FOLt(ETINGET
4
StaenGcet’ruaI
-—
To:
Donald Tusk
President of the European Council
Rue de la Loi 175
1049 Brussels
BELGIUM
European Aftalte Committee
M. Azrnani
Binnenhof la
2513 AA Den Haag
E
Date 12 ]uly 2018
Our reference 18-EU-B-048
Page 1/2
Dear President Tusk,
During the meeting ot the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of
Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC), held in Sofia
on
]une 17-19 2018,
delegations of the national parliaments of the European Union and the European
Parliament discussed the replies to the letter of December 20, 2017 regarding tour
proposals to enhance transparency in EU decision-malcing and to bring the European
Union doser to its citizens.
Delegations concluded that the letters we received did flot in substance engage with
the four proposals that have been put forward by national parliaments. Delegations
also noted that the Eurogroup has flot provided any reply so far. At the end of the
plenary session, the LIX COSAC decided to invite the Council and related bodies to
further reflect via a point by point answer on the proposals. We attach the conciusions
and contributions for your information, the relevant paragraphs are 2.6 and 2.7.
Moreover, we attach the original paper, presented at the LVIII plenary COSAC,
containing the four recommendations.
We note that the General Affairs Council of June 26, 2018 discussed the
implementation of the hA Better Law Making. We welcome the call from Member States
for a broader discussion on modernising the Council’s transparency policy. We believe
that the COSAC-proposals, as put forward in the letter of 20 December 2017, together
with the Court of Justice’s case-law and the Ombudsman’s inquires may constitute a
good basis for such a reflection. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss options
for reform in person.