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EUU Alm.del Bilag 203
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MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CHAIRPERSONS OF COSACDublin, Ireland, 28 January 2013AGENDA:1. Opening address by Mr Dominic HANNIGAN T. D., Chairman of the JointCommittee on European Union Affairs, IrishHouses of the Oireachtas2. Adoption of the agenda, procedural questions and miscellaneous matters3. Priorities of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union –guest speaker: Mr Brendan HOWLIN T. D., Minister for PublicExpenditure and Reform4. The Future of Europe: towards a genuine Economic and Monetary Union– guest speaker:Mr Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ,European Commission Vice-President for Inter-institutional Affairs and AdministrationPROCEEDINGSIN THE CHAIR: Mr Dominic HANNIGAN T.D., Chairman of the Joint Committeeon European Union Affairs, IrishHouses of the OireachtasMr HANNIGAN welcomed the Chairpersons participating at the COSAC meeting forthe first time: Mr Arto AAS, Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee ofEstonianRiigikogu;Mr Janvit GOLOB, Chairman of the Commission forInternational Relations and European Affairs of SlovenianDržavni svet.Mr HANNIGAN also welcomed the Chairpersons who were attending the COSACmeeting for the first time as Chairpersons (who had previously participated inCOSAC meetings as members of national delegations): Mr Miroslav KREJCA,Chairman of the Committee on the European Union Affairs of CzechSenát;MrGediminas KIRKILAS, Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs ofLithuanianSeimas.Mr HANNIGAN offered a special welcome to Ms TsetskaTSACHEVA, President of BulgarianNarodno sabranie.1. Opening address by Mr Dominic HANNIGAN T. D., Chairman of the JointCommittee on European Union Affairs, IrishHouses of the OireachtasMr HANNIGAN opened the meeting by underlining the development of the role ofnational Parliaments in the EU. He observed significant changes in economicgovernance in the EU and Euro area. Agreements had been made concerning a SingleSupervisory Mechanism (SSM) for banks. The Fiscal Compact Treaty had enteredinto force at the start of this year. The so-called "two-pack" proposal for strengtheningbudgetary surveillance had been prepared and might come into force some timeduring the year. Mr HANNIGAN noted that national Parliaments had to ensure thatthey held their governments to account for actions taken at the EU level. He explainedthat national Parliaments had to ensure jointly that their voices were heard at theEuropean level. He highlighted the opportunities for national Parliaments to maximisedialogue and cooperation with colleagues in the European Parliament.Mr HANNIGAN emphasised that, while many essential decisions had been takenrecently, it was of critical importance to make sure that citizens were kept involved inthe decision-making process. It was vital that such debates took place not just at the
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EU level but at the national level as well to bring greater democratic legitimacy andaccountability to this process. Mr HANNIGAN said that the key objective remainedto ensure democratic legitimacy and accountability at the level where decisions weretaken and implemented. However, in practice, the complexities of the multilevel EUsystem made this less than straightforward. He said that debates about the role ofnational Parliaments in the creation of a real economic union must continue.2. Adoption of the agenda, procedural questions and miscellaneous mattersThe agenda was adopted by the Chairpersons without amendment. Mr HANNIGANinformed the participants that the Troika had discussed the draft agenda for theupcoming XLIX COSAC that would be held on 23-25 June 2013 and he presented thetopics on the agenda.Mr HANNIGAN briefed delegates on the Troika’s meeting that took place the daybefore. He stated that the Troika had agreed to invite representatives from NorwegianStortingand from the Northern IrelandAssemblyas special guests to theChairpersons' and Plenary meetings.Mr HANNIGAN also noted that IrishHouses of the Oireachtaswould send a letter tothe European Union Affairs Committees of national Parliaments asking them toconfirm their intentions to maintain the current co-financing mechanism for theCOSAC Secretariat for two years starting from 1 January 2014.Mr HANNIGAN presented the topics to be discussed at the Plenary: 1. Taking Stockand Looking to the Future; 2. The Future of European Integration; 3. Delivering onDevelopment; 4. Enlargement – Maintaining Momentum; 5. A European Future forYoung Citizens.Mr HANNIGAN said that a letter from SlovenianDržavni