MINUTES EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS. Brussels. of the meeting of. Paul-Henri SPAAK Building - Room 6B01 PV CPG

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1 PE-6/CPG/PV/ EUROPEAN PARLIAMT CONFERCE OF PRESIDTS MINUTES of the meeting of Paul-Henri SPAAK Building - Room 6B Brussels PV\ doc PE /CPG

2 PE-6/CPG/PV/ CONFERCE OF PRESIDTS MINUTES of the meeting of Thursday, 9 December 2004 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Paul-Henri SPAAK Building, Room 6B01 Brussels CONTTS Page 1. Adoption of draft agenda Approval of minutes of meetings of 27 October and 16 and 18 November Adoption of the final draft agenda for the December II part-session (13 to 16 December 2004) - Scheduling of debates in plenary Statements by the President Meeting with the Luxembourg Presidency Adoption of the Commission s 2005 legislative programme Visit by the President of Parliament to Turkey Presidential elections in Ukraine on 26 December 2004: dispatch of an election-observation delegation Deadline for tabling questions for Question Time in January Commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz Inclusion of non-attached Members in ad hoc delegations authorised by the Conference of Presidents - Note of 22 September 2004 from the Secretary- General Continuation of the trial of Leyla ZANA - proposal to send an ad hoc delegation to Turkey - Letter of 16 November 2004 from Mr POETTERING, chairman of the PPE-DE Group PE /CPG 2/28 PV\ doc

3 7. Iraq Ad hoc delegation - proposal from Mr WATSON, chairman of the ALDE Group - Letter of 15 November 2004 from Mr BROK, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs Powers and responsibilities of the interparliamentary delegations - Letter of 15 November 2004 from Mr BROK, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs Political group meetings during committee weeks - Letter of 10 November 2004 from Mr SCHULZ, chairman of the PSE Group Proposal to rename the Committee on Agriculture the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development - Letter of 8 November 2004 from Mr DAUL, chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen Proposal to rename the Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro the Delegation for relations with the countries of South-East Europe - Letter of 9 November 2004 from Mrs PACK, chairman of the delegation concerned Proposed appointment to the Management Board of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - Letter of 2 December 2004 from Mr FLORZ, chairman of the Committee on the Environment Dispute as to powers and responsibilities between the ECON and JURI committees on the proposal for a directive on the statutory audit of annual accounts and consolidated accounts (COM(2004) 0177) Own-initiative reports - Justifications for the requests submitted by committees - Recommendations of 16 November 2004 forwarded by Mr DAUL, chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen Enhanced cooperation between parliamentary committees (Rule 47 of the Rules of Procedure) - Proposals of 16 November 2004 from Mr DAUL, chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen Urgent matters and other business Composition of the election-coordination group Items for information Date and place of next meeting PV\ doc 3/28 PE /CPG

4 CONFERCE OF PRESIDTS MINUTES of the meeting of Thursday, 9 December 2004 Brussels The meeting opened at a.m. with Mr Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, President of the European Parliament, in the chair. Present Mr Josep BORRELL FONTELLES, chairman Political group chairman Mr POETTERING (PPE-DE) Mr SCHULZ (PSE) Mr WATSON (ALDE) Mrs FRASSONI (co-chairman) (Verts/ALE) Mr WURTZ (GUE/NGL) Mr BLOKLAND (acting) (IND/DEM) Mr CROWLEY (co-chairman) (U) Non-attached Members 1 Mrs Mr BELOHORSKÁ CLAEYS Also present: Mr PRIESTLEY, Secretary-General 1 Present pursuant to Rule 23(2) of Parliament s Rules of Procedure. PE /CPG 4/28 PV\ doc

5 Invited for item 3 Mr DAUL, chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen Also invited for item 3: The Council represented by Mr LOPES SABINO Mrs CRESTE The Commission represented by Mr MASSANGIOLI Mr ANASTOPOULOS Mrs PREISING The Economic and Social Committee represented by Mr ROCHE The Committee of the Regions represented by Mrs GAROSI Mrs CHARLES-PIECK * * * Office of the President Office of the Secretary-General Mrs VERGER Mr AGUIRIANO NALDA Mrs OBERHAUSER Mr COSTELLO Mrs LANVERT Mrs MIGO Mr Mr STRATIGAKIS CLARK PV\ doc 5/28 PE /CPG

