MINUTES. 6 June 2013

Transcription

1 PE-7/CPG/PV/ EUROPEAN PARLIAMT CONFERCE OF PRESIDTS MINUTES of the meeting of Thursday 6 June 2013 Paul-Henri SPAAK Building, Room 6B 01 Brussels PE /CPG

2 CONFERCE OF PRESIDTS MINUTES of the meeting of Thursday, 06 June 2013 from to hours Paul-Henri SPAAK, Room 6B 01 Brussels CONTTS Page 1. Adoption of the draft agenda Approval of the minutes of the meeting of 16 May Adoption of the preliminary draft agenda for the June part-session (10 to 13 June 2013 in Strasbourg) Scheduling of key debates in plenary Communications of the President State of play on the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and on the Draft Amending Budget (DAB) Exclusion of Mr BORGHEZIO MEP from the EFD Group Review of the Inter-institutionl Agreement (IIA) on a common transparency register Schengen Governance package Hearing of Commissioner-designate Mr Neven MIMICA - Conclusions of the relevant committees and recommendations to Plenary a Democratic scrutiny of the euro Requests from the parliamentary committees to draw up own-initiative reports under Rule Requests from the parliamentary committees to extend the deadline for finalising pending own-initiative reports PE /CPG 2/39

3 8. Contestation by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the competence of the Committee on Legal Affairs regarding a non-legislative report entitled 29th Annual report on monitoring the application of EU law (2011) Delegated and implementing acts - Screening of current files Special Reports of the European Court of Auditors - Recommendation for future procedural treatment Numerical composition of parliamentary Committees and inter-parliamentary delegations following the accession of Croatia Composition of the Conciliation Comittee following the acession of Croatia Recommendation by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety concerning the appointment of a Member to the Management Board of the European Food Safety Authority Proposal to appoint the eight shortlisted candidates to the Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee delegations within the EU and the applicant countries Request from the Committee on Petitions for authorisation of a fact-finding visit to Denmark from 20 to 21 June Request from the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development to send a delegation to the Province of Apulia, Italy, from 18 to 20 September Request from the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality to send a delegation to Hungary and Croatia from 19 to 20 September Request from the Committee on Foreign Affairs to send an ad hoc delegation to assess the political situation on the occasion of the parliamentary elections in Albania from 21 to 24 June Committee delegations outside the European Union Request from the Committee on Fisheries to send a delegation to Japan from 15 to 19 July Request from the CULT, ITRE Committees and from STOA to send a delegation to the 8th UN meeting of the Internet Governance Forum in Denpasar, Indonesia, from 22 to 25 October Request from the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety to send a delegation to the 25th Meeting of Parties to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete 3/39 PE /CPG

4 the ozone layer (MOP 25) to Bangkok, Thailand from 23 to 25 October 201 Interparliamentary delegations Request from the Committee on Political Affairs, Security and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM) to hold a seminar in Brussels from 18 to 19 June Urgent matters and any other business Problems encountered by a group of Members regarding a visit to Morocco Draft calendar of the Parliament's part-sessions for the year Items for information Internal correspondence Interinstitutional correspondence External correspondence Date and place of next meeting PE /CPG 4/39

5 CONFERCE OF PRESIDTS MINUTES of the meeting of Thursday, 6 June 2013 from to hours Strasbourg The meeting opened at hours with Mr Martin SCHULZ, President of the European Parliament, in the chair Present Mr SCHULZ, President Political Group Chairs Mr DAUL 1 (EPP) Mr SWOBODA (S&D) Mr VERHOFSTADT (ALDE) Mr HARMS (Co-Chair) (Greens/EFA) Mr NICHOLSON (Acting) (ECR) Ms ZIMMER (GUE/NGL) Mr PAŠKA (Acting) (EFD) Also Present Mr WELLE, Secretary-General Invited: Ms PAC K, replacing Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs 1 Mr DAUL took the Chair at /39 PE /CPG

6 The Council 1 The Commission 1 represented by Ms ARPIO Mr MILTON represented by Mr NYMAND CHRISTS Mr BARANY The Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy 1 represented by Mr CASTRO Mr LEVINE The Economic and Social Committee 1 represented by Ms ADAMISOVÁ Ms CLEMT The Committee of the Regions 1 represented by Mr KIEL Office of the President Mr Mr Ms Ms Ms Mr Ms Mr Ms WINKLER KAISER MARTINEZ IGLESIAS STRASSER PELZ FREEDMAN WOLLNY DIRRIG CASALES LÓPEZ Office of the Secretary-General Mr Mr Ms Ms MANGOLD SORS FERNANDEZ PERLES FREDSGAARD 1 Present for items 1-3 PE /CPG 6/39

