EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 766: Referat af COSAC-formandsmøde og Trojka-møde 17-18/9-23 i Madrid

Europaudvalget 2022-23 (2. samling)
EUU Alm.del Bilag 766
Offentligt

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COSAC PRESIDENTIAL TROIKA

ADRID

, S

PAIN

, 17 S

EPTEMBER

2023

PRESENT AT THE MEETING

CHAIR: Mr José Ignacio LANDALUCE CALLEJA, Member of the Spanish

Senado,

and Susana SUMELZO JORDÁN, Member of the Spanish

Congreso de los Diputados;

Mr Gaëtan VAN GOIDSENHOVEN, Co-Chair of the Federal Advisory Committee on

European Affairs, Belgian

Sénat/Senaat;

Mr Othmar KARAS, First Vice-President, European Parliament.

(Ms Eliane TILLIEUX, Co-Chair of the Federal Advisory Committee on European

affairs, Belgian

Chambre des représentants/Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers,

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

Riksdag,

and Mr Salvatore DE MEO, Chair of the Committee for Constitutional Affairs,

European Parliament, were unable to attend).

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 LXX COSAC Meeting

4. Approval of the Outline of the 40th Bi-annual Report of COSAC

5. Appointment of the Permanent Member of the COSAC Secretariat for the period

2024/25

6. Letters received by the Presidency

7. Any other business

EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 766: Referat af COSAC-formandsmøde og Trojka-møde 17-18/9-23 i Madrid

PROCEEDINGS

1. A

DOPTION OF THE AGENDA OF THE

EETING OF THE

RESIDENTIAL

ROIKA OF

COSAC

Mr José Ignacio LANDALUCE CALLEJA, Member of the Spanish

Senado,

and Ms

Susana SUMELZO JORDÁN, Member of the Spanish

Congreso de los Diputados,

greeted the delegations of the Presidential Troika of COSAC (hereinafter referred to as

"the Troika"), expressing their wishes for a fruitful and productive work amongst them.

Mr LANDALUCE CALLEJA welcomed Mr Gaëtan VAN GOIDSENHOVEN,

Co-Chair of the Federal Advisory Committee on European Affairs, Belgian

Sénat/Senaat,

who was participating in the Meeting of the Troika for the first time as the

incoming Presidency in the first semester of 2024. He also emphasised that this was one

of the first meetings of the Parliamentary dimension of the Spanish Presidency of the

Council of the EU.

Ms SUMELZO JORDÁN recalled that Spain held a general parliamentary election on

23 July 2023 and that the parliamentary Committees, including the Joint Committee for

European Union Affairs, were yet to be established. She acknowledged the limitation

imposed by this circumstance on the preparation of the Presidency, expressing her belief

that the cooperation within the Troika would help overcome any difficulties.

She then referred to the agenda of the Meeting of the Troika, previously circulated to all

delegations, which was adopted without amendments.

2. A

PPROVAL

COSAC

OF THE DRAFT PROGRAMME OF THE

EETING

OF THE

HAIRPERSONS

Ms SUMELZO JORDÁN alluded to the programme of the Meeting of the COSAC

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

sessions, besides the procedural and other general matters.

She mentioned that the opening session of the meeting of the Chairpersons would have

an intervention by Mr. LANDALUCE CALLEJA, Member of the Spanish

Senado,

followed by welcome remarks by both Ms Francina ARMENGOL SOCÍAS, Speaker of

the Spanish

Congreso de los Diputados,

and Mr Pedro ROLLÁN OJEDA, Speaker of

the Spanish

Senado.

The first session would be dedicated to the presentation of the priorities of the Spanish

Presidency of the Council of the European Union, by the Minister for Foreign Affairs,

European Union and Cooperation, Mr José Manuel ALBARES BUENO, followed by an

intervention by Mr Othmar KARAS, First Vice-President of the European Parliament.

The second session would focus on the topic of “The future of Ukraine in Europe”, with

a speech by the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the

European Union, Ukraine

Verkhovna Rada,

Ms Ivanna KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE

EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 766: Referat af COSAC-formandsmøde og Trojka-møde 17-18/9-23 i Madrid

and an intervention by the Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs of the

Swedish

Riksdag,

Mr Hans WALLMARK.

Regarding the third session, devoted to "Current

affairs in the European Union",

SUMELZO JORDÁN pointed out that the Presidency wished to offer the Chairpersons

an opportunity for a broader and timely debate on current affairs of special relevance to

the European Union. Amongst other topics, it could be approached as a follow-up to the

State of the Union

address by the President of the European Commission, Ms Ursula

VON DER LEYEN, which took place on 13 September 2023 in the

Plenary Session

the European Parliament, in Strasbourg. To some extent, this initiative followed the

precedent of a debate on current affairs held during the German Presidency of COSAC

in 2020. In this session, there would be some introductory remarks made by the

Presidency to introduce the debate, and a summary of the main ideas addressed at the

end.

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

without amendments.

3. D

ISCUSSION ON THE DRAFT PROGRAMME FOR THE

LXX COSAC M

EETING

Ms SUMELZO JORDÁN then referred to the draft agenda of the LXX COSAC Plenary

scheduled for 26 to 28 November 2023, in Madrid. She further clarified that, once the

Joint Committee for European Union Affairs would be established, some adjustments to

the draft programme could occur, which would in any case be communicated to the

Troika in a timely manner.

The draft programme circulated was composed of five thematic sessions which would

be covered during the LXX COSAC:

●

A review of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU;

The Pact on Migration and Asylum of the EU;

The energy crisis and green transition;

The situation in Ukraine and relations with the European Union;

The EU’s open strategic autonomy and relations with Latin America.