6 Secretariat DG Presidency Mr RØMER/Mr PORTA1/Mrs STSBALLE 1 / Mrs ALBANI/Mr SANCHEZ RODRIGUEZ 1 / Mr SCOTT 1 DG Internal Policies Mr WELLE/M. RIBERA D'ALCALÁ 1 / Mr KLEINIG 1 /Mr CHIOCCHETTI 1 DG External Policies NICKEL/Mr PERILLO DG Information Mrs RATTI/Mr LIBERATO/Mr DUCH GUILLOT 1 DG Finance Mr VANHAER Legal Service Mr GARZÓN CLARIANA/Mr PNERA Mrs O. RATTI, acting director for relations with the political groups Political groups Mr PEDERS/Mr KAMP/Mr LICANDRO/Mr PAPI (PPE-DE) Mr HARLEY/Mr HILLER/Mrs BAPTISTA/Mr WINKLER (PSE) Mr BEELS/Mr RINALDI (ALDE) Mrs TSETSI/Mr BEHRD (Verts/ALE) Mrs D ALIMONTE (GUE/NGL) Mrs VANGRUNDERBEECK/Mr VAUGIER (IND/DEM) Mr BARRETT/Mr PRETA (U) Mr BUGALHO (NI) Mr KYST, Mrs PRODE, Mrs VANDBOSCH, Mrs DEAN, Mr CALINOGLOU and Mr HUBER acted as secretary to the meeting. 1 Presents for item 3. PE /CPG 6/28 PV\ doc

7 1. Adoption of draft agenda The Conference of Presidents - noted the draft agenda (PE /CPG) and adopted it in the form shown in these minutes. PV\ doc 7/28 PE /CPG

8 2. Approval of minutes of meetings of 27 October and 16 and 18 November 2004 The Conference of Presidents - noted the minutes for the following meetings: the extraordinary meeting held on 27 October 2004 in Strasbourg (PE /CPG); the extraordinary meeting held on 16 November 2004 in Strasbourg (PE /CPG); the meeting held on 18 November 2004 in Strasbourg (PE /CPG); - approved the above sets of minutes. PE /CPG 8/28 PV\ doc

9 3. Adoption of the final draft agenda for the December II part-session (13 to 16 December 2004) - Scheduling of debates in plenary The Conference of Presidents - noted the following documents: a draft agenda for the December II part-session (Monday, 13 to Thursday, 16 December 2004); a letter of 23 November 2004 from Mr WHITEHEAD concerning an oral question to be dealt with at the December II part-session (PE /CPG); a letter of 16 November 2004 from Mr DAUL (chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen) forwarding a recommendation concerning the agenda for the December II part-session (PE /CPG); - considered each individual item of the final draft agenda for the December II part-session (13 to 16 December 2004) on the basis of a note drawn up by the Directorate-General for the Presidency following a meeting with the political group secretaries-general on 8 November 2004, and adopted the proposals set out in the note, with the following change: WEDNESDAY 15 - vote on the EURLINGS report on Turkey s progress towards accession. * * * - confirmed that the political groups were authorised to meet during the afternoon of 20 December 2004 and the morning ( ) of 21 December 2004, in preparation for the 21 December 2004 meeting of the Conference of Presidents which would be open to all Members. PV\ doc 9/28 PE /CPG

10 4. Statements by the President 4.1 Meeting with the Luxembourg Presidency The Conference of Presidents - noted the draft programme for the meeting between the Conference of Presidents and the future Luxembourg Presidency (PE /CPG and annex); - noted a statement by the President to the effect that the meeting with the Luxembourg Presidency was due to be held at on 6 January 2005 in Luxembourg; - decided that its ordinary meeting would also be held in Luxembourg, at a time to be specified. 4.2 Adoption of the Commission s 2005 legislative programme The Conference of Presidents - noted a statement by the President, who proposed that, in response to the request from Mrs WALLSTRÖM (Commission Vice-President), the Commission s 2005 legislative programme (which was due to be adopted on 26 January 2005) should be placed before Parliament during the latter s second January part-session. 4.3 Visit by the President of Parliament to Turkey The Conference of Presidents - heard the President, who reported on his 2-6 December visit to Turkey, during which he had been accompanied by the rapporteur (Mr EURLINGS) and the chairman of the delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (Mr LAGDIJK). PE /CPG 10/28 PV\ doc

