EUU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 366: Referat af COSAC Trojka-møde og COSAC formandsmøde i Sofia 21-22/1-18

Europaudvalget 2017-18
EUU Alm.del Bilag 366
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MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PRESIDENTIAL TROIKA OF COSAC

Sofia, Bulgaria, 21 January 2018

PRESENT AT THE MEETING

CHAIR: Mr Kristian VIGENIN, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the

European Funds, Bulgarian

Narodno sabranie

Mr Jaak MADISON, Deputy-Chair of the European Union Affairs Committee, Estonian

Riigikogu,

Reinhold LOPATKA, Chair of the Standing Sub-Committee on European Affairs of the Austrian

Nationalrat,

Mr Edgar MAYER, Chair of the EU Committee of the Austrian

Bundesrat;

and Ms

Mairead McGUINNESS, Vice-President, 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 LIX COSAC

4. Approval of the outline of the 29th Bi-annual Report of COSAC

5. Letters received by the Presidency

6. Letters sent by the Presidency

7. Any other business

PROCEEDINGS

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

Mr VIGENIN welcomed the delegations of the Presidential Troika of COSAC (hereinafter referred to

as "the Troika").

The agenda of the meeting of the Troika was adopted without amendment.

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

Mr VIGENIN outlined the topics on the programme of the meeting that would take place the following

day.

The first session would focus on the “priorities of the

Bulgarian

Presidency of the Council of the EU”

and would be presented by Ms Lilyana PAVLOVA, Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the

Council of the EU.

The second session

would deal with “the future of the European Union

strength in unity”

and would

be presented by Ms Iliana IOTOVA, Vice-President of the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as Mr Frans

TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the European Commission and Ms Iskra MIHAYLOVA,

Chair of the Committee on Regional Development, European Parliament.

Finally, the third session would focus on “the role of

EU macro-regional strategies for sustainable

development, stability and security”, with

Ms Denitsa NIKOLOVA, Deputy Minister of Regional

Development and Public Works of the Republic of Bulgaria and National Coordinator for the EU

Strategy for the Danube Region; Mr Raul MÄLK, Ambassador-at-Large for Baltic Sea Region, Ministry

of Foreign Affairs of Estonia and Chair of the National Coordinators group of the EU Strategy for the

EUU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 366: Referat af COSAC Trojka-møde og COSAC formandsmøde i Sofia 21-22/1-18

Baltic Sea Region; and Ms Audrone PERKAUSKIENE, Head of division, Regional Cooperation and

the OSCE, European External Action Service, as keynote speakers.

After the Chair noted a slight change in the speakers’ order of appearance during the first session, the

draft programme of the meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC was approved without amendment.

3. Debate on the draft programme of the LIX COSAC

The Chair informed the Troika members that the LIX COSAC would take place on 17-19 June 2018 in

Sofia. He then outlined the five sessions of the draft programme and the keynote speakers.

The first session would focus on the achievements of the Bulgarian Presidency; the second session

would deal with the integration and connectivity of the Western Balkans; the third session would address

the European Pillar of Social Rights; the fourth session would tackle the future of the Cohesion Policy;

and the fifth and final session would focus on the role of the EU Interparliamentary cooperation in the

context of the debate on subsidiarity and proportionality.

Mr VIGENIN stated that these topics were of key importance to the future of the European Union and

expressed his hope that First Vice-President TIMMERMANS would join the debate for the last session,

in order to include the work completed by the Task Force on Subsidiarity, Proportionality and

“Doing

Less More Efficiently” in the discussion.

The debate closed without any interventions, and the Chair promised that an updated agenda would be

sent subsequently.

4. Approval of the outline of the 29th Bi-annual Report of COSAC

Outlining the structure of the 29th Bi-annual Report of COSAC, Mr VIGENIN reported that the first

chapter would be divided in two sections: one

focusing on the work of the “Task Force on Subsidiarity,

Proportionality and "Doing Less More Efficiently"” and the expectations

of the national Parliaments in

this regard, while the other would pay special attention to the possibility of future enlargement of the

Union and on the respective opinion of Parliaments on the topic. The second chapter would focus on

the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027. The third chapter would deal with the

“European

Pillar of Social Rights”.

