Europaudvalget 2013-14
EUU Alm.del Bilag 251
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MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PRESIDENTIAL TROIKA OF COSAC

Athens, Greece, 26 January 2014

PRESENT AT THE MEETING

CHAIR: Mr Ioannis TRAGAKIS, Deputy Speaker, Chair of the European AffairsCommittee, GreekVouli ton Ellinon.Mr Gediminas KIRKILAS, Deputy Speaker, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs,LithuanianSeimas,Mr Michele BORDO, Chair of the European Union Policy Committee,ItalianCamera dei Deputati,Ms Nadia GINETTI, member of the EU Affairs Committee,ItalianSenato della Repubblica,Mr Miguel Ángel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ, Vice-President, European Parliament; and Mr Carlo CASINI, Chair of the Constitutional AffairsCommittee, European Parliament.

AGENDA

1. Adoption of the agenda of the meeting of the Presidential Troika of COSAC

2. Approval of the draft programme of the meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC

3. Debate on the draft programme of the LI COSAC

4. Approval of the outline of the 21st Bi-annual Report

5. Letters addressed to the Presidency

6. Any other business

PROCEEDINGS

1. Adoption of the agenda of the Meeting of the Presidential Troika of COSAC

The meeting was chaired by Mr Ioannis TRAGAKIS who welcomed the delegations of thePresidential Troika of COSAC (hereinafter referred to as "the Troika"), and in particular MrMichele BORDO, Chair of the European Union Policy Committee of the ItalianCamera deiDeputati,and Ms Nadia GINETTI, member of the EU Affairs Committee of the ItalianSenato della Repubblica,who were attending the Troika for the first time.In the absence of any objection, the agenda of the meeting of the Troika was adopted withoutamendment.

2. Approval of the draft programme of the meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC

Mr TRAGAKIS said that the meeting would deal with some procedural items including theapproval of the outline of the 21st Bi-annual Report and then referred to the topics that wouldbe discussed the next day. The first one would be re-connecting Europe with its citizens: therole of the institutions and would be addressed byMr Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ,Vice-President ofthe European Commission in charge of Inter-institutional Relations and Administration. Thesecond one would focus on the priorities of the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of theEuropean Union and would be addressed by Mr Evangelos VENIZELOS, Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic.
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Mr TRAGAKIS said that on the first topic, particularly on what concerned the role of theinstitutions, Mr Carlo CASINI, Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of theEuropean Parliament (EP) and rapporteur for relations between the EP and nationalParliaments, would make a short intervention. Mr CASINI took the floor and explained that,in his capacity as rapporteur of the EP on relations between the EP and national Parliaments,he would give a brief presentation aimed at collecting ideas and suggestions from nationalParliaments' colleagues in view of his report prepared prior to the next meeting of COSAC.The draft programme of the meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC was approved withoutamendment.The Chair referred briefly to the letter by Mr Vannino CHITI, Chair of the Committee onEuropean Affairs of the ItalianSenato della Repubblica,on the clash of dates of the COSACChairpersons meeting with the winter plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of theCouncil of Europe. He underlined that, as he had mentioned during the L COSAC in Vilnius,the Hellenic Presidency's choice of available dates was limited in view of the Europeanelections due to take place in the middle of the Presidency.