11 4.4 Presidential elections in Ukraine on 26 December 2004: dispatch of an electionobservation delegation The Conference of Presidents - noted the following documents: a letter of 6 December 2004 from Mr SARYUSZ-WOLSKI (Vice- President) concerning the report drawn up by the extraordinary ad hoc delegation which visited Ukraine on 2 and 3 December 2004 (PE /CPG and Annex); a letter of 13 October 2004 from Mr SIWIEC concerning the request for the same delegation to be despatched in order to observe the second round of the elections to be held in Ukraine on 21 November financial statement (PE /CPG and annex); a letter of 26 November 2004 from Mr ZINCHKO (deputy speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament) concerning the invitation for a European Parliament delegation to be despatched (PE /CPG); - decided that an ad hoc delegation comprising 11 members to be nominated by the political groups and to include a representative of the non-attached Members would travel to Ukraine on the occasion of the fresh round of presidential elections scheduled for 26 December. 4.5 Deadline for tabling questions for Question Time in January The Conference of Presidents - noted a statement by the President concerning the Council s request for the deadline for tabling questions for Question Time in January to be brought forward to on Thursday, 16 December 2004, on account of the Christmas holiday period. PV\ doc 11/28 PE /CPG

12 4.6 Commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz The Conference of Presidents - noted a statement by the President, who announced his intention to attend the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on 27 January 2005; he called upon the group chairmen to express any interest they had in accompanying him; - noted that several group chairmen wished to take part in the commemorative day's proceedings. PE /CPG 12/28 PV\ doc

13 5. Inclusion of non-attached Members in ad hoc delegations authorised by the Conference of Presidents - Note of 22 September 2004 from the Secretary- General The Conference of Presidents - noted the above note from the Secretary-General (PE /CPG); - called upon the Secretary-General to submit - at a subsequent meeting - a report on the constitution, the functioning and the purposes of ad hoc delegations. PV\ doc 13/28 PE /CPG

14 6. Continuation of the trial of Leyla ZANA - proposal to send an ad hoc delegation to Turkey - Letter of 16 November 2004 from Mr POETTERING, chairman of the PPE-DE Group The Conference of Presidents - noted the following documents: the above letter from Mr POETTERING (PE /CPG); a letter of 8 December 2004 from Mr LAGDIJK, chairman of the delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (PE /CPG); - heard Mr POETTERING, who repeated his request for a Parliament delegation to be sent to the hearing in the trial of Leyla Zana on 17 December 2004; - heard Mr SCHULZ, who supported Mr POETTERING s request; - heard Mr WATSON, who objected to the despatch of a delegation; - heard Mrs FRASSONI, who proposed sending a single member, as had hitherto been the practice; - decided to dispatch a three-member ad hoc delegation (comprising Mr LAGDIJK, Mr EURLINGS and Mr ROCARD) to Turkey in order to follow the hearing in the trial of Mrs ZANA on 17 December PE /CPG 14/28 PV\ doc

15 7. Iraq 7.1 Ad hoc delegation - proposal from Mr WATSON, chairman of the ALDE Group - Letter of 15 November 2004 from Mr BROK, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs 7.2 Powers and responsibilities of the interparliamentary delegations - Letter of 15 November 2004 from Mr BROK, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs The Conference of Presidents, - noted the following documents: a letter of 15 November 2004 from Mr BROK concerning the Foreign Affairs Committee s recommendation relating to the despatch of an ad hoc delegation to Iraq (PE /CPG), a letter of 3 November 2004 from Mr SCHULZ concerning the assignment of responsibility for Iraq to the Delegation for relations with the Gulf States (PE /CPG), a letter of 21 October 2004 from Mrs PATRIE (chairman of the Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries) concerning the extension of the Mashreq delegation s responsibilities to include Iraq, with a view to the re-establishment of international relations (PE /CPG), a letter of 4 October 2004 from Mrs GRUBER (chairman of the Delegation for relations with the Gulf countries) calling for Iraq to be covered by the Delegation for relations with the Gulf States (PE /CPG), a letter of 4 October 2004 from Mr CHIESA and other members (taken over by Mr WATSON) concerning the despatch of a delegation to Iraq for the purpose of meeting the various political forces and preparing the January 2005 elections (PE /CPG); PV\ doc 15/28 PE /CPG

