The 15th COSAC took place in Dublin on 15-16 October 1996. The future role of national parliaments and COSAC in the EU were at the forefront of the agenda, as the conference was the perhaps last chance for national parliaments to reach a common position to influence the outcome of the IGC. On 10 October 1996 the COSAC Presidential Troika had agreed a set of recommendations to reinforce Declaration 13 and the functioning of COSAC. The conclusions of the report were largely approved by delegations in the conclusions of the XV COSAC.
The fact that COSAC agreed on the two main issues concerning the role of national parliaments in the EU had some influence on the outcome of these issues in the IGC. COSAC recommended including Declaration 13 in the Treaty, making it legally binding: “to ensure that governments follow through on their commitments under the Declaration and that the National Parliaments have a period of at least four weeks for examining all proposals of relevance to the legislative process”.
As far as the functioning of COSAC was concerned, delegations could not agree on recommending that COSAC should be mentioned in the Treaty, but suggested that COSAC could address specific issues such as “subsidiarity, 2nd (CFSP) and 3rd pillar items (Police and Judicial cooperation in Criminal matters) and questions relating to fundamental rights of European citizens”.
It was also noted that the “conclusions” of COSAC should not be binding for national parliaments, although they should be forwarded to the EU institutions and the governments of Member States.
The Irish EU Presidency submitted a note inspired by the conclusions of the Dublin COSAC to the IGC. The document from the Irish Presidency went further on certain aspects than the consensus reached at COSAC, suggesting that COSAC should be empowered to express the views of national parliaments on whether EU legislative proposals complied with the subsidiarity principle. It was furthermore proposed that COSAC should be invited to make its views known on legislative proposals within the area of Justice and Home Affairs which might have direct bearing on the freedoms of individuals.
-
List of participants
-
Minutes
-
Conclusions of the XV COSAC
Dublin, 15-16 October 1996