3. Debate on the draft programme of the LI COSAC

Mr TRAGAKIS informed that the meeting of the LI COSAC to be held on 15-17 June 2014in Divani Apollon Palace in Kavouri, Athens, would start with the approval of the meeting'sagenda, the presentation of the 21st Bi-Annual Report and some procedural issues. He thenpresented the topics on the draft programme, which included the following: 1. State of play ofthe Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the European Union; 2. Sharing a vision on Europe2025; 3. Democratic legitimacy and European leadership: the day after the Europeanelections; 4. Rethinking the European employment Strategy; 5. Youth Guarantee Scheme:Best Practices; and 6. Encouraging Creativity and Young Entrepreneurship.Mr TRAGAKIS said that the Speaker of the GreekVouli ton Ellinonwould address themeeting, expressing hope that both Mr Antonis SAMARAS, Prime Minister of the HellenicRepublic, and Mr José Manuel BARROSO, President of the European Commission, wouldbe keynote speakers. He added that the final agenda with the confirmed speakers would besent to all delegations in due time.He also mentioned that the next morning a second meeting of the Women's Forum, theestablishment of which had been an initiative of the Lithuanian Presidency, would take place.In relation to the letters received by the Presidency, Mr TRAGAKIS referred specifically tothe letter by Mr Edmund WITTBRODT, Chair of the European Union Affairs Committee ofthe PolishSenat,requesting to add the topic of the Association Agreement between the EUand Ukraine on the agenda. He referred to the reply by the Presidency, underlining thefluidity of the situation in the country and proposing to come back to the topic and assess thecurrent developments closer to the date of the COSAC meeting. Furthermore, he mentionedthe draft resolution proposed by the LithuanianSeimason the current events in Ukraine andsuggested including in the text some of the points of the decision taken by the Foreign AffairsCouncil on 20th January 2014.Mr Gediminas KIRKILAS, Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Committee on European Affairsof the LithuanianSeimas,welcomed the ambitious programme of the LI COSAC and referred2
more specifically to the Women's Forum inaugurated in Vilnius, expressing the hope that itsmeetings would become a tradition. He requested thatProf Marija Aušrinė PAVILIONIENĖ,LithuanianSeimas,who had been appointed as coordinator of the COSAC Women's Forumin Vilnius, be given the opportunity to deliver a speech at the second meeting of the Forum inAthens. The Troika accepted the request.Mr TRAGAKIS then referred to the letter by Mr René LEEGTE, Vice-Chair of the StandingCommittee on European Affairs, DutchTweede Kamer,with which Mr LEEGTE proposedhimself as keynote speaker on democratic legitimacy and European leadership: the day afterthe European elections. Mr TRAGAKIS said that the Presidency had intended to invite amember of the EP and a member of a national Parliament as keynote speakers. The Dutchcolleague could potentially be a speaker, he said, however, the letter had arrived late andcommunication with a colleague from a national Parliament had already been pursued.Mr CASINI proposed Mr Iñigo MÉNDEZ DE VIGO, Minister for European Affairs ofSpain, former member of the EP and member of the European Convention, as a possiblekeynote speaker on the topic of democratic legitimacy and European leadership: the day afterthe European elections.Mr Michele BORDO, Chair of the European Union Policy Committee of the ItalianCameradei Deputati,said that the Dutch colleague had specific views on topics such as the role ofnational Parliaments and the integration process, while the ItalianCamera dei Deputatihadslightly different ones. In this context, he expressed the opinion that balance betweendifferent views should be maintained.Mr Miguel Ángel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ, Vice-President, European Parliament,underlined that there were two issues to be looked at in relation to the keynote speakersinvited. Firstly, he noted that there was consensus regarding the fact that an invitation shouldbe extended to a personality from the EP and a personality linked to national Parliaments. Inthis respect, he supported the choice of Mr MÉNDEZ DE VIGO and Mr BORDO's stance.He expressed the view that Mr LEEGTE had neither the profile nor the background that wassought. Secondly, Mr MARTÍNEZ added, in his letter Mr LEEGTE was presenting theseswith which a substantial number of national Parliaments and the EP did not agree. Accordingto Mr MARTÍNEZ, those theses are challenging the Treaties as they currently stand and,while acknowledging their legitimacy or relevance to national Parliaments, he deemed themsuitable to be discussed in a more appropriate forum. The specific issue of the cardprocedures dealt with in the letter, he said, was not a question relating to the discussion on thefunctioning of the democratic legitimacy of the EU. He supported inviting a speaker fromnational Parliaments, expressing the conviction that his Italian colleagues and the HellenicPresidency could suggest prominent personalities from their respective countries.Mr TRAGAKIS acknowledged the unanimous disagreement in the Troika regarding theproposal of the Vice-Chair of the DutchTweede Kamerand said that he himself wouldpropose Mr Konstantinos TASOULAS, former Deputy Minister of Defence of the HellenicRepublic, current member of the GreekVouli ton Ellinonand Chair of the Institute forDemocracy "Konstantinos Karamanlis". The issue of the keynote speakers would be lookedat by the Presidency.
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4. Approval of the outline of the 21st Bi-annual Report