zbor,had been receivedand he gave the floor toMr Roman JAKIČ, Chairmanof the Committee on theEuropean Union Affairs of SlovenianDržavni zbor,to present the proposal.Mr JAKIČnoted that the Committee suggested having a broad discussion, in thePlenary, on the role of national Parliaments in creating the Economic and MonetaryUnion. Ms Lykke FRIIS, Member of DanishFolketing,noted that eleven nationalParliaments had gathered in Copenhagen on 26 November 2012 to discuss theirconcerns about a worrying lack of concrete proposals on how national Parliamentscould strengthen democratic legitimacy and accountability. The participants of themeeting had agreed to write a letter about these concerns to Mr Herman VANROMPUY, President of the European Council. Ms FRIIS invited representatives ofnational Parliaments to the second informal meeting in Copenhagen on 11 March2013. The parliamentarians from the DutchTweede Kamer,from the PolishSenatandfrom the GermanBundestagshared their opinions in support of the proposal bySlovenianDržavni zbor.Mr Miguel Ángel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ, Vice-Presidentof the European Parliament, noted that the agenda of the Plenary was very busy. Hesaid that it was impossible to add more subjects to it unless somebody would suggesttaking some topics out. Mr MARTÍNEZ noted that the item suggested by theSlovenian colleagues was an issue for the Speakers’ Conference, which would takeplace in April. Mr HANNIGAN concluded that, although the agenda of the Plenarywas very busy, the 19thBi-annual Report would be an opportunity to debate on the
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suggested topic. It would be possible for the conclusions of the second informalmeeting in Copenhagen on 11 March 2013 and the Speakers’ Conference conclusionsto be reported at the COSAC Plenary. It was agreed not to make any amendments tothe agenda of the COSAC Plenary.Mr HANNIGAN presented the draft outline of the 19th Bi-annual Report whichwould include four chapters to examine the following important issues: 1. GenuineEconomic and Monetary Union; 2. European Semester 2013; 3. EU Enlargement; 4.Subsidiarity. The questionnaire is expected to be sent out to each parliament inFebruary.3. Priorities of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union - guestspeaker: Mr Brendan HOWLIN T.D., Minister for Public Expenditure andReformMr Brendan HOWLIN said Ireland remained a firm believer in the EU and theEuropean project and the benefits of working together to resolve the commonchallenges. The crisis had shown that the EU can respond effectively to severechallenges when its members act together cohesively and decisively. The crisis hadalso shown real flaws in the EU's governance. Ireland would do all that it could toimplement the necessary reforms at both national and EU level. In this context, heunderlined the responsibility of national Parliaments for contributing to the effectivefunctioning of the Union and the importance of inter-parliamentary meetings whichtake place between national Parliaments and the European Parliament.Against the backdrop of the benefits of EU enlargement and the unprecedented periodof sixty years of peace in Europe for which the EU had received the Nobel PeacePrize, Mr HOWLIN pointed out that unemployment and youth unemployment were atan unacceptable high level.The Presidency programme would focus on the objectives of achieving stability, jobsand growth. Mr HOWLIN confirmed the Presidency's commitment to implementingthe European Semester. He welcomed the enhanced parliamentary involvement in thisprocess, including the European Parliamentary Week, which had been supported aswell during the informal Meeting of EU Affairs Ministers the week before as a way toincrease the roles of national Parliaments and the European Parliament for providinglegitimacy and accountability. In terms of legislative priorities, Mr HOWLINmentioned the early completion of the “two-pack” proposals with the EuropeanParliament; the proposals for Banking Union such as the SSM proposal and otherproposals to strengthen financial regulation to protect consumers.Focusing on the delivery of long-term sustainable growth and jobs, he listed the Irishpriorities as the Youth Guarantee, providing young people leaving school with anoffer of employment, continued education or training, and measures to improve thefree movement of workers. In order to drive competitiveness and growth, thePresidency would focus on the Single Market Act and the Digital Agenda andprogrammes for small and medium-sized enterprises. Finalising agreement with theParliament on the 7th Environment Action Plan and fighting climate change wouldalso be a priority.