The questionnaire would be distributed by 13 February and the replies would be expected by 19 March

2018.

Ms McGUINNESS praised the outline and the topics chosen for the 29th Bi-annual Report of COSAC,

but added that it was important to ensure that people were aware of the feedback of national Parliaments

and the contents of the report, and to ensure that the findings are distributed and hopefully taken on

board.

She concluded by pledging the EP’s assistance in achieving this and establishing

wider

acknowledgement of the report.

The Chair welcomed and agreed with these sentiments, and stressed the importance of the way questions

were formulated.

5. Letters received by the Presidency

The Chair referred to the following letters received:



Letters from Ms Tamar KHULORDAVA, Chair of the Committee on European Integration,

Parliament of Georgia,

Ms Jóna Sólveig ELÍNARDÓTTIR, Chair of the Foreign Affairs

EUU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 366: Referat af COSAC Trojka-møde og COSAC formandsmøde i Sofia 21-22/1-18



Committee, Icelandic

Althingi,

Mr Olemic THOMMESSEN, President of the Norwegian

Storting,

Mr Thomas AESCHI, Member of the National Council, President of the EFTA/EU

Delegation, Swiss

Assemblée fédérale,

and Ms Blerta DELIU-KODRA, Chairwoman of the

Committee on European Integration of the Assembly of Kosovo,

requesting participation in

COSAC meetings.

A letter from Mr Jean BIZET, Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the French

Sénat,

requesting an additional item to be included on the agenda of the LIX COSAC regarding the

participation of national Parliaments in the process of negotiating trade agreements between the

EU and third countries.

A letter from Mr TIMMERMANS in reply to

the Troika’s

letter of 6 December 2017 on the

possible

extension of the composition and timeframe of the Task Force’s work.

Letters from Mr Toomas VITSUT, Chair of the EU Affairs Committee of the Estonian

Riigikogu

and Mr Reinhold LOPATKA, Chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on EU Affairs at the

Austrian

Nationalrat,

informing the Presidency about their respective participation in the Task

Force.

A letter from the Dutch

Tweede Kamer

addressed to Mr Jean Claude JUNCKER, President of

the Commission, and Mr TIMMERMANS, on the Task Force.

A paper from the Czech

Senát

“How to better apply the principle of subsidiarity and the

subsidiarity control mechanism”.

After consultation with the Troika, the Parliaments requesting participation had been invited as special

guests. Georgia however, had not registered.

The Chair also noted that, during the meeting, only delegations from EU Member States would have

both names and flags of their countries on their tables, because of concerns raised by some countries,

especially Serbia, with regard to Kosovo’s participation.

Considering the fact that five Member States

did not recognize Kosovo, and given that Spain had also become sensitive to the issue, the proposed

arrangement was deemed the best way to ensure participation while respecting sensibilities, thus

prompting the decision to do without flags and names for non-Member States.

With regard to the letter sent by Mr BIZET, the Chair noted that there were no plans to include this as

a separate item, but encouraged Mr BIZET to raise this topic during the 5th session.

for Mr TIMMERMAN’s letter on the

Task Force, the Chair noted that this stated that neither

timeframe nor participation would be extended. Also with regard to the letters from Mr VITSUT and

Mr LOPATKA, the Chair had informed Mr TIMMERMANS accordingly.

The letter from the Dutch

Tweede Kamer

and the paper from the Czech

Senát

would be shared with the

rest of delegations.

Mr LOPATKA had also asked to discuss the European Parliament’s

decision and the possibility of

sending a letter to its President, Mr Antonio TAJANI, and the Chair asked Ms McGUINNESS for the

European Parliament’s position regarding this.

Ms McGUINNESS replied that the Conference of Presidents had unanimously agreed not to participate

on institutional grounds. She stressed that the European Parliament was however not against the idea of

having a Task Force or discussing the important topics suggested, but rather, the refusal to participate

was made on the grounds of a well established principle:

“Whereby

no Member of Parliament should

This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with Resolution 1244 of the United Nations

Security Council and to the opinion of the ICJ on the declaration of independence of Kosovo.

EUU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 366: Referat af COSAC Trojka-møde og COSAC formandsmøde i Sofia 21-22/1-18

take part in any capacity in working groups or advisory fora set up by the Commission where these

bodies dealt with subject matters in which the Parliament was co-legislator.”

