EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 75: Referat, bidrag og konklusioner fra COSAC-mødet i Budapest 27-29/10-24

Europaudvalget 2024-25
EUU Alm.del Bilag 75
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MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PRESIDENTIAL TROIKA OF COSAC

UDAPEST

, H

UNGARY

, 27 O

CTOBER

2024

PRESENT AT THE MEETING

CHAIR: Mr Zoltán TESSELY, Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs of the

Hungarian

Országgyűlés;

Mr Péter BALASSA, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs of the Hungarian

Országgyűlés

Mr Peter DE ROOVER, Speaker of the Belgian

Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers/

Chambre des représentants

and Co-Chair of the Federal Advisory Committee on European

affairs;

Mr Vincent BLONDEL, Member of the Belgian

Senaat/Sénat

and Member of the Federal

Advisory Committee on European affairs;

Mr Marek KRZĄKAŁA, Deputy Chair of the Committee on EU Affairs of the Polish

Sejm;

Mr Patryk GABRIEL, Member of the Committee on EU Affairs of the Polish

Sejm;

Mr Henryk SIEDLACZEK, Vice Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs of the

Polish

Senat;

Mr Esteban GONZÁLEZ PONS, Vice-President for the Relations with national Parliaments of

the European Parliament;

Mr Sven SIMON, Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European

Parliament.

1. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

Mr TESSELY welcomed the delegations of the Presidential Troika of COSAC (hereinafter

referred to as "the Troika"). He introduced the Vice-Chairman of the Committee on European

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 75: Referat, bidrag og konklusioner fra COSAC-mødet i Budapest 27-29/10-24

Affairs, Mr BALASSA. Mr TESSELY noted, that English, French and upon special request

Polish interpretation is provided during the Meeting of the Presidential Troika. The Speaker of

the Belgian

Kamer van volksvertegenwoordigers/Chambre des représentants

Mr DE

ROOVER, EP Vice-President GONZÁLEZ PONS and Deputy Chair KRZĄKAŁA both said

a word of greetings.

2. ADOPTION OF THE DRAFT AGENDA OF THE MEETING OF THE

PRESIDENTIAL TROIKA OF COSAC

Mr TESSELY introduced the

agenda of the Troika Meeting,

which had been previously

circulated to all delegations, and was adopted without amendments.

3. APPROVAL OF THE DRAFT PROGRAMME OF THE PLENARY MEETING

OF THE LXXII COSAC

Mr TESSELY highlighted the main points of the

agenda of the LXXII plenary meeting of

COSAC.

He added that the meeting will officially be opened by the Speaker of the Hungarian

National Assembly, Mr László KÖVÉR. The first session on the results of the Hungarian

Presidency of the Council will be presented by Mr János BÓKA, Minister for European Union

Affairs of Hungary. Mr TESSELY revealed that there were over 50 requests for the floor, so

the length of interventions should not exceed 90 seconds. He underlined that the Presidency

would make sure that one Member per Chamber would have the possibility to speak, but that

there would be no requests for the floor accepted on the spot due to the high number of

preliminary requests. He further explained, that during session II (The state of the European

Union in the year of institutional transition and the 15-year application of the Treaty of Lisbon)

participants would see a video message from Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš

Šefčovič, followed by keynote speeches from the representative of the Hungarian Government,

Mr SIMON, and Mr Alessandro GIGLIO VIGNA, Chairman of the EU Policies Committee of

the Italian

Camera dei Deputati.

Mr TESSELY explained that on request of the Polish

delegation the formal handover of the Presidency of COSAC will commence on Monday, 28

October at the end of Session II. He referred to the COSAC Chairpersons’ Meetings to be held

on Monday from 16:45, where the aim would be to adopt the final documents of the LXXII

COSAC. The Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs then walked Troika participants

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 75: Referat, bidrag og konklusioner fra COSAC-mødet i Budapest 27-29/10-24

through Tuesday’s agenda and introduced the speakers: Ms Zsófia KONCZ, State Secretary of

the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary (Session III.), Mr GONZÁLEZ PONS and

Mr Péter SZTÁRAY, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary

(Session IV.).

