The 16th COSAC took place in The Hague on 9-10 June 1997. The 16th COSAC endorsed the Dublin COSAC’s proposal that the provisions of Declaration 13 should be reinforced by turning it into a legally binding protocol to the new Treaty. In addition, it proposed that a six-week delay should elapse before a Commission proposal could be put on the Council’s agenda for final adoption. This was more than the four weeks that the Dublin COSAC had asked for.
The conference also asked for more transparency in the EU’s legislative process. It adopted a declaration asking for a) increased accessibility of proposed legislation and legislative acts of the Union; and b) the Council, when acting in its legislative capacity, to publish the results of votes and explanation of votes as well as statements in the minutes.
The Dutch Prime Minister, Mr Wim Kok, Foreign Minister, Mr Hans van Mierlo, and state secretary, Mr Michel Patijn, all addressed COSAC to present the state of negotiations in the IGC just before the final bargaining was to take place at the IGC in Amsterdam.