EUU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 752: Referat af virtuelt COSAC formandsmøde 19/7-21 og Trojka-møde 16/7-21

Europaudvalget 2020-21
EUU Alm.del Bilag 752
Offentligt

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PRESIDENTIAL TROIKA OF COSAC

Ljubljana, Slovenia, 16 July 2021

(held through videoconference)

PRESENT AT THE MEETING

CHAIR: Mr Marko POGAČNIK, Chair of the Committee on EU Affairs, Slovenian

Državni

zbor

; Mr Bojan KEKEC, Chair of the Commission for International Relations and European

Affairs, Slovenian

Državni svet

Mr Luis CAPOULAS SANTOS, Chairman of the European Affairs Committee, Portuguese

Assembleia da República

; Ms Sabine THILLAYE, French Chair of the European Affairs

Committee of the

Assemblée nationale

; Mr Jean-François RAPIN, Chair of the European

Affairs Committee of the French

Sénat

; Ms Roberta METSOLA, First Vice-President,

European Parliament.

(Mr Antonio TAJANI

Chair of the Committee for Constitutional Affairs, European Parliament,

was unable to attend.)

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 LXVI COSAC meeting

4. Approval of the outline of the 36th Bi-annual Report of COSAC

5. Debate on the Appointment Process of the Permanent Member of the COSAC

Secretariat for 2022-2023

6. Letters received by the Presidency

7. Any other business

PROCEEDINGS

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

Mr Marko POGAČNIK,

Chair of the Committee on EU Affairs, Slovenian

Državni zbor

welcomed the delegations of the Presidential Troika of COSAC (hereinafter referred to as "the

Troika") and opened the meeting by referring to a meeting held with Ms Roberta METSOLA,

First Vice-President, European Parliament, a few days prior. He thanked his colleague, Mr Luis

CAPOULAS SANTOS, Chairman of the European Affairs Committee, Portuguese

Assembleia

da República

, for the work done under the Portuguese Presidency, not least for paving the way

in relation to the Conference on the Future of Europe, and welcomed the Ms Sabine

THILLAYE, Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the French

Assemblée nationale

, and

Mr Jean-François RAPIN, Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the French

Sénat

. Mr

Bojan KEKEC, Chair of the Commission for International Relations and European Affairs,

Slovenian

Državni svet

, congratulated Mr CAPOULAS SANTOS on the excellent work of the

EUU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 752: Referat af virtuelt COSAC formandsmøde 19/7-21 og Trojka-møde 16/7-21

Portuguese Presidency and welcomed the new members of the Troika, Ms THILLAYE and Mr

RAPIN.

POGAČNIK

then referred to the agenda of the meeting of the Troika, which was adopted

without amendment.

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

The Chair referred to the programme of the meeting of the Chairpersons, which would be split

into two sessions.

The first session would focus on the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the

European Union and would be presented by Mr

Anže

LOGAR, Minister of Foreign Affairs of

the Republic of Slovenia.

The second session would deal with cybersecurity in the EU, with Mr Thierry BRETON,

European Commissioner for the Internal Market; Mr Matej TONIN, Minister of Defence of the

Republic of Slovenia; and Mr Juhan LEPASSAAR, Executive Director of the Union Agency

for Cybersecurity, as keynote speakers, as well as a short intervention by

Mr Uroš

SVETE,

Director of the Information Security Administration of the Republic of Slovenia.

The draft programme of the meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC was approved without

amendment.

3. Debate on the draft programme of the LXVI COSAC meeting

POGAČNIK

then turned to the draft programme of the LXVI COSAC, and expressed the

hope to host it live, but at the same time assured colleagues that preparations for the possibility

of a videoconference were in place in case of such an eventuality. He introduced the four

thematic sessions which would be covered during the meeting:

The first session would report on the achievements of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council

of the European Union; the second session would deal with the future role of young people in

decision-making processes and beyond; the third session would address the European

Perspective for the Western Balkans; and the fourth and final session would be dedicated to the

Conference on the Future of Europe.

POGAČNIK

informed colleagues that both Ms Mariya GABRIEL, European

Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, as well as Ms Simona

KUSTEC, Minister of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia, would be

attending the Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Council to be held on the same day of the

COSAC plenary meeting, and would therefore not be physically attending the meeting, though

the possibility of a recorded video message or remote participation was not excluded. He further

noted that while the decision on additional invited speakers for this panel had not yet been

taken, the panel would include a youth representative to represent the views of their generation.

Ms METSOLA expressed full support for the events that the Slovenian Presidency was

planning on hosting. She confirmed the presence of the European Parliament co-Chairs at the

COSAC Plenary and proposed a speaker on behalf of the European Parliament to provide the

Institutionƒs perspective under the third session.

4. Approval of the Outline of the 36th Bi-annual Report of COSAC

EUU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 752: Referat af virtuelt COSAC formandsmøde 19/7-21 og Trojka-møde 16/7-21

POGAČNIK

presented the outline of the 36th Bi-annual Report of COSAC, which would

be divided into three parts: the first chapter would explore the digitalisation of Parliaments

during the digital transition and the COVID-19 pandemic; the second chapter would focus on

the future role of young people in decision-making processes and beyond; and the third chapter

would address the Conference on the Future of Europe.

The questionnaire would be circulated on 26 July 2021, with replies expected by 21 September.

