EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 224: Referat fra COSAC-formandsmøde 29-30/1-23 i Stockholm

Europaudvalget 2022-23 (2. samling)
EUU Alm.del Bilag 224
Offentligt

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COSAC PRESIDENTIAL TROIKA

TOCKHOLM

, S

WEDEN

, 29 J

ANUARY

2023

PRESENT AT THE MEETING

CHAIR: Mr Hans WALLMARK and Ms Matilda ERNKRANS, respectively Chair and

Vice-Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs of the Swedish

Riksdag;

Ms Susana SUMELZO, Chair of the Joint Committee for EU Affairs of the Spanish

Cortes Generales,

and Rubén MORENO, Member of the Joint Committee for EU

Affairs of the Spanish

Cortes Generales;

Mr Ondřej BENEŠÍK, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs of the Czech

Poslanecká sněmovna;

Mr Jiří DUŠEK, Vice-Chair of the Committee on EU Affairs of

the Czech

Senát;

Mr Othmar KARAS, First Vice-President, European Parliament; Mr Salvatore DE

MEO, Chair of the Committee for Constitutional Affairs, European Parliament.

AGENDA

PROCEEDINGS

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. Discussion on the draft programme for the LXIX COSAC Meeting

4. Approval of the Outline of the 39th Bi-annual Report of COSAC

5. Letters received by the Presidency

6. Any other business

EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 224: Referat fra COSAC-formandsmøde 29-30/1-23 i Stockholm

PROCEEDINGS

1. A

DOPTION OF THE AGENDA OF THE

EETING OF THE

RESIDENTIAL

ROIKA OF

COSAC

Mr Hans WALLMARK, Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs of the

Swedish

Riksdag,

greeted the delegations of the Presidential Troika of COSAC

(hereinafter referred to as "the Troika"), together with Ms Matilda ERNKRANS,

Vice-Chair of the same Committee, expressing his expectation of fruitful and productive

work amongst the Troika.

Mr WALLMARK welcomed Ms Susana SUMELZO, Chair of the Joint Committee for

EU Affairs of the Spanish

Cortes Generales,

and Mr Rubén MORENO, Member of the

same Joint Committee, who were participating in the Meeting of the Troika for the first

time as the incoming Presidency in the second semester of 2023. He also greeted Mr Jiří

DUŠEK, Vice-Chair of the Committee on EU Affairs of the Czech

Senát,

who was also

taking part in the proceedings of the Troika for the first time.

Mr WALLMARK then referred to the agenda of the Meeting of the Troika, previously

circulated to all delegations, which was adopted without amendment.

2. A

PPROVAL

COSAC

OF THE DRAFT PROGRAMME OF THE

EETING

OF THE

HAIRPERSONS

Mr WALLMARK alluded to the programme of the Meeting of the COSAC

Chairpersons, previously circulated to all delegations, which would be divided into two

sessions, besides the procedural and other general matters.

He also mentioned that Dr Andreas NORLÉN, Speaker of the Swedish

Riksdag,

would

open the meeting. The first session would be dedicated to the topic of “What can the EU

do in the area of organised crime?”, with keynote speeches by Ms Ylva JOHANSSON,

European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Mr Johan OLSSON, Head of National

Operations Department, Swedish Police Authority, and Ms Anna Karin HILDINGSON

BOQVIST, Secretary General, ECPAT Sweden. The second session would focus on the

priorities of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, presented by

Mr Christian DANIELSSON, State Secretary to the Minister for EU Affairs of the

Swedish Government, and would have as first speaker Mr Othmar KARAS, First

Vice-President of the European Parliament. Mr WALLMARK also stated that Ms

Jessika ROSWALL, Minister for EU Affairs and Nordic Cooperation of the Swedish

Government, would attend the official dinner of the COSAC Chairpersons, later that

day.

The draft programme of the Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC was approved

without amendment.

EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 224: Referat fra COSAC-formandsmøde 29-30/1-23 i Stockholm

3. D

ISCUSSION ON THE DRAFT PROGRAMME FOR THE

LXIX COSAC M

EETING

Mr WALLMARK then referred to the draft agenda of the LXIX COSAC Plenary,

scheduled for 14 to 16 May 2023, Stockholm, introducing the four thematic sessions

which would be covered during the meeting:

● the first session would be dedicated to an overview of the Swedish

Presidency of the Council of the EU;

● the second session would discuss the 30 years of the Single Market;

● the third session would be dedicated to the EU’s path towards a green

transition;

● and the fourth and final session would focus on Ukraine.

Mr WALLMARK mentioned that the speakers to be invited should ensure an adequate

balance among experts, representatives from the EU institutions and from Parliaments,

stating the Presidency would welcome any suggestions from the Troika with that regard.

Mr Othmar KARAS, First Vice-President, European Parliament, extended best wishes

for the Swedish Presidency, also on behalf of Roberta METSOLA, President of the

European Parliament, appreciating the good atmosphere and the work done so far.

Regarding the draft presented, Mr KARAS noted that the European Parliament would

be available to contribute with suggestions for suitable keynote speakers for the sessions

mentioned.

Mr WALLMARK also expressed his appreciation for the good work done so far within

the Troika and, since there were no additional remarks, he ended this debate by noting

the support of the Troika for the proposed draft agenda for the LXIX COSAC.

4. A

PPROVAL OF THE

UTLINE OF THE

ANNUAL

EPORT OF

COSAC

Mr WALLMARK presented the outline of the 39th Bi-annual Report of COSAC, which

would be divided into three parts: the first chapter would be dedicated to the role of

Parliaments/Chambers in the handling of the Fit for 55 package; the second chapter

would focus on the role of the Parliaments/Chambers in the accelerated decision-making

processes in response to crises; and, finally, the third chapter would look at the best

practices for information exchange between Parliaments, including the use of IPEX.

The questionnaire would be sent to the delegations on 15 February at the latest, with

replies expected by 16 March 2023, so that the Bi-annual Report for the scheduled

COSAC plenary in May could be drawn up on time.

The draft outline of COSAC's 39th Bi-annual Report was therefore approved.

EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 224: Referat fra COSAC-formandsmøde 29-30/1-23 i Stockholm

5. L

ETTERS RECEIVED BY THE

RESIDENCY

Mr WALLMARK referred to the following letters received by the Presidency requesting

invitations to attend the COSAC meetings:

Mr Benedikt WÜRTH, President of the Swiss delegation for relations with the

European Parliament, Swiss

Assemblée fédérale;

Mr Masud GHARAHKHANI, President of the Norwegian

Stortinget;

Lord Charles KINNOULL, Chair of the European Union Committee, UK

House

of Lords;

Bjarni JÓNSSON, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the

Icelandic

Althingi;

Ms Maka BOTCHORISHVILI, Chair of the Committee on European Integration

of the Georgian

Sakartvelos p'arlament'I;

Ms Rrezarta KRASNIQI, Chair of the Committee on European Integration,

Kosovo

Kuvendi i Kosovës.

Mr WALLMARK said that, following consultation with the Presidential Troika of

COSAC, invitations had been extended to all the above-mentioned Parliaments to take

part in the forthcoming Meeting of Chairpersons of COSAC, and they would also be

invited to the LXIX COSAC in May.

He also mentioned a letter sent by Satu HASSI, Chairperson of the Grand Committee of

the Finnish

Eduskunta,

addressed to the COSAC Chairpersons, to inform that she would

not be running in the upcoming elections in Finland, scheduled for April 2023, and

therefore the current COSAC Chairpersons meeting would be the last COSAC meeting

she would attend. Mr WALLMARK informed the Troika that he would take the

opportunity at the COSAC Chairpersons to thank Ms Satu HASSI for the excellent

cooperation during the last few years.

Mr WALLMARK then referred to a letter sent to the Presidency and to the Troika by Mr

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

Sénat,

proposing to add an item to the agenda of LXIX COSAC to discuss how to improve the

rules of ethics and transparency governing the activities of the European institutions.