Ms SUMELZO JORDÁN concluded this point by noting the support of the Troika for

the proposed draft agenda for the LXX COSAC.

4. A

PPROVAL OF THE

UTLINE OF THE

ANNUAL

EPORT OF

COSAC

Ms SUMELZO JORDÁN presented the outline of the 40th Bi-annual Report of

COSAC, which would be divided into three parts: the first chapter would be dedicated

to the role of Parliaments in relation to the European goal of open strategic autonomy;

EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 766: Referat af COSAC-formandsmøde og Trojka-møde 17-18/9-23 i Madrid

the second chapter would focus on the role of Parliaments in handling the energy

policies: renewable sources of energy; and, finally, the third chapter would look at the

role of the Parliaments when confronted with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The questionnaire would be sent to the delegations on 20 September 2023, with replies

expected by 20 October 2023, so that the Bi-annual Report for the scheduled COSAC

plenary in November could be drawn up on time, to be presented by the Permanent

Member of the COSAC Secretariat at the LXX COSAC.

The draft outline of COSAC's 40th Bi-annual Report was approved.

5. A

PPOINTMENT

PERIOD

2024/25

OF THE

ERMANENT

EMBER

OF THE

COSAC S

ECRETARIAT

FOR THE

On the appointment of the Permanent Member of the COSAC Secretariat, the Chair

referred to Rule 9.3 of the Rules of Procedure of COSAC and said that the term of office

of the current Permanent Member, Mr Bruno DIAS PINHEIRO was expiring on 31

December 2023 and that the appointment for the period of 2024/25 would be made by

the COSAC Chairpersons at the LXX Meeting, in November 2023.

Ms SUMELZO JORDÁN noted that the Presidency aimed at having a transparent and

impartial procedure and then alluded to the previous methodologies followed in the

appointment of the Permanent Member for a second term, namely:

by the Finnish Presidency in 2019: despite the fact that the Maltese

Kamra

tad-Deputati,

which seconded the then Permanent Member, had expressed its

support for a second term, the Presidency declared the vacancy of the post, with

a follow-up letter asking Parliaments to nominate candidates within a set

deadline;

by the Luxembourgish Presidency in 2015 that proposed an immediate and

automatic renewal of the post, following the expression of interest by the

Parliament seconding the Permanent Member (Cyprus

Vouli ton Antiprosopon).

In both cases, the Permanent Member of the COSAC Secretariat (Mr. Kenneth CURMI,

for the period 2020/21, and Ms Christiana FRYDA, for the period 2016/17) were

reappointed for a second term.

On the current procedure of appointment for the period 2024/25, Ms SUMELZO

JORDÁN informed the Troika of a letter addressed to the Presidency by Mr Luís

CAPOULAS SANTOS, Chair of the European Affairs Committee of the Portuguese

Assembleia da República,

recommending a renewal of the current Permanent Member's

term, Mr Bruno DIAS PINHEIRO. She also emphasised the good functioning of the

Secretariat, together with the need to preserve its stability, and highlighted the work of

the current Permanent Member with that regard.

EUU, Alm.del - 2022-23 (2. samling) - Bilag 766: Referat af COSAC-formandsmøde og Trojka-møde 17-18/9-23 i Madrid

Therefore, the Chair suggested that the procedure for this appointment should be as

follows: the Troika would take note of the need to appoint the Permanent Member for

the period of 2024/25 at the LXX COSAC meeting in November, by the Chairpersons;

the Presidency and Troika would support the renewal of the current Permanent Member

for the said period; simultaneously, and as a matter of transparency, the Presidency

would inform all the Chairpersons of this procedure and of this support, giving

delegations until 5 November 2023 to convey to the Presidency any comments deemed

relevant with this regard, so that the decision could be taken at the LXX COSAC, to be

held from 26 to 28 November.

Mr VAN GOIDSENHOVEN, expressed his appreciation for the work of the Secretariat

and of the Permanent Member and supported the methodology proposed by the

Presidency.

In relation to the co-financing of the cost for seconding the Permanent Member of the

COSAC Secretariat and other technical costs, foreseen by Article 9.5 of the Rules of

Procedure of COSAC, Ms SUMELZO JORDÁN recalled that under the previous

Swedish Presidency, all Parliaments had agreed to continue with the co-financing for the

period 2024-25.

6. L

ETTERS RECEIVED BY THE

RESIDENCY

Ms SUMELZO JORDÁN referred to the following letters received by the Presidency

requesting invitations to attend the COSAC meetings:

Ms 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 Peter RICKETTS, 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;

Mrs Brigitte BOCCONE-PAGES, President of the Monaco

Conseil national,

and

Mr Régis BERGONZI, National Councillor, President of the Commission for

monitoring the negotiations with the European Union.

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 766: Referat af COSAC-formandsmøde og Trojka-møde 17-18/9-23 i Madrid

Ms SUMELZO JORDÁN informed 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 LXX COSAC in November.

Mr KARAS took the floor to wish the Presidency much success, ahead of the European

elections of 2024. He supported this approach of an inclusive COSAC, advocating for

these invitations to be extended and generally endorsing the transparent procedures put

forward by the Presidency at the meeting of the COSAC Presidential Troika, for this and

the previous agenda items.

7. A

NY OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business and both Mr LANDALUCE CALLEJA, and Ms

SUMELZO JORDÁN concluded the meeting by thanking their colleagues for the

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