The 8th COSAC took place in Copenhagen on 3-4 May 1993, just two weeks before the second Danish referendum on the Maastricht Treaty.
For the first time, the “democratic deficit of the EU” was not the central issue at COSAC. There was a discussion instead on the role and working methods of COSAC, but proposals to extend COSAC meetings to two days, as well to open the meetings to the press, were rejected. The delegations had a debate on parliamentary scrutiny of the two new policy areas in the Maastricht Treaty: the Common Foreign and Security Policy and co-operation on Justice and Home Affairs.
The previous month (April 1993) the ECOFIN Council had adopted a series of measures aimed at promoting economic recovery in Europe. Consequently, the 8th COSAC focused on economic growth, competitiveness and employment. The situation in Eastern and Central Europe, as well as the enlargement negotiations, were also debated. According to the statement from the conference issued in the name of the Danish Presidency, a large majority of the delegations welcomed the opportunity to have a dialogue with the Danish Prime Minister, Mr Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, and the Foreign Minister of the Presidency on key policy issues.
An evaluation of the role of COSAC took place on the basis of a paper prepared by the Dutch Parliament. This meeting was the first time that the question of increasing the co-operation between sectoral committees of parliaments was discussed in COSAC.