The 29th COSAC in Athens on 4-6 May 2003 revised the Rules of Procedure.
Most importantly, it was agreed to focus COSAC’s activities more on the work of national parliaments within the EU. The old aim of using COSAC as a platform for exchanging information and best practises was strengthened and the objective was for the first time clearly expressed in the Rules of Procedure:
“The principal business on every agenda shall be derived from COSAC’s role as a body for exchanging information, in particular on the practical aspects of parliamentary scrutiny”.
COSAC also formally approved the new voting regime, allowing COSAC to adopt contributions by a qualified majority.
Finally, COSAC agreed the formula for setting up a secretariat to facilitate its work. COSAC endorsed a set of guidelines proposing a secretariat comprised of one permanent member and four members seconded from the three national parliaments on the Presidential Troika (the former, the current and the future Presidencies) and the European Parliament.
COSAC also had a discussion on the future of Europe. The work of the Convention had entered its final stages, where the difficult institutional questions were debated. This was the last opportunity for COSAC to try to influence the work of the Convention. COSAC concentrated its efforts on setting out a number of recommendations concerning the question of the role of national parliaments. COSAC generally supported the proposals that had been tabled by the Praesidium of the Convention. But on certain issues COSAC also took stands that differed from those of the Presidium. COSAC called for “constitutional recognition of national parliaments”, by inserting two articles in the Constitutional Treaty: one defining the principle of subsidiarity and one defining the role of national parliaments. As regards the role of COSAC itself, the proposal from the Convention was criticized for being too vague, and the Convention was encouraged to clarify the text following the model of the Amsterdam Treaty Protocol. Finally, COSAC called for national parliaments to have direct access to the European Court of Justice to be able demand a judicial review of whether EU legislation complied with the principle of subsidiarity.