The 22nd COSAC in Lisbon on 29-30 May 2000 was dominated by the questions debated at the IGC leading to the Nice Treaty. But the work of the Convention on the Charter of Fundamental rights, which had started on 17 December 1999, and the European Council’s decision to make the EU the most competitive Economy of the world by 2010 also preoccupied the conference in Lisbon.
Debates took place on three main issues: the extension of qualified majority in the Council, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the relations between national parliaments and the European Parliament. Delegations could not reach agreement on the first two issues, but on the third question COSAC stated that “MEPs and national deputies were not competitors, but rather partners, acting only at different levels of representation”. Therefore the Lisbon COSAC did not further pursue the question of European Parliament’s position within COSAC.