EUU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 231: Referat af Trojka-møde og COSAC-møde i Wien 18-20/11-18

Europaudvalget 2018-19 (1. samling)
EUU Alm.del Bilag 231
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MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PRESIDENTIAL TROIKA OF COSAC

Vienna, Austria, 18 November 2018

PRESENT AT THE MEETING

CHAIRs: Mr Reinhold LOPATKA, Chair of the Standing Sub-Committee on European Affairs

of the Austrian

Nationalrat;

Mr Christian BUCHMANN, Chair of the EU Committee of the

Austrian

Bundesrat.

Mr Angel

TÎLVĂR,

Chair of the European Affairs Committee, Romanian

Camera Deputaţilor;

Ms Gabriela CREȚU, Chair of the European Affairs Committee, Romanian

Senat;

Mr Kristian

VIGENIN, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds,

Bulgarian

Narodno sabranie;

Ms Danuta HÜBNER, Chair of the Committee on Constitutional

Affairs, 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 LX COSAC

3. Presentation of the 30th Bi-annual Report of COSAC

4. Debate on the draft Contribution and Conclusions of the LX COSAC

5. Letters received by the Presidency

6. Any other business

PROCEEDINGS

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

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

Austrian

Nationalrat,

welcomed the delegations of the Presidential Troika of COSAC

(hereinafter referred to as "the Troika") and thanked them for their cooperation.

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

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

Mr LOPATKA then briefly outlined the programme of the meeting of the LX COSAC, which

would consist of four sessions:

•

Session I: State of Play of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU

Session II: Brexit - current state

Session III: Climate Policy and Energy Union

Session IV: А

transparent European Union closer to its citizens in light of the upcoming

elections to the European Parliament

The Chair further informed the participants that due to the General Affairs Council (Art. 50) to

be held in Brussels on Monday, 19 November 2018, Mr Michel BARNIER, EU Chief

Negotiator for Brexit, had to cancel his participation at the LX COSAC. Instead, Ms Danuta

EUU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 231: Referat af Trojka-møde og COSAC-møde i Wien 18-20/11-18

HÜBNER, Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, European Parliament, had agreed

to give a keynote speech on the European Union side in Session II.

The draft programme of the LX COSAC was approved without amendment.

3. Presentation of the 30th Bi-annual Report of COSAC

Mr LOPATKA invited the Permanent Member of the COSAC secretariat, Mr Kenneth CURMI,

to present the 30th Bi-annual Report of COSAC, which was based on Parliaments' replies to

the related questionnaire circulated to delegations on 27 July 2018 with a deadline of 18

September 2018 for submitting replies.

Mr CURMI briefly referred to the three chapters of the Report: the first one concentrated on

the involvement of citizens in parliamentary proceedings; the second one dealt with Climate

Policy and the Energy Union; and the third one was dedicated to the state of play of Brexit as

well as its implications for the future of the EU.

Before moving on to the next point on the agenda, Mr LOPATKA thanked the COSAC

Secretariat for their work in compiling the well-structured report.

4. Debate on the draft Contribution and Conclusions of the LX COSAC

The draft text of the Contribution and the Conclusions was circulated to delegations on 7

November 2018. No amendments had been received regarding the Conclusions until the

meeting and the Troika, after accepting one amendment brought up during the meeting,

endorsed the new draft based on the text proposed by the Presidency.

Regarding the draft Contribution, amendments received from delegations by 14 November

2018 were translated into French and, together with the initial text, included in a table, which

had been distributed to all delegations. A number of compromise proposals elaborated by the

Presidency were submitted to the Troika.

Following a detailed examination of each amendment proposed, the Troika, on the basis of the

Presidency's compromise proposals, drafted a modified text of the draft Contribution.