7 Secretariat DG Presidency (PRES) DG Internal Policies (IPOL) DG External Policies (EXPO) DG Communication (COMM) DG Innovation, Technical Support (ITEC) Legal Service Directorate for relations with political groups Secretariat of the Bureau Ms F. RATTI/Mr DUNSTAN/Mr LANE /Mr KNUDS/Mr BROGGI/ Mr URBIETA/Mr SANCHEZ/Mr SCOTT 1 /Ms JIMEZ LOZANO Ms VANDBOSCH/Mr CHIOCCHETTI/Mr HAUCK/Ms SAILIS 1 Ms HERBOWSKA 2 Mr AGUIRIANO/Mr PALVER Ms LAHOUSSE/Mr DUCH GUILLOT Mr VILELLA Mr PNERA/Mr PASSOS Mr SCHWETZ Mr TZIORKAS Political groups Mr KAMP/Mr RYNGAERT/Ms SCRIBAN/Ms LASKAVÁ Ms COLOMBO/Mr BURU/Ms BAPTISTA/Ms GLIUBIZZI-FAJARDO Mr BEELS//Ms COLLERA-GARZÓN/Mr RASMUSS/Mr MCLAUGHLIN Ms TSETSI/Mr LINAZASORO/Mr DKINGER Mr BARRETT/Mr BOYS SMITH Ms D'ALIMONTE/Ms LEPOLA Mr BORDEZ/Mr VAUGIER/ Ms GHILARDI Mr BUGALHO (EPP) (S&D) (ALDE) (Greens/EFA) (ECR) (GUE/NGL) (EFD) (NI) Mr HILLER, Mr PEGAZZANO, Mr HUBER and Mr ISAACS acted as secretaries to the meeting Present for items 1-3 of the Agenda 2 Present for item 5 of the Agenda 7/39 PE /CPG

8 1. Adoption of the draft agenda The Conference of Presidents - noted the draft agenda (PE /CPG) and adopted it in the form shown in these minutes. PE /CPG 8/39

9 2. Approval of the minutes of the meeting of 16 May approved the minutes of the meeting of 16 May 2013, held in Brussels (PE /CPG and annex). 9/39 PE /CPG

10 3. Adoption of the preliminary draft agenda for the June part-session (10 to 13 June 2013 in Strasbourg) Scheduling of key debates in plenary The Conference of Presidents - noted the following documents: a letter dated 22 May 2013 from Mr LEHNE Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs with the recommendations for the agenda of the June part-session (10 to 13 June 2013) in Strasbourg (PE /CPG and annex); a letter dated 23 May 2013 from Mr LEHNE Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs with an overview of negotiations on first-reading, early second or secondreading agreements (PE /CPG and annex); a provisional table dated 4th June 2013 summarising committee and delegation meetings scheduled during the June plenary in Strasbourg (10-13 June 2013) (PE /CPG). - took note of the preliminary draft agenda for the June part-session (10 to 13 June 2013 in Strasbourg), in the light of notes drafted by DG Presidency setting out the various options, distributed after the preparatory meetings of 4 and 5 June 2013 with the Secretaries-General of the political groups, and adopted the proposal contained in those notes with the following modifications: Monday 10 June heard the President inform the meeting that he would make a statement at the opening of the session in tribute to the victims of recent floods in central Europe and welcomed this initiative; PE /CPG 10/39

11 Wednesday 12 June decided to add an additional resolution on youth unemployment to wind up the debate on the item "Council and Commission statements - Preparations for the European Council meeting (27-28 June 2013); Thursday 13 June heard Mr DAUL, Chair of the EPP Group, propose to add an oral question on recent allegations of irregular surveillance practices and irregularities with the electoral register in Bulgaria and decided to return to the matter at a future meeting, following an assessment by the LIBE Committee. 11/39 PE /CPG