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Mr HOWLIN cautioned that many Presidency priorities would be dependent on theconclusion of negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). ThePresidency had to secure the European Parliament's agreement not only on the MFFbut also on future financing programmes. The Minister also highlighted theimportance of the trade relations with Canada and the US for boosting the EU'sexternal trade and the presidency's commitment to promote and advance theenlargement process.He said that greater engagement between the EU and its citizens was necessary toensure that citizens could express their views and opinions on EU policies, legislationand the future of Europe and take well-informed decisions in referendums on the EU.Members of national Parliaments and their EU Affairs Committees and the EuropeanParliament had to play a critical role in this process.In the debate which followed, 21 speakers took the floor. The Irish Presidency'spriorities were mainly welcomed by speakers and, in particular, by Mr GediminasKIRKILAS, LithuanianSeimas,who confirmed that Lithuania would continue towork along the same lines and to deepen its approach during its Presidency during thesecond semester of 2013, especially in relation to the Banking Union and youthunemployment.As concerns theMFF,participants, including Mr Rainer ROBRA, GermanBundesrat,observed that the gap between the negotiating positions was narrowing butmore compromise was required. Mr Herman DE CROO, BelgianChambre desreprésentants,said that with just one percent of EU GDP many tasks had to befulfilled. Mr Fernand BODEN, LuxembourgChambre des députés,said manydossiers were dependent of an agreement between Council and the EuropeanParliament on the MFF which was amplified by Mr MARTÍNEZ, who pointed outthat the Irish Presidency would not be able to achieve its goals without an agreementamong Member States and with the European Parliament. Fair allocation andsufficiency of funding was advocated by Ms Ana BIRCHALL, RomanianCameraDeputatilor,as was the allocation of adequate funding for the Europe 2020 strategyby Mr Edmund WITTBRODT, PolishSenat.Mr René LEEGTE, DutchTweedeKamer,was critical that only four national Parliaments (Dutch, UK, Swedish andDanish parliaments) held their governments to account for the way they collectivelyspent 90% of EU funds and encouraged other parliaments to follow this example.In his reply, Mr HOWLIN agreed to the need for a spirit of compromise in theEuropean Council, but pointed out that it was mainly the responsibility of thePresident of the European Council to forge this compromise. He reiterated the linkbetween a successful conclusion of the negotiations on the MFF and the adoption ofabout 70 codecision legislative files. As Minister for public expenditure he personallywelcomed the Dutch approach of expenditure screening.On theBanking UnionMr Simon SUTOUR, FrenchSénat,said that despite thestabilisation mechanisms and the Treaty on Stability, Convergence and Governance inthe EMU being in place now, much remained to be done to further stabilise the eurozone. Mr Edgar MAYER, AustrianBundesrat,endorsed the view that everythingshould be done not to repeat recent problems. Mr Averof NEOFYTOU, CypriotVouliton Antiprosopon,explicitly supported the creation of a SSM and the direct
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recapitalisation of banks. Mr MARTÍNEZ highlighted that a Banking Union would beincomplete without a fiscal union and asked whether for the Irish presidency thepolitical union was on the agenda or not. Mr Rubén MORENO, SpanishCortesGenerales,further added that, when debates were held about democratic legitimacyand accountability, it was necessary to talk about a political union during a newConvention too. With regard to the announced referendum in the UK, Mr GuntherKRICHBAUM, GermanBundestag,criticised the proposed date as being too late andinsisted that the European Union was not a cherry-picking exercise and advantages offorty years of EU membership should be highlighted.In a general response, Mr HOWLIN pointed to the roadmap for the Banking Unionadopted by the European Council in December last year which had to be concretisedin the coming six months. He replied that the European Council conclusions on theBanking Union strongly resonated with him but that now concrete work had to bedone to overcome the vicious circle of bank and sovereign debts. Mr HOWLINrenewed the commitment of Ireland to contribute to the establishment of an evercloser European Union. To Mr MORENO's remarks he replied that before aConvention could be called, politicians had to engage in the debate and to set out aroad where they could take the people with them. To get the consent of peoplecommunicating tools and strategies had to be further developed.Mr MARTÍNEZ criticised that lack of the social dimension of Europe among the Irishpriorities and asked how the Presidency intended to follow up on theYouthGuaranteeschemes. Tackling youth unemployment was supported by Mr SUTOURand Mr MAYER who quoted the Austrian model. Replying to the remarks, MrHOWLIN said the Presidency first had to obtain the Council's views on the proposedYouth Guarantee, but reminded them that the portability of pensions and therecognition of professional qualifications would