Ms McGUINNESS

pointed out that the European Parliament’s

position on subsidiarity and related

issues featuring for debate by the Task Force would be reflected in its AFCO and

JURI Committees’

report on the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better law-making to be adopted in plenary in May.

Annual reports on the principle of subsidiarity were also being drawn up by JURI. In AFCO, an

implementation report largely dealing with subsidiarity and proportionality would soon be adopted.

While the principle position of the European Parliament upheld by the Conference of Presidents was

that there was no place for the European Parliament as part of the Task Force because of its institutional

role, Ms McGUINNESS noted that it was still interested in its work. She personally believed the voice

of national Parliaments was important in the exchange with the Commission on the principle of

subsidiarity, and hoped that the Task Force would identify any areas where more power could be given

back to Member States or otherwise. She added that the European Parliament, represented in the Troika

would be supporting the work of the working group within COSAC and would facilitate the holding of

its meetings in Brussels.

Mr LOPATKA replied

that the European Parliament’s refusal

to participate did not mark a good start

for the Task Force. He underlined the importance of showing how the European Parliament, COSAC

and Regions were working together in a way that citizens would see there was a common goal shared

by all.

Mr MAYER said the Task Force was a step in the right direction, and

the European Parliament’s

decision made it look like the European Parliament was against the itwith their decision. If the European

Parliament was interested in the work, it should join the Task Force.

Mr MADISON welcomed the idea of having a Task Force and agreed with his Austrian colleagues. He

noted that the European Parliament was a very important part of the future of the EU, and hoped that it

would at least work in some way with the Task Force. At the same time, he also respected the decision

of the European Parliament.

Mr VIGENIN said the Commission itself had not presented the Task Force in an ideal way and

obviously, without consultation with the European Parliament, but also noting that, on the other hand,

it was true that non-participation would lessen the credibility of the results of the Task Force, as the

European Parliament would not need to commit to anything agreed. He hoped that the European

Parliament would find the way to at least follow the work of the Task Force and give some

recommendations that could be taken into account in its work.

Ms McGUINNESS appreciated all comments and remarks and promised to convey them back to the

European Parliament. She said that there was a common understanding on how to do this work, but

noted that there was a precedent and explained how a similar invite had been made in the past and the

European Parliament could not participate for the same reasons. Ms McGUINNESS was aware that

timeframe was also short, and so invited colleagues to use all the resources available in the European

Parliament on the topics at hand. While noting the importance of looking into ways of supporting the

working group, she stressed that rules were necessary and it was important to stick to them.

Nevertheless, the European Parliament would be deeply interested in whatever results the Task Force

came up with, and it was the will of President TAJANI to engage the Task Force, as he had stated in

plenary. She referred to the exchange held during December plenary between the President of the

Commission and the President of the European Parliament, in which the latter stated the will of the

Parliament to cooperate and to engage.

EUU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 366: Referat af COSAC Trojka-møde og COSAC formandsmøde i Sofia 21-22/1-18

6. Letters sent by the Presidency

The Chair referred to the following letters sent:



Letter from Mr VIGENIN outlining his vision of how the working group, which the 58th

COSAC had invited the Bulgarian Presidency to set up, should be composed.

The Chair explained how in that letter he proposed to have the working group composed by one

representative of each member accompanied by one staff member. He informed the Troika that he had

been approached informally, especially by bi-cameral parliaments, regarding this arrangement, and

asked for views on the composition of the working group, in particular with regard to possible pressure

from bi-cameral parliaments, and whether it would be possible to have an extra member for the bi-

cameral parliaments.

Mr MADISON agreed with this idea, but asked whether it would be two members for two chambers, or

for all chambers. He concluded that, for the Estonian Parliament, it did not matter.

The Austrian delegation supported the proposal but questioned whether a Working Group with 56

members would be too big.

Mr VIGENIN expressed his opinion that this was still manageable, and that, in the name of fairness, it

would be best to invite Parliaments to send up to two members. Only one meeting was being foreseen,

but if there were need for another, the Presidency would coordinate with the Troika and decide.

The first meeting of the Task Force would take place on 25 January 2018.

7. Any other business

No other business.