EUU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (2. samling) - Bilag 75: Referat fra COSAC-møde og Trojka-møde i Bukarest 23-25/6-19

Europaudvalget 2018-19 (2. samling)
EUU Alm.del Bilag 75
Offentligt

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PRESIDENTIAL TROIKA OF COSAC

Bucharest, Romania, 23 June 2019

PRESENT AT THE MEETING

CHAIRs:

Mr Angel TÎLVĂR, Chairman of the European Affairs Committee, Romanian

Camera Deputaților;

Ms Gabriela CREȚU,

Chairwoman of the European Affairs Committee,

Romanian

Senat.

Mr Christian BUCHMANN, Chair of the EU Committee, Austrian

Bundesrat;

Mr Jani

MÄKELÄ, First Deputy Chairperson of the Grand Committee, Finnish

Eduskunta.

AGENDA

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

2. Approval of the draft programme of the LXI COSAC

3. Presentation of the 31st Bi-annual Report of COSAC

4. Debate on the draft Contribution and Conclusions of the LXI COSAC

5. Letters received by the Presidency

6. Any other business

PROCEEDINGS

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

Angel TÎLVĂR, Chairman of the European Affairs Committee, Romanian

Camera

Deputaților

welcomed the delegations of the Presidential Troika of COSAC (hereinafter

referred to as "the Troika") and thanked them for their support and cooperation.

The agenda of the meeting of the Troika was then adopted without amendment.

2. Approval of the draft programme of the meeting of the LXI COSAC

Mr TÎLVĂR then briefly outlined the programme of the meeting of the LXI COSAC to be held

the following day and which would consist of four sessions:



Session I: Achievements of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European

Union;

Session II: Prospects for international trade relations of the European Union; the future

of relations between the European Union and the UNITED KINGDOM in the context

of "Brexit";

Session III: The European Education Area as a driving factor for reshaping and

strengthening the Single Market;

Session IV: Economy based on innovation, technological progress and social European

Union impact; the role of national parliaments in fostering the "New Economy" of the

EU.



The draft programme of the LXI COSAC was approved without amendment.

EUU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (2. samling) - Bilag 75: Referat fra COSAC-møde og Trojka-møde i Bukarest 23-25/6-19

3. Presentation of the 31st Bi-annual Report of COSAC

TÎLVĂR

invited the Permanent Member of the COSAC secretariat, Mr Kenneth CURMI,

to present the 31st Bi-annual Report of COSAC based on Parliaments' replies to the related

questionnaire circulated to delegations on 18 February 2019 with the deadline for submitting

replies on 19 March 2019.

Mr CURMI briefly referred to the three chapters of the Report: the first one concentrated on

prospects of international trade relations of the European Union and the future of relations

between the European Union and the United Kingdom in the context of Brexit; the second one

dealt with the European Education Area as a driving factor for reshaping and strengthening the

Single Market; and the third and final chapter addressed the economy based on innovations,

technological progress and social impact and the

role of Parliaments in fostering the “New

Economy” of the European Union.

Before moving on to the next point on the agenda, the Chair thanked the COSAC Secretariat

for their work in compiling the informative report.

4. Debate on the draft Contribution and Conclusions of the LXI COSAC

The draft text of the Contribution and the Conclusions was circulated to delegations on 11 June

2019. One amendment had been received regarding the Conclusions, which was accepted by

the Troika, endorsing the resulting new draft based on the text proposed by the Presidency.

Regarding the draft Contribution, amendments received from delegations by 14 June 2019 were

translated into French and, together with the initial text, included in a table, which had been

distributed to all delegations. A number of compromise proposals elaborated by the Presidency

were submitted to the Troika, with the latter agreeing to a modified text of the draft

Contribution.

5. Letters received by the Presidency

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

- The Chair referred to all the letters received by the Presidency, both before and after the

Chairpersons meeting, namely letters from Ms Karin KELLER-SUTTER, President of the

EFTA/EU Delegation of the Swiss Federal Assembly; Ms Tamar KHULORDAVA, Chair

of the Committee on European Integration, Parliament of Georgia; Mr Fabrice NOTARI,

Chair of the Monitoring Committee on Negotiations with the European Union, and Mr

Stéphane VALERI, Speaker,

Conseil National

of the Principality of Monaco; Ms Tone

Wilhelmsen TRØEN, President of the Norwegian

Storting;

Ms Aslaug Arna

SIGURBJÖRNSDÓTTIR, Chair of the Standing-Committee on Foreign Affairs of the

Icelandic Althingi; and from Ms Blerta DELIU-KODRA, Chair of the Committee on

European Integration, Assembly of Kosovo

, regarding participation in COSAC. Following

consultation with the Troika, letters of invitation had been sent out. A number of invitation

letters were also sent out to other Parliaments.