contribute to realising the socialdimension in a single market for labour.While numerous participants supported the Irish Presidency in its efforts toreinvigorate theenlargementprocess, participants from candidate countries informedthe meeting about the progress made in their respective accession negotiations: MrArni Thor SIGURDSSON, IcelandicAlthingi,described the process of negotiations asmainly being on track, even though the current government decided not to open newchapters or to finalise new negotiating positions before the forthcoming nationalelections in April. Mr MehmetTEKELİOĞLU,TurkishTürkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi,expressed his hope that a fresh start for the EU-Turkey negotiations could be madeand new chapters could be opened during the first semester, while Ms HajrulaMISINI, Former Yugoslav Republic of MacedonianSobranie,hoped that a date forthe opening of the negotiations could be set. Mr Daniel MONDEKAR, CroatianHrvatski Sabor,offered Croatia's support for other Western Balkan countries inhelping prepare for EU accession. Lord Timothy BOSWELL, UKHouse of Lords,announced that his Committee was about to prepare a report about the lessons learnedfrom previous enlargements which would be available soon.Replying to the interventions, Mr HOWLIN underlined the necessity to have themindset that the European Union has not yet set its boundaries and said he hoped thatpersisting stalemates could be overcome in the next six months. However, every
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government of a candidate country had the right to set its own pace for negotiationsand the decision of the Icelandic government in this regard was to be respected.4. The Future of Europe: towards a genuine Economic and Monetary Union –guest speaker:Mr Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ,European Commission Vice-President forInter-institutional Affairs and Administration.Vice-President MarošŠEFČOVIČexplained the Commission's perspective on thecrisis over the past 5 years. He said that there was not a "quick fix" and it had becomeclear that a serious overhaul of the economic governance of Economic and MonetaryUnion (EMU) was required to better reflected the interdependence of EU economies.This had led to measures such as the "six-pack" and the "two-pack", improvingeconomic governance, the European Stability Mechanism – proposals that would havebeen unthinkable a few years ago. He said that a stronger, deeper and more effectiveEMU was needed to ensure that Europe never sees another crisis on this scale again.To increase citizens' trust in the EU he proposed that the EU must act collectively, tofind long-lasting solutions to the crisis and set out a clear vision to ensure deeperEMU.This had led to the Commission to issue the Blueprint for deeper EMU published inNovember 2012 and to the European Council meeting conclusions in December 2012based on the proposal from the four presidents put forward by President Van Rompuy,which focused on things such asex antecoordination of major national reforms;contractual arrangements between the Member States and the EU institutions; andsolidarity mechanisms at EU level to support the implementation of reforms.On theBlueprint,Vice-PresidentŠEFČOVIČsaid that it included short-, medium-and long term measures to bring about a genuine EMU and whether these proposalsrequired treaty change. He said that this could only be achieved at 27. He recognisedthat not everyone wanted to move at the same pace so proposed that the euro zonecountries should be allowed to progress faster. He said that during the IrishPresidency the focus should be on current proposals on economic governance, the"two-pack" and the SSM, and the adoption of the MFF.Vice-PresidentŠEFČOVIČsaid that in theshort-term,the competitiveness andconvergence instrument, including contractual arrangements with Member States,would be the Blueprint focus. This entailed an obligation on the part of MemberStates to fulfil commitments, which would be matched by a guarantee of EU fundingto facilitate the implementation of important structural reforms. The creation of aSingle Resolution Mechanism to deal with banks in difficulty would also be proposedin the short term. In themedium-term(18 months to 5 years), the Blueprintenvisaged moving towards a degree of budgetary integration or "sharing ofsovereignty", which would require the amendment of the Treaties. In thelong-term(more than 5 years), he said that the European Union should move towards a fullBanking Union, a full fiscal union and a full economic union, based on theprogressive pooling of sovereignty.On the issue ofdemocratic legitimacy and accountability,the Vice-President said itwas necessary substantially reinforce the role of parliaments at both national andEuropean level. He proposed this be based on two basic principles: the need to ensure6