5. Letters received by the Presidency

The Chair referred to the following letters received by the Presidency:

- Letters from Mr Carles ENSENAT, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee,

Consell

General

of Andorra; Ms Tamar KHULORDAVA, Chair of the Committee on European

Integration, Parliament of Georgia; Mr Guillaume ROSE, Chair of the Monitoring

Committee on Negotiations with the European Union, and Mr Stéphane VALERI, Speaker,

Conseil National

of the Principality of Monaco; Ms Mariia IONOVA, Deputy Chair of the

Committee on European Integration,

Verkhovna Rada

of Ukraine; and from Ms Blerta

DELIU-KODRA, Chair of the Committee on European Integration, Assembly of Kosovo

regarding participation in COSAC. Following consultation with the Troika, letters of

invitation had been sent out. Due to elections, Georgia would not be able to attend the

COSAC plenary.

- Special attention was drawn to the request from Kosovo. The Chair added that in order to

comply with international regulations, the Presidency had proposed to provide observing

parliaments with table signs only and not with flags. In addition,

the name “Kosovo

” would

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 - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 231: Referat af Trojka-møde og COSAC-møde i Wien 18-20/11-18

be accompanied by an asterisk and a footnote on the table sign, the list of participants, the

screens and the badges.

Letter from Mr Angel

TÎLVĂR,

Chair of the European Affairs Committee, Romanian

Camera Deputaţilor,

and Ms Gabriela CREȚU, Chair of the European Affairs Committee,

Romanian

Senat,

on the participation of Kosovo at the LX COSAC.

Letters from Mr André ANTOINE, President of the

Parlement de Wallonie,

on the

composition of the Belgian delegation within COSAC. The Presidency had already answered

in a letter on 20 July 2018, explaining that it was not the role of COSAC to enter into

discussions on constitutional or representational arrangements of a Member State.

Letter from Mr Kristian VIGENIN, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs and

Oversight of the European Funds, Bulgarian

Narodno sabranie,

submitting a proposal for

the revision of the COSAC Rules of Procedure including a new paragraph 3.2a by which

two members of the Parliaments of each EU potential candidate country, EFTA country and

Eastern Partnership country should be invited as observers. The Presidency had also received

two reactions to this proposal from Mr Yiorgos LILLIKAS, Chairman of the House Standing

Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Cyprus

Vouli ton Antiprosopon;

and Mr

Gunther KRICHBAUM, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs, German

Bundestag

and Ms Sabine THILLAYE, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs, French

Assemblée

nationale,

declaring their reservations.

Letter from Mr Toomas VITSUT, Chair of the European Union Affairs committee, Estonian

Riigikogu,

providing suggestions for the Draft Contribution.

Letter from Mr Václav HAMPL, Chair of the Committee on EU Affairs, Czech

Senát,

informing participants about the meeting of the Visegrad countries that had taken place on

8 October 2018 and sharing the conclusions adopted there.

Letter from Mr Foort VAN OOSTEN, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs, Dutch

Tweede Kamer;

Mr Bastiaan VAN APELDOORN, Chair of the Committee on European

Affairs, Dutch

Eerste Kamer;

and Mr Erik CHRISTENSEN, Chair of the Committee on

European Affairs, Danish

Folketing,

providing an update on transparency in Council.

Concerning his proposal to change the COSAC rules of procedure, Mr VIGENIN pointed out

that the Bulgarian Presidency had received a letter from the parliaments of Ukraine, Georgia

and Moldova, asking if they could be permanently invited to COSAC meetings. He had

supported the request and stated that besides those three countries various others were also

asking for participation on a regular basis because of their close ties with the EU. Mr VIGENIN

underlined that in order to keep the flexibility of COSAC, an option to refuse invitations could

also be included in the new paragraph.

He accepted however that it was not the right moment for changes in the Rules of Procedure

and formally withdrew the proposal by inviting the Romanian or Finnish Presidency to open

the issue again in the near future, as the concerned group of countries would then also include

the United Kingdom.

Mr LOPATKA added that the Presidency could not support the proposal, as unanimity on the

matter had never been reached in the Troika, but the floor would also be given to Mr VIGENIN

during the Opening Session of the plenary.

With regard to the letter from Mr VITSUT, the Chair noted that Presidency had not been able

to consider the suggestions at that stage.

6. Any other business

There was no other business to discuss.