12 4. Communications of the President 4.1 State of play on the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and on the Draft Amending Budget (DAB) The Conference of Presidents - heard the President remark that the votes on the LA VIA and BÖGE Reports on the DAB 1 and amendments to the Inter-institutional Agreement on budgetary discipline, relating to the accession of Croatia to the EU, remained on the draft plenary agenda for Thursday of the JUNE session. However, he deeply deplored the fact that the Council had not yet been able to finalise its common position on these two proposals and noted that if the Council's position was not known before Thursday 13 June, the vote on the two Reports would have to be taken off the agenda and, if so, the Parliament should clearly communicate that it had been ready to vote but could not do so in the absence of a Council position. In relation to the discussions in Council on DAB 1 and 2, the President noted that a few Member States were strongly advocating reducing the DABs as far as possible by redeploying resources within the existing annual budget. The President further remarked that the Council's current approach seemed to imply that it believed that approving the first tranche of DAB 2 of 7.3 billion would satisfy the Parliament, which in return would agree to an MFF close to the agreement reached in the European Council on 7 to 8 February The President however, emphasised the Parliament's fundamental demand that the Council must commit to the full amount of 11.2 billion of the DAB 2 in order for the Parliament to consider an agreement on the MFF. In this context, he noted that improved flexibility between years and headings was the key to reaching an agreement on the MFF. PE /CPG 12/39

13 4.2 Exclusion of Mr BORGHEZIO MEP from the EFD Group The Conference of Presidents - heard the President inform the meeting that he had received a formal complaint from Mr BORGHEZIO, MEP, concerning the procedure applied by the EFD Group when excluding him from the Group. The President remarked that he had notified Mr BORGHEZIO, that his duty as President of the Parliament was to verify the conformity of the activities and the financing of the political groups with the Parliament's rules, but that it would go beyond his remit to interfere in the internal proceedings of a political group. - heard Mr PAŠKA, acting Chair of the EFD Group, note that the exclusion of Mr BORGHEZIO from the EFD Group had been carried out in full compliance with the Group's internal rules. 4.3 Review of the Inter-institutionl Agreement (IIA) on a common transparency register The Conference of Presidents - heard the President note that the IIA on a common transparency register foresees that the common register shall be subject to review no later than two years following its entry into force, i.e. before 23 June He therefore informed the meeting that he would propose to the Bureau to set up a high level working group on the matter, composed of: Mr WIELAND, Vice-President; Ms DURANT, Vice-President; Ms PODIMATA, Vice-President; Mr McMILLAN-SCOTT, Vice-President; Mr CASINI, Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs. 13/39 PE /CPG

14 4.4 Schengen Governance package The Conference of Presidents - heard the President recall the decision of the Conference of Presidents in July 2012 to remove the votes on the Schengen Governance package (in particular the COELHO and WEBER Reports) from the plenary agenda, due to a proposal from the Council to change the legal base away from the normal legislative procedure on parts of the package. The President noted that he had been informed by Mr LOPEZ AGUILAR, Chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), that a draft agreement had been reached on the Governance package with the Irish Presidency - notably improving transparency and the Parliament's role - which was set to be voted by the LIBE Committee on Monday 10 June 2013 in Strasbourg. The plenary would thereafter be able to take a vote on the package on Wednesday 12 June 2013 and this would allow for progress in the linked files. PE /CPG 14/39

15 * * Mr DAUL took the Chair at * * A. DECISIONS/EXCHANGE OF VIEWS 5. Hearing of Commissioner-designate Mr Neven MIMICA - Conclusions of the relevant committees and recommendations to Plenary The Conference of Presidents - noted the following documents: a letter dated 5 June 2013 from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs evaluating the hearing with Mr MIMICA, (PE /CPG); a letter dated 2 May 2013, from Mr CLOOS, Deputy Secretary-General of the Council, informing Parliament of the nomination of Mr Neven MIMICA as Commissioner designate (PE /CPG); a letter dated 2 May 2013, from Mr BARROSO, President of the Commission, informing Parliament of his intention to give Mr MIMICA the portfolio of Consumer Policy(PE /CPG); Annex XVII of the Rules of Procedure. - heard the acting Chair note that the Conference of Presidents had received the evaluation letter from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, following the hearing by the IMCO and VI Committees of Mr MIMICA, Croatian Commissioner designate, with the recommendation to accept his candidature, endorsed this recommendation and submitted it to plenary for a final vote, foreseen for 12 June. 15/39 PE /CPG

16 5.a Democratic scrutiny of the euro The Conference of Presidents - noted the following documents: a reflection note from the President on democratic scrutiny for the euro (PE /CPG); an extract of the minutes of the meeting of the Conference of Presidents on 6 December 2012 and 7 and 13 March 2013; - recalled its previous discussions on Euro governance and democratic scrutiny of the euro held on 6 December 2012 and 7 and 13 March 2013; - heard Mr VERHOFSTADT, Chair of the ALDE Group, propose to: invite the coordinators on the Committee of Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) to find - before the last meeting of the Conference of Presidents in July - a solution to the problem of democratic scrutiny of the Euro in the framework of the revision Annex VII of the Rules of Procedure in view of the next legislature; invite the ECON coordinators as well to decide - before the last meeting of the Conference of Presidents in July - if interim arrangements to cover the period until the end of this legislature are required, and, if so, which interim arrangements; - heard Mr SWOBODA, Chair of the S&D Group, support Mr VERHOFSTADT's proposal; - endorsed the above proposal with a view to deciding at the last meeting of the CoP in July. PE /CPG 16/39