16 - heard Mr WURTZ, who was not in favour of despatching a delegation - although should one be sent, he called for it to comprise one member of each political group; - heard Mr POETTERING, who agreed with the Foreign Affairs Committee s recommendations: the rapporteur (Mr DIMITRAKOPOULOS) should first undertake an exploratory mission prior to the despatch of an official delegation; secondly, as regards the assignment of responsibility for Iraq, he called for Parliament s resolution of 10 March 2004 to be adhered to and hence for any decision on the subject to be postponed until the necessary parliamentary structures were in place; - heard Mr WATSON, who was in favour of despatching a delegation, provided that each group was represented and that comprehensive security could be guaranteed; he agreed with Mr POETTERING as regards the postponement of the decision concerning the assignment of responsibility for Iraq to one of Parliament s delegations; similarly, he suggested that when the time came a decision should be taken concerning the assignment of responsibility for Afghanistan; - heard Mr SCHULZ, who called for Mrs GRUBER (in her capacity as chairman of the Delegation for relations with the Gulf countries) to be involved in any exploratory mission undertaken by the rapporteur, since he considered that her delegation should be responsible for Iraq s future, once the parliamentary structures were in place; he enquired about local security levels and he insisted that any decision should be taken in full knowledge of the facts; - heard the President, who proposed waiting until more information on security was available and then taking a decision; - heard the Secretary-General, who announced that contact had been made with Mr SOLANA s staff and that it was not currently possible to guarantee a reasonable degree of security for any Parliament representative; the PE /CPG 16/28 PV\ doc

17 situation could be reconsidered at the beginning of January 2005; - decided not to authorise at present the dispatch of an ad hoc delegation to Iraq, given that the minimum security level required was lacking; - decided (pursuant to Parliament s resolution of 10 March 2004 concerning the number of delegations) that it would return to the question of allocating responsibility for Iraq to one of the two interparliamentary delegations (Gulf countries and Mashreq countries) which were most directly concerned, once parliamentary structures had been established in Iraq. PV\ doc 17/28 PE /CPG

18 8. Political group meetings during committee weeks - Letter of 10 November 2004 from Mr SCHULZ, chairman of the PSE Group The Conference of Presidents, taking a decision without debate, - noted the above letter from Mr SCHULZ (PE /CPG); - authorised - for a limited period - the regular holding of meetings of the PSE Group s bureau during committee weeks (on Wednesdays from to 15.00) and also the provision of interpretation into, FR, DE, IT, HU and ES (passive); - decided, however, that such authorisation would be reviewed in the light of any further requests from other political groups, which would require the 27 November 1996 rules governing meetings of the political groups to be amended. PE /CPG 18/28 PV\ doc

19 9. Proposal to rename the Committee on Agriculture the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development - Letter of 8 November 2004 from Mr DAUL, chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen The Conference of Presidents, taking a decision without debate, - noted the above letter from Mr DAUL (PE /CPG); - took a decision in principle concerning the Agriculture Committee s new name ( Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development ) and forwarded its proposal to the plenary for adoption. PV\ doc 19/28 PE /CPG

20 10. Proposal to rename the Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro the Delegation for relations with the countries of South-East Europe - Letter of 9 November 2004 from Mrs PACK, chairman of the delegation concerned The Conference of Presidents, taking a decision without debate, - noted the above letter from Mrs PACK (PE /CPG); - took a decision in principle concerning the new name for the Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro (including Kosovo), which would be Delegation for relations with the countries of South-East Europe, and forwarded its proposal to the plenary for adoption. PE /CPG 20/28 PV\ doc

21 11. Proposed appointment to the Management Board of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control - Letter of 2 December 2004 from Mr FLORZ, chairman of the Committee on the Environment The Conference of Presidents, taking a decision without debate, - noted the above letter from Mr FLORZ (PE /CPG); - decided - following the hearing procedure which had been conducted by the Environment Committee on 23 and 24 November to appoint Mr Ronald HAIGH to the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control as a substitute member nominated by Parliament. PV\ doc 21/28 PE /CPG

