The Speaker of the Assembleia da República, Jaime Gama, opened the meeting with a speech stressing the role of national Parliaments in bringing more legitimacy to the European project, adding that the Treaty of Lisbon will enhance this role.
For the first time ever, the President of the European Commission addressed the COSAC plenary. José Manuel Durão Barroso delivered a speech about A Europe of rights and results.
The Prime-Minister of Portugal and President of the EU Council, José Sócrates, highlighted the priorities of the Portuguese presidency: the Reform Treaty, international relations of the European Union, the Lisbon Agenda and fight against climate change, also stressing the enhancement of the role of national Parliaments.
The speeches are published on the COSAC website:
http://www.cosac.eu/en/meetings/Lisbon2007/plenary/
The eight bi-annual report was adopted by COSAC. This report covered the following topics:
- Overview of the EU scrutiny systems of national Parliaments of EU 27
- National Parliaments' expectations from the IGC
- Parliamentary monitoring of the Lisbon Strategy
- The EU Mediterranean Dimension
- National Parliaments' monitoring of EU financial programmes: priority setting and allocation of funds.
Luís Amado, Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of Portugal, gave a speech about the Mediterranean Dimension of the EU.
With regard to the IGC, the three representatives of the European Parliament in this Conference, Elmar Brok, Enrique Barón Crespo and Andrew Duff, exchanged views with the COSAC plenary about the ongoing negotiations for the EU Reform Treaty.
As far as procedural matters were concerned, the XXXVIII COSAC adopted the revised Rules of Procedure, following a troika proposal, enshrining in the Rules the COSAC Secretariat and its role. The decision to appoint a new permanent member of the COSAC Secretariat for the period 2008-2010 was postponed for the Ljubljana Chairpersons Meeting, due to take place on 18 February 2008. As for the co-financing of the post, 23 letters of intent had already been received, which means that the required threshold (minimum of 14 national Parliaments) to move ahead with the co-financing had been achieved.
COSAC also took note of suggested possible topics for future discussion, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure, on the basis of a document prepared by COSAC Secretariat compiling the answers given by all Parliaments.
A Contribution was adopted by consensus. It was sent to the Presidents of the EU institutions and published in the Official Journal of the EU.