- Letter from Mr Václav HAMPL, Chair of the Committee on European Union Affairs, Czech

Senát,

asking the LXI COSAC to urge the European institutions into action regarding the

exclusion of the Christmas/New Year period from the eight-week deadline for submitting

reasoned opinions. Mr

TÎLVĂR

thanked the Troika for their cooperation on this issue.

This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with Resolution 1244 of the United

Nations Security Council and to the opinion of the ICJ on the declaration of independence of Kosovo.

EUU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (2. samling) - Bilag 75: Referat fra COSAC-møde og Trojka-møde i Bukarest 23-25/6-19

- Letter from Mr

L„uboš

BLAHA, Chair of the Committee on EU Affairs, Slovak

Národná

rada,

informing participants about the meeting of the Visegrad countries - Serbia held in

Bratislava on 16 - 18 June 2019 and sharing the conclusions adopted at this meeting.

- Letter from Ms Tamar KHULORDAVA, Chair of the Committee on European Integration,

Parliament of Georgia, requesting to discuss the issue of Georgia„s security and sovereignty

during the LXI COSAC. Mr

TÎLVĂR

noted that the President had informed Ms

KHULORDAVA that the agenda had already been adopted by the Romanian Parliament and

also approved at the Chairpersons meeting held in Bucharest earlier that year, meaning that

the matter could not be included as a subject during the plenary meeting. Nevertheless, the

Georgian delegation would have the opportunity to take the floor during the debate to raise

the topic.

- Letter from Mr Jean BIZET, Chairman of the Committee of European Affairs, French

Sénat,

requesting to discuss voluntary civil security work (in relation

to the recent †Matzak„ ruling)

during the LXI COSAC.

- Letters from Ms Mairead McGUINNESS and Ms Danuta HÜBNER, European Parliament,

indicating that they would not be able to participate to the meeting.

- Letter from Mr Pieter OMTZIGT and Ms Renske LEIJTEN, Dutch

Tweede Kamer

inviting

delegates for a discussion on transparency in Council.

6. Any other business

TÎLVĂR

referred to the co-financing mechanism and recalled that letters were sent to

Parliaments/Chambers by the Romanian Presidency inviting them to contribute. Thus far, the

Presidency had received 29 letters from almost all Parliaments/Chambers. He added that a

reminder would be delivered during the COSAC plenary.

Ms Gabriela CREȚU

referred to the

proposal made during the Chairpersons meeting in January

by Mr Kristian VIGENIN, Chair of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the

European Funds, Bulgarian

Narodno Sabranie,

regarding possible participation at COSAP

meetings. Ms CREȚU recalled that it had been decided to attend in case of an invitiation: such

an invitation was indeed received, and she had attended the conference together with Mr

VIGENIN.

Mr Christian BUCHMANN, Chair of the EU Committee, Austrian

Bundesrat,

referred to the

discussion on the Western Balkans, and efforts to bring them closer to the EU. Macedonia had

done a lot of good work to solve its problems, while Albania had also shown a lot of effort in

this regard. Mr BUCHMANN thanked colleagues for their cooperation, especially during the

Austrian Presidency, which had proved successful. He especially thanked the Romanian

colleagues for their good work during their Presidency.

The Chair thanked Mr BUCHMANN in return, and promised the forthcoming Finnish

Presidency the same cooperation offered by the Austrians.

Mr Jani MÄKELÄ, First Deputy Chairperson of the Grand Committee, Finnish

Eduskunta

thanked the Romanian colleagues for their work and promised to build upon this, adding that

most of the topics on the agenda would also be on the agenda during the Finnish Presidency,

including Brexit and topical subjects like the economy, Ukraine and relations with Iran.

Ms CREȚU joined the chair in thanking Mr BUCHMANN for the support shown during their

Presidency. Mr

TÎLVĂR

then closed the meeting.