22 12. Dispute as to powers and responsibilities between the ECON and JURI committees on the proposal for a directive on the statutory audit of annual accounts and consolidated accounts (COM(2004) 0177) The Conference of Presidents - noted the following documents: a letter of 21 September 2004 from Mrs BERES, chairman of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (PE /CPG); a letter of 20 October 2004 from Mr GARGANI, chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs (PE /CPG/Annexes); a letter of 27 October 2004 from Mr DAUL, chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen (PE /CPG/Annexes); a note of 10 November 2004 from Mr RØMER concerning the dispute as to powers and responsibilities between the ECON and JURI committees (PE /CPG); - decided - following a vote - to confirm the original allocation to the Legal Affairs Committee of the proposal for a directive on the statutory audit of annual accounts and consolidated accounts (COM(2004) 0177). PE /CPG 22/28 PV\ doc

23 13. Own-initiative reports - Justifications for the requests submitted by committees - Recommendations of 16 November 2004 forwarded by Mr DAUL, chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen The Conference of Presidents, taking a decision without debate, - noted the above letter and the justifications (PE /CPG and Annexes); - decided to authorise - in the light of the justifications submitted - the drawing up of the own-initiative reports included on the list appended to Mr DAUL s letter of 16 November PV\ doc 23/28 PE /CPG

24 14. Enhanced cooperation between parliamentary committees (Rule 47 of the Rules of Procedure) - Proposals of 16 November 2004 from Mr DAUL, chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen The Conference of Presidents, taking a decision without debate, - noted the above letter (PE /CPG); - decided to apply Rule 47 of the Rules of Procedure (enhanced cooperation) to the Constitutional Affairs Committee (the committee responsible) and the Foreign Affairs Committee in respect of the own-initiative report concerning the institutional aspects of the creation of a European service for external actions 2004/2207 (INI). PE /CPG 24/28 PV\ doc

25 15. Urgent matters and other business 15.1 Composition of the election-coordination group The Conference of Presidents, taking a decision without debate, - noted the letter of 9 December 2004 from Mr PEDERS (secretary-general of the PPE-DE Group) concerning the groups agreement (PE /CPG); - confirmed its decision of 18 November 2004 concerning the composition of the election-coordination group and specified that the nine members of the group would be drawn as follows: two from the PPE Group, two from the PSE Group, one from the ALDE Group, one from the Greens/ALE Group, one from the GUE Group, one from the IND/DEM Group and one from the U Group. PV\ doc 25/28 PE /CPG

26 16. Items for information Conference of Presidents - noted the following documents: a letter of 2 December 2004 from Mr SCHULZ concerning the accession of two Members to the PSE Group - statement of accession (PE /CPG), a letter of 1 December 2004 from Mr POETTERING calling for Parliament s delegation to Ukraine to be increased in size from 8 to 11 members - written-procedure decision (PE /CPG), a letter of 1 December 2004 from Mr LICANDRO concerning the changes to full or substitute members (PPE-DE Group) which had occurred within the committees and delegations (PE /CPG), a letter of 26 November 2004 from Mr BONDE concerning the change of an IND/DEM member within the committees (PE /CPG), a letter of 26 November 2004 from Mr BUGALHO concerning the representation of non-attached Members within the Euro-Med Parliamentary Assembly (PE /CPG), a letter of 19 November 2004 from Mr DONNER (Council Presidency) concerning the Council s decision appointing the Commissioners to the Commission for the period from 22 November 2004 to 31 October list of Commissioners (PE /CPG), a letter of 18 November 2004 from Mr BONDE concerning the IND/DEM Group s substitute members for the group s various delegations (PE /CPG), a letter of 18 November 2004 from Mr LICANDRO concerning a change to the full and substitute members (PPE-DE Group) within the committees (PE /CPG), PE /CPG 26/28 PV\ doc

27 a letter of 3 November 2004 from Mr FORD concerning the report on the election-observation to Indonesia on 5 April, 5 July and 20 September 2004 (PE /CPG and Annex). PV\ doc 27/28 PE /CPG

28 17. Date and place of next meeting The Conference of Presidents - decided that its next ordinary meeting would be held from 9.30 to on Thursday, 16 December 2004 in Room R1, 1 of the Louise WEISS building in Strasbourg. * * * The meeting closed at * * * PE /CPG 28/28 PV\ doc