that accountability for decisions taken falls at the level where that decision was made,whilst also taking account of the level where the decision had an impact; and that thelevel of democratic legitimacy remained commensurate with the degree of transfer ofpowers from Member States to the European level. He said national Parliaments had a"vital role to play in bridging the so-called 'democratic gap' between 'Europe' and itscitizens" as well as holding governments to account.Vice-PresidentŠEFČOVIČsaid that the Commission wanted a better dialogue withnational Parliaments on Annual Growth Surveys and Country-SpecificRecommendations so that national Parliaments could feed in their views at an earlystage. He suggested that after the Country Specific Recommendations were adopted,direct contacts between the Commission and national Parliaments should intensify sothey could "play a defining role in the crucial juncture between the European and thenational Semester".On therole of the EP,he said the Blueprint clearly emphasised its importance as theprimary way of ensuring democratic accountability and scrutiny at European level. Heargued that further economic integration should therefore result in commensurateinvolvement and direct participation of the European Parliament.He argued thatinterparliamentary cooperationwas of utmost importance. He saidthat Protocol 1 of the Treaty and Article 13 of the Fiscal compact provided therelevant tools for such cooperation and encouraged parliaments to put theseprovisions into practice.In the debate which followed, 22 speakers took the floor, many of whom raised pointsrelated to the topic of democratic legitimacy and accountability. Mr RichardHÖRCSIK, HungarianOrszággyűlés,said that national Parliaments rather thangovernments should be at the forefront of proposing measures to increaseaccountability. Mr Fritz NEUGEBAUER, AustrianNationalrat,questioned how tomarry the fact that decisions on budgets were primarily a sovereign power with thefact that a deeper EMU would introduce more of a European dimension. Ms ZandaKALNIŅA-LUKŞEVICA,LatvianSaeima,said that Parliaments needed to take anactive role to ensure the stability of the EU. Mr William CASH, UKHouse ofCommons,said that he did not believe that sovereignty could be shared and said hewas concerned about what he was hearing from the Commissioner and about manyparts of the Blueprint on democratic legitimacy. MrJAKIČ,and Lord BOSWELLquestioned the arrangements envisaged within the Blueprint because of the clearresponsibilities of national Parliaments in relation to their taxpayers and agreementand scrutiny of national budgets being one of the main powers of nationalParliaments.Commenting on the state of the dialogue between the European Commission andnational Parliaments, Ms FRIIS complained that the Commission had taken over 6months to reply to a written inquiry submitted by the Danish EU Affairs Committee.In reply, the Vice-President apologised for the delay and said he would continue topush for more conformity to the self-imposed 3 month deadline for replies. He waspleased to report the increased level of communication between national Parliamentsand the Commission year on year and he welcomed more parliamentary involvementin the construction of greater democratic legitimacy.
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Mr SUTOUR was concerned that too much was being decided at summits and it wasnecessary to open this up to also involve Parliaments. In this regard Mr RenéLEEGTE, DutchTweede Kamer,referred to the practice established by his chamberto scrutinise the Commission Work Programme in order to shortlist upcomingproposals which it considers of high political relevance. He proposed to announcesubsidiarity checks in order to facilitate coalitions and cooperation among nationalParliaments. This was complemented by the request of Ms Tineke STRIK, DutchEerste Kamer,who called for an improved access to Council documents includingthose relating to the EMU and the European Semester, to enable national Parliamentsto follow the negotiations.Mr Paschal DONOHOE, IrishHouses of the Oireachtas,noted that the stability inIreland was very fragile and said that incentives to reform had to be continued toensure the calm on the financial markets continued. On the EMU, Mr PhilippeMAHOUX, BelgianSénat,said that the Commission needed to look at the socialdimension of the EMU and in particular at measures to increase employment. MrPaulo MOTA PINTO, PortugueseAssembleia da Republica,quoting the interest ratesin Portugal, said that the EMU was not currently working as a level playing field andsaid he wanted to see this change. Vice-PresidentŠEFČOVIČreplied that as theconfidence of the financial markets increased, there had been an improvement but hecalled for countries such as Portugal to be better supported in their reform process.A number of Members commented on the UK position and the recent speech byPrime Minister David CAMERON, including Mr Carlo CASINI, EuropeanParliament, who stated that the EU was not simply the sum of national interests andobjectives such as the Single Market but a model of peace and reconciliation and ofprosperity for the entire world. Mr NEOFYTOU reminded people of the fact that,despite the criticism against the EU expressed in national Parliaments and publicdebates, Europe was still one of the best examples of social systems worldwide,although there are still problems to tackle in order for Europe to regaincompetitiveness and increase productivity. Mr Enrico FARINONE, ItalianCameradei Deputati,encouraged the view that the Banking Union in itself would not besufficient to ensure the survival of Europe but that at the end of the day a politicalunion would be necessary.
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