17 B. DECISIONS WITHOUT DEBATE 6. Requests from the parliamentary committees to draw up own-initiative reports under Rule 48 The Conference of Presidents, - took note of a letter dated 22 May 2013 from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs (PE /CPG and annexes) in which he submits requests for authorisation from parliamentary committees to draw up own-initiative reports under Rule 48 of the Rules of Procedure; - took note of the request for authorisation of one legislative own-initiative report referred to under heading A of the letter above, and authorise it to be drawn up; - took note of the request for authorisation of seven non-legislative own-initiative reports referred to under heading C of that letter, and authorised six of them to be drawn up; - postponed the decision on whether to authorise the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control on "The cost-effectiveness of staff training in the European Commission" to a future meeting; - took note of two implementation reports referred to under heading E of that letter, which are subject to automatic authorisation; - noted that the Committee on Foreign Affairs has requested the modification of the procedure of an own-initiative report already authorised under Rule 121(3) and Rule 97 to be based now on Rule 97 only, and authorised it; - noted that the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Legal Affairs have both requested the withdrawal of one own-initiative report which had already been authorised by the Conference of Presidents; - noted that the Committee on Foreign Affairs has notified the Conference of Committee Chairs of one report, authorised automatically, falling under Rule 121, subject to automatic authorisation; 17/39 PE /CPG

18 - further noted that the Committee on Foreign Affairs has notified the Conference of Committee Chairs of one report, authorised automatically, falling under Rule 119(1) and Article 36 TEU. PE /CPG 18/39

19 7. Requests from the parliamentary committees to extend the deadline for finalising pending owninitiative reports The Conference of Presidents, with debate, - noted a letter dated 30 May 2013 from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs (PE /CPG and annexes) submitting a request to modify arrangements for own-initiative reports at committee stage towards the end of this parliamentary term; - recalled that, at its meeting on 11 April 2013, a decision was taken that all currently ongoing procedures where the committee has not adopted its own-initiative report within six months of its authorisation, shall be deemed to have lapsed by 1 June 2013; - noted that the Conference of Committee Chairs has considered the matter at its meeting of 21 May 2013 and suggests, as a horizontal approach, to extend this deadline of 1 June 2013 until the summer recess, thus giving the committees additional time to adopt their owninitiative reports authorised or notified prior to 1 December 2012; - noted that nine ongoing procedures for own-initiative reports listed in the annex of Mr. LEHNE's letter would benefit from that decision and granted the requested extension for those nine report; - noted that for six other reports also listed in the annex of Mr. LEHNE's letter the relevant committees were not in a position to confirm the adoption of the report before the summer recess and that it has been suggested that the Conference of Presidents examine these cases based on the justifications advanced by the committees and on an individual basis and on the understanding that this is the last request for derogation which will be considered; - granted the request to extend the agreed deadline for the above six reports; - heard Mr SWOBODA, Chair of the S&D Group, propose to extend the above deadline until 30 September 2013 for all pending own-initiative reports and endorsed this proposal. 19/39 PE /CPG

20 8. Contestation by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the competence of the Committee on Legal Affairs regarding a non-legislative report entitled 29th Annual report on monitoring the application of EU law (2011) The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - took note of a letter dated 22 May 2013 from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs (PE /CPG and annexes) on the conflict of competences concerning the non-legislative report on: "29th Annual report on monitoring the application of EU law (2011)" Committee responsible: JURI ECON has contested the competence of the JURI Committee; - noted the recommendations of the Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs that: the contestation of competence by the ECON Committee regarding the non-legislative report of the JURI Committee entitled "29th Annual report on monitoring the application of EU law (2011)" be dismissed; the ECON Committee be authorised to contribute with an opinion under Rule 49 to the above-mentioned report; - approved the above-mentioned recommendations of the Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs on this matter. PE /CPG 20/39