4. PRESENTATION OF THE 42ND BI-ANNUAL REPORT OF COSAC

Mr TESSELY briefly presented the

42nd Bi-annual Report

(hereinafter referred to as BAR) of

COSAC. He also added that the Permanent Member of the COSAC Secretariat would present

the BAR at the beginning of Session II. to the plenary. Mr DE ROOVER appreciated the fact,

that the 42nd BAR included questions on the parliaments’ role in hearing the Commissioners-

designate, which helped accelerate internal processes in the Belgian

Kamer van

volksvertegenwoordigers/Chambre des représentants.

5. DRAFT CONTRIBUTION AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE PLENARY

MEETING OF THE LXXII COSAC

Mr TESSELY reminded the Troika that delegations had received the English language versions

of the draft conclusions and draft contribution of the LXXII COSAC on 15 October 2024.

Possible amendments could be submitted until the 21st of October 2024. Seventeen Member

States and the European Parliament did so as far as the contribution was concerned. Mr

TESSELY noted that there were no amendments whatsoever regarding the conclusions. The

Permanent Member of the COSAC Secretariat circulated all amendments on the draft

contribution to delegations on the 23rd October 2024. A two-column document was sent to

Troika-members the following day encompassing those amendments, which – in the view of

the Hungarian Presidency – may enjoy consensus. Mr TESSELY added that these proposals

were also based on European Council conclusions. Most amendments touched upon the topic

of Ukraine, the Middle-East and the role of national Parliaments in the EU. The primary draft

of the contribution counted 46 paragraphs, whereas the Presidency proposal submitted to

Troika had 61. Mr TESSELY explained that the overall goal was to avoid loosening the text,

so the Presidency put special emphasis on synonymous amendments, and that many

amendments were integrated not by word, but by essence. After making general observations,

Chairman TESSELY walked through delegations on the Presidency proposal, and highlighted

EUU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 75: Referat, bidrag og konklusioner fra COSAC-mødet i Budapest 27-29/10-24

which of the amendments were taken on board and how. Mr TESSELY concluded that the

Presidency would produce the Troika compromise text based on the discussions during the

Troika Meeting.

Further amendments were proposed by the Co-Chair of the EP’s COSAC-delegation, Mr

SIMON regarding the use of regulations vs. directives by the European Commission (par. 11),

on crisis prevention (par. 12.), on the conclusion of the war in the Ukraine based on the

Ukrainian peace-plan (par 17.), on the external dimension of migration (par. 26. and 28.). Mr

DE ROOVER suggested mentioning the green card initiative (par. 11.), extending the scope of

the chapter on Ukraine to Moldova and Georgia (par. 16.), and adding a reference to the use of

frozen Russian assets with regards to the financial support to Ukraine (par. 19.). Mr BLONDEL

proposed amendments to paragraph 26. on addressing migration challenges, on par. 34 to

accentuate the rule of law aspect of enlargement and to par. 39. on the future membership

perspective of Ukraine.

6. LETTERS RECEIVED BY THE PRESIDENCY

Mr TESSELY informed Troika members, that Andorra, Armenia, Kosovo

, Monaco, Norway,

Switzerland and the United Kingdom would be participating in the LXXII COSAC as

observers. He added, that Iceland would not be present despite their initial request due to

internal political reasons. He noted that regarding Ukraine the same process was used as

introduced by previous presidencies: nominal invitation letters were sent to each member of

the Ukrainian delegation, and all travel- and accommodation costs were covered. Mr

TESSELY also referred to the letter by the Lithuanian

Seimas

regarding the ban on the LNG-

import from Russia, and the protection of the EU’s external borders.

7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

No further points were raised.

This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ

opinion on Kosovo Declaration of Independence.