He mentioned that the proposed topic was interesting and that the Presidency would be

open to having a broad discussion on ethics and transparency, which are key issues for

all Parliaments. Therefore, the Presidency proposed to convene a videoconference on

the matter, possibly in April, organised in the same format as the previous informal

exchanges held by former COSAC Presidencies, and with the intention of inviting the

European Commissioner responsible for these issues to participate. Hence, this would

This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244(1999) and

the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 224: Referat fra COSAC-formandsmøde 29-30/1-23 i Stockholm

allow for an exchange of views between national Parliaments and the European

Parliament on these issues.

Since there were no additional remarks on that issue, the Presidency will therefore

inform delegations on the way forward regarding this request from the French

Sénat.

6. A

NY OTHER BUSINESS

Mr WALLMARK referred to the fact that a decision was pending at COSAC regarding

the old COSAC website (and the cosac.eu domain), giving the floor to the Permanent

Member of the COSAC Secretariat, Mr Bruno DIAS PINHEIRO, to introduce the topic.

Mr DIAS PINHEIRO started by recalling that the Conference of Speakers of the

Parliaments of the EU had outlined the purpose of establishing IPEX as the “one stop

shop” for interparliamentary exchanges on EU affairs and documents, including hosting

the information related to all interparliamentary Conferences. Furthermore, COSAC had

expressed its support for the IPEX platform to host the COSAC website, merging the

two environments, specifically in the Conclusions of the LVIII COSAC held in Tallinn,

in December 2017, of the LIX COSAC, held in Sofia, in June 2018, of the LX COSAC,

held in Vienna, in November 2018, and of the LXII COSAC, held in Helsinki, in

December 2019.

Mr DIAS PINHEIRO noted that while the migration of the data was being done, the

information pertaining to COSAC was accessible on both platforms, i.e. the COSAC

website (www.cosac.eu) and IPEX. After the official launch of IPEX Version 3, in

October 2021, this transitional period was over and the merging had been successfully

concluded, with all the relevant information available on the IPEX platform.

He added that the existence of two websites had a financial cost, since the domain and

the hosting of www.cosac.eu were still being paid for every year, and a cost in terms of

quality of the information, since the www.cosac.eu website, although it wasobsolete and

no longer updated since 2019, was still active and could easily be found via any web

search engine.

Consequently, a decision needed to be taken by COSAC regarding this matter, and it

was proposed that, on the initiative of the Presidency and the Troika, it should be

deemed that the www.cosac.eu website/domain was no longer needed to be active and,

therefore, there was no need to renew its yearly subscriptions.

If no objections to end the payment of the website were communicated to the Presidency

by 10 May, the payment would be terminated in 2023. Finally, the Conclusions of the

LXIX COSAC Plenary would take note of the decision to end the old website, and the

COSAC Secretariat would be tasked with implementing that decision, effective in 2023.

Mr WALLMARK noted there were no comments and therefore concluded that the

Troika adopted the recommendation made by the COSAC Secretariat.

EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 224: Referat fra COSAC-formandsmøde 29-30/1-23 i Stockholm

On another topic, Mr WALLMARK reminded the Troika of the procedure for

co-financing the Permanent Member of the COSAC Secretariat and the costs of running

the office of COSAC, which would be initiated for the coming two years (2024/25). He

alluded to point 9.5

of the Rules of Procedure of COSAC, which reads

"the cost of seconding

the Permanent Member of the COSAC Secretariat to Brussels and other necessary technical costs of the

COSAC Secretariat are jointly borne by parliaments wishing to contribute. The amount and terms of

payment under the co-financing procedure are defined in an agreement concluded amongst the participating

parliaments. The Secretariat is hosted by the European Parliament in its offices in Brussels."

The current co-financing period was running from 1 January 2022 to 31 December

2023, covering the usual two-year period, and was co-financed by all Parliaments of the

EU countries. Therefore, and to ensure the continued co-financing for the post of the

Permanent Member of the COSAC Secretariat, the Swedish Presidency would launch

the procedure to renew the current co-financing agreement for the period from 1 January

2024 to 31 December 2025. For that purpose, a letter would be sent by the Presidency to

all Parliaments/Chambers in the beginning of February, in order to collect the necessary

letters of intent and gather the required threshold for the enforcement of the agreement

to fund this post.

Mr WALLMARK concluded the meeting by thanking colleagues for the participation

and for the good cooperation within the Presidential Troika of COSAC.