Mr TRAGAKIS briefly presented the outline of the 21st Bi-annual Report. He reported thatthe first chapter would tackle the subject of the future of COSAC and would examine theeffectiveness of the tools used by COSAC to stimulate the exchange of information andpractice between national Parliaments and with the EP. It would further seek the ideas ofParliaments on how COSAC could contribute to enhancing the role of Parliaments in the EU.The second chapter would deal with the cooperation between national Parliaments and the EPand would seek ways to strengthen interparliamentary cooperation. It would further aim topresent Parliaments'/Chambers' views on whether there was a need to update the Lisbonguidelines for interparliamentary cooperation. The third chapter would tackle the topic ofdeveloping the social dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the role ofParliaments and would seek ways for better monitoring and coordinating employment andsocial policies. The fourth chapter would look at democratic legitimacy and accountability inthe budget process, concentrating on the European Semester process implementation and onthe issue of parliamentary scrutiny over the "Troika's" (European Central Bank, EuropeanCommission and International Monetary Fund) working methods in cases of countries subjectto economic reform programmes.Mr MARTÍNEZ appealed to the Presidency to provide specific and short questions to thequestionnaire in order to avoid ambiguity. At the same time, he stressed the particularimportance of Chapters 3 and 4. He pointed out that, in relation to Chapter 4, points alreadyagreed at recently held Conferences should be respected. In relation to Chapter 1, he urged toovercome the almost constant temptation to change the nature of COSAC at its detriment; healso urged to avoid speculation on what this instrument should be and to take full advantageof its current constitutional nature. Regarding interparliamentary cooperation he suggestedlisting all the meetings already held and their outcome.Mr TRAGAKIS responded that Parliaments were guardians of COSAC and, in this spirit, theReport would examine the effectiveness of the tools used by COSAC and would seek waysfor deepening interparliamentary cooperation based on the experience acquired in meetingsheld. He emphasised the topic of the social dimension of the EMU and the accountability ofthe "Troika", informing the members of the Troika about the discussion on the EP's relevantreport in the GreekVouli ton Ellinonin the upcoming days.

5. Letters addressed to the Presidency

The Presidency had received the letter by Mr Vannino CHITI, Chair of the Committee onEuropean Affairs of the ItalianSenato della Repubblica,the letter by Mr EdmundWITTBRODT, Chair of the European Union Affairs Committee of the PolishSenat,and theletter by Mr René LEEGTE, Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on European Affairs,DutchTweede Kamer,all of which had already been discussed. In addition, the Presidencyhad received a letter from Ms Anniken HUITFELD, Chair of the Standing Committee onForeign Affairs and Defence of the NorwegianStorting,regarding participation at COSAC.He noted that a letter of invitation had already been sent to the NorwegianStorting.TheTroika formally approved this invitation for a special guest.
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6. Any other business

Mr TRAGAKIS informed the Troika that on 24-25 January 2014 a meeting of Chairpersonsof Committees of European Union Affairs of Parliaments of the EU South was held inNicosia, Cyprus, and that Mr Averof NEOFYTOU, Chair of the Committee on Foreign andEuropean Affairs of the House of Representatives of Cyprus, had asked to take the floor atthe COSAC Chairpersons meeting the following day to briefly present the outcome. TheTroika accepted the request.
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