5. Debate on the Appointment Process of the Permanent Member of the COSAC

Secretariat for 2022–2023

The Chair noted that Mr Kenneth CURMI was reaching the end of the second and final term of

his post by the end of the year. The Presidency would be calling for Parliaments to submit

nominations for the position by 15 October. The decision on the further process of the selection

of the candidate would then be decided within the framework of the Presidential Troika, which

would also then be proposing the selected candidate for approval during the plenary meeting in

November.

6. Letters received by the Presidency

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



Letters requesting invitation to attend the COSAC meetings were received from Mr Eric

NUSSBAUMER, President of the Swiss delegation for relations with the European

Parliament, Swiss

Assemblée fédérale

; Mr Tone Wilhelmsen TRØEN, President of the

Norwegian

Stortinget

; Lord Charles KINNOULL, Chair of the European Union

Committee, UK

House of Lords

; Mr Pere López, Chair of the Committee on Foreign

Affairs, Andorran

Consell General

. Mr

POGAČNIK

said that, following consultation

with the Presidential Troika, invitations would be sent to all the above parliaments.

Letter from the Croatian

Hrvatski sabor

wishing the Slovenian Presidency a successful

implementation of the Parliamentary Dimension of the Presidency.

Letter from the French

Assemblée nationale

and French

Sénat

proposing the

establishment of two working groups during the Slovenian Presidency.



Ms THILLAYE wished the best for the Slovenian Presidency, which would be facing intense

work in the following months. She expounded on the proposal put forward in the successive

French Presidencyƒs letter calling for the establishment of working groups. Ms THILLAYE

informed colleagues that the French Parliament would probably hold the COSAC Plenary in

March and explained that, given this tight timeframe, the establishment of working groups

during the Slovenian presidency would provide an immediate opportunity to ensure that

conclusions and results would be available during the first semester of 2022. She emphasized

the need to shed more light on the work of COSAC, in order to get more visibility and media

coverage. She further explained how the groups would concentrate on two issues. The first

would focus on the rule of law and the work towards a common understanding of this principle.

The second would focus on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union, adding that

the work would be done in cooperation with the European Parliament. She once again

emphasised the tight timeframe of the French Presidency and highlighted the need for the

working groups to start working as soon as possible to achieve concrete results that would be

presented at the COSAC plenary meeting during their presidency.

EUU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 752: Referat af virtuelt COSAC formandsmøde 19/7-21 og Trojka-møde 16/7-21

Mr RAPIN expressed his support for the Slovenian Presidency and underscored the views

expressed by Ms THILLAYE, adding that the decision to hold these working groups had come

after long discussions, and as an expression of the wish to give COSAC a stronger voice. It was

important to coordinate with the Slovenian Presidency given the tight timeframe that the French

Presidency would be dealing with, and acknowledged the need to explain the initial idea and

proposal in more detail.

Mr CAPOULAS SANTOS also wished the best for the Slovenian Presidency and looked

forward to working with the latter as well as the French colleagues. With regard to the proposal

presented by the French colleagues, Mr CAPOULAS SANTOS agreed that there was a lack of

visibility when it came to COSAC. He supported the proposal in principle, and expressed his

willingness to discuss it further, but stressed the need for a more detailed proposal on the

purpose and themes of the working groups.

Mr POGAČNIK

said that due to the Rules of Procedure of the Slovenian National Assembly

and National Council a decision on this proposal from the Slovenian Parliament was not

possible in such a short time. He further acknowledged the importance of the Conference on

the Future of Europe (CoFE) and stressed that any actions that could show a lack of confidence

in the work and result of the CoFE should be avoided. It would be just as necessary to show the

citizens what the added value of two extra groups in COSAC, in addition to the ones already

existing under the CoFE umbrella, would be. In addition, the existence of two new working

groups might be interpreted as a lack of confidence in the work of fellow national

parliamentarians, who are representatives in the CoFE. He also stressed that any competition

between working groups should also be avoided. In this regard, the Slovenian Presidency was

wary of establishing such additional working groups and urged the French colleagues to submit

a more detailed proposal.

Mr KEKEC echoed these sentiments, stating that while the French proposal should be taken

into consideration, it was important to convey clear messages and avoid any duplication of

work.

Mr CAPOULAS SANTOS referred to the question of alternate/substitute members in the

plenary of the CoFE. He informed colleagues of his wish to raise this issue to the Chairs of the

European Affairs Committees to ensure that these questions are discussed at the Executive

Board Meeting, in order to guarantee that every plenary session would be represented by all the

members of a delegation.

Mr POGAČNIK asserted that the French proposal would be taken into account, but

once again

stressed the need for a written form of the detailed proposal in order to present it to other

Parliaments.

Mr RAPIN agreed with this position and thanked the Chair for his willingness to consider the

proposal.

Ms THILLAYE also appreciated the misgivings expressed and the need to clarify the proposal

further, and also stressed that there should be no confusion between the work of COSAC and

the work of the CoFE. The aim of the working groups was to better define the role of COSAC.

She also thanked the Chair for taking the proposal into consideration.

EUU, Alm.del - 2020-21 - Bilag 752: Referat af virtuelt COSAC formandsmøde 19/7-21 og Trojka-møde 16/7-21

Mr CAPOULAS SANTOS also agreed with the Chairƒs proposal and, while noting that the

rules of procedure foresaw the creation of such working groups, he underscored the need for a

detailed proposal.

Ms METSOLA also spoke about the need to have a written proposal. She shared the concerns

regarding possible overlap and duplication of work and expressed the willingness of the

European Parliament to help ensure this would not happen.

7. Any other business

There was no other business.

Mr KEKEC thanked all participants to the meeting for the constructive debate.

Echoing these sentiments, Mr POGAČNIK closed the

meeting.