2011 set by theEuropean Council. COSAC therefore supports the Commission’s efforts in trying to getMember States to bring down the transposition deficit below the 1% target and reducetransposition delays.5.3. COSAC takes note of the numerical targets limiting the transposition and compliancedeficit for national legislation to 0.5%, as outlined by the Commission in its communicationon the Single Market Act.5.4. COSAC welcomes that the Commission will present a report to the European Council inJune on possible means to enhance the implementation of Single Market legislation andimprove its enforcement.5.5. COSAC calls for an intensified dialogue on how to improve Member States’implementation and enforcement of Single Market legislation.
Proposal for strengthening the political dialogue with the European Commission
6.1. COSAC urges the Commission to develop further the existing political dialogue betweennational Parliaments and the Commission. In particular it would be desirable to strengthenthis dialogue on the European Semester and on the enforcement and implementation ofSingle Market rules.6.2. COSAC considers that interparliamentary cooperation between national Parliaments andthe European Parliament constitutes one of the essential instruments in the process ofexchanging best practices at the European level. For example recent meetings on theEuropean Semester have allowed the development of this cooperation in the field ofbudgetary, economic and employment policies within the EU.6.3. Regarding the European Semester it could be envisaged that a Member of theCommission or by agreement a senior official appears before the competent committee ofnational Parliaments to respond to questions on the Commission’s Annual Growth Surveyor the Commission’s Country-Specific Recommendations that are made on the basis of theNational Reform Programmes and the Stability and Convergence Programmes submittedby Member States.6.4. COSAC calls on the Commission to give national Parliaments the opportunity to submitenquiries in writing to the Commission on legislative proposals and consultationdocuments (including the European Semester) and on the enforcement andimplementation of Single Market rules.6.5. COSAC believes that the opportunity (under the political dialogue) for national Parliamentsto feed views into the pre-legislative phase of the EU proposals is particularly importantand therefore invites the Commission to alert national Parliaments to all publicconsultations when they are launched and to make public contributions received from
national Parliaments regarding consultation documents. COSAC notes the important roleof national Parliaments in forming Member States’ opinion on EU affairs.6.6. COSAC invites the Commission to make contributions received from national Parliamentspublic under a specific heading of the Commission website where the results ofconsultation are summarised. COSAC also invites the Commission to ensure that, whereappropriate, national Parliament contributions on consultations are explicitly referred to inthe explanatory memorandum accompanying any subsequent Commission proposals.Such reference would highlight the particular value of contributions from nationalParliaments within the framework of the political dialogue.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE XLVII COSAC
Copenhagen, 22-24 April 2012
1. Bi-annual Report
1.1. COSAC welcomes the 17th Bi-annual Report prepared by the COSAC Secretariat andthanks the Secretariat for its excellent work. The Report provides comprehensiveinformation on the information flow to and from parliaments as far as EU documents areconcerned and on the involvement of national Parliaments in the re-launch of the SingleMarket.2.
Access to EU and EU related documents by national Parliaments
2.1. COSAC notes that the exchange of information between Parliaments is becomingincreasingly common and indeed essential, as a result of the strengthened role ofParliaments in the Treaty of Lisbon.2.2. COSAC emphasises that access to EU documents and EU related documents producedby Governments is essential to ensure that national Parliaments can properly carry outtheir scrutiny functions.2.3. COSAC notes the frequent and varied use made of the documents transmitted directly bythe European Commission to national Parliaments and welcomes the formalisedtransmission arrangements included in the Treaty of Lisbon.2.4. COSAC acknowledges it is for each Member State to independently determinearrangements for Parliamentary access to EU and EU related documents. As far asaccess to Council documents is concerned, COSAC notes that 28 nationalParliaments/Chambers have access to Limité documents, this amounts to 70% of allParliaments/Chambers - a significant proportion. It also notes that 17 out of 40 nationalParliaments/Chambers have access to EU Restricted documents and eightParliaments/Chambers have access to EU Confidential documents.2.5. COSAC highlights that a number of Parliaments have access to Council documents and/orEU related documents through a database but notes that the majority ofParliaments/Chambers continue to be sent documents by their Government.3.
Exchange of information between Parliaments
3.1. COSAC welcomes that IPEX is being used by staff from a large majority of Parliaments ona daily or weekly basis.3.2. COSAC recognises that the most commonly used sources of information from otherParliaments are the network of national Parliament Representatives based in Brussels andthe IPEX database.
3.3. COSAC takes note that although a number of Parliaments consider IPEX to be reliable orvery reliable, slightly more believe that IPEX, though a valuable tool, needs improvement.To improve the reliability of IPEX, COSAC encourages national Parliaments to uploadmore comprehensive information to IPEX in a timely manner and to use the IPEX symbolscorrect.3.4. COSAC is pleased to note that an overwhelming majority of Parliaments/Chambersprovide translations or summaries of important decisions in English and/or French andwelcomes this development. COSAC thanks the European Parliament for its work intranslating reasoned opinions into 21 EU languages.3.5. COSAC considers it beneficial that reasoned opinions are uploaded onto IPEX within oneor two days of adoption by a large majority of Parliaments/Chambers. It calls on allParliaments/Chambers to follow this example of best practice.3.6. COSAC welcomes the extensive use made of additional parliamentary networks sourcesof information such as ECPRD and additional sources such as the COSAC website andconsiders all attempts made to exchange information between Parliaments as constructiveand helpful for enhancing Parliamentary scrutiny of EU affairs.