21 9. Delegated and implementing acts - Screening of current files The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - noted the following documents: a letter dated 22 May 2013, from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, on the screening of current files in view of the June 2013 part-session (PE /CPG); a letter dated 29 May 2013, from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, on MFF legislative proposals and the use of Delegated Acts - state of play (PE /CPG); - recalled its decision of 19 April 2012 to request the competent services to carry out an ongoing screening procedure of upcoming legislative proposals in order to avoid placing on the plenary agenda any vote(s) leading to a first-reading agreement on dossiers where such decisions might be legally questionable; - noted that Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, in his letter of 22 May 2013 transmits the results of screening files in view of the June 2012 part-session; - noted that no legal concerns are raised in relation to any of the dossiers scheduled for vote during this part-session; - noted the state of play on MFF legislative proposals and the use of Delegated Acts, as set out by Mr LEHNE in his letter of 29 May 2013, and endorsed the general approach outlined in it. 21/39 PE /CPG

22 10. Special Reports of the European Court of Auditors - Recommendation for future procedural treatment This item was postponed. PE /CPG 22/39

23 11. Numerical composition of parliamentary Committees and inter-parliamentary delegations following the accession of Croatia The Conference of Presidents, - took note of a draft decision of the European Parliament on the numerical composition of parliamentary committees following the accession of Croatia (PE /CPG); - heard Mr NICHOLSON, acting Chair of the ECR Group, note that the political groups had agreed on a proposal concerning the numerical composition of parliamentary committees, following the accession of Croatia; - endorsed the above proposal and submitted it to plenary for final approval. 23/39 PE /CPG

24 12. Composition of the Conciliation Comittee following the acession of Croatia The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - took note of a proposal from the political groups concerning the political composition of the 28-member EP delegation to the Conciliation Committee following the accession of Croatia to the EU (PE CPG); - approved the political composition of Parliament's 28-member delegation to the Conciliation Committee, following the accession of Croatia to the EU. PE /CPG 24/39

25 13. Recommendation by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety concerning the appointment of a Member to the Management Board of the European Food Safety Authority The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - noted a letter dated 7 May 2013 from Mr GROOTE, Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety subject (PE /CPG) in which he: submits the recommendation of that Committee on the nomination of one member to the Management Board of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), following the resignation of Mrs BÁNÁTI, Chair of the EFSA Management Board on 8 May 2012, outlining the fact that the Parliament has been given three months to express its views and must now provide these to the Council before 20 June 2013; recalls that the European Parliament's role is not to choose the EP representatives on the Board, but to express its views on a shortlist proposed by the Commission before the Council takes its final decision; in light of the above, recommends that Ms Margarita ARBOIX ARZO be nominated as member of the EFSA Management Board for the remainder of the term until 30 June approved this recommendation and invited the President to inform the Council accordingly. 25/39 PE /CPG

26 14. Proposal to appoint the eight shortlisted candidates to the Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - noted the letter dated 14 May 2013 from Mr GROOTE, Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (PE /CPG) with the views of this committee on a shortlist of representatives from patients' and clinicians' organisations to be appointed to the Committee for Advance Therapies (CAT) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as the term in office of those appointed in 2009 has expired; - noted that the European Commission has submitted to the European Parliament on 20 March 2013 its proposal for the eight shortlisted candidates, as listed below: Representative from patients' organisations (two members and two alternates): Full member: Mr Michele LIPUCCI (EURORDIS - European Organisation for Rare Diseases); Dr Kieran BRE (European Parkinson's Association - EPDA); Alternate member: Ms Monica SINI (EURORDIS - European Organisation for Rare Diseases); Ms Marriette DRIESSS (European Genetic Alliances Network). Representative from clinicians' organisations: Full member: Mr Pieter DOEVEDANS (ESC - European Society of Cardiology); Dr Bernd GÄNSBACHER (Institute of Experimental Oncology and Therapeutics); PE /CPG 26/39

27 Alternate member: Mr Esteve TRIAS (European Association of Tissue Banks); Mr Ramadan JASHARI (European Association of Tissue Banks). - noted that the VI Committee considers that the eight candidates listed above, as selected by the European Commission, are eligible for the posts for which they are nominated and that the Commission proposal can be approved without reservations; - endorsed this recommendation and invited the President to inform the Commissioner responsible accordingly. 27/39 PE /CPG

28 Committee delegations within the EU and the applicant countries 15. Request from the Committee on Petitions for authorisation of a fact-finding visit to Denmark from 20 to 21 June 2013 The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - took note of the letter dated 21 May 2013 by Ms MAZZONI, Chair of the Committee on Petitions (PETI) (PE /CPG and financial statement) requesting authorisation to send a fact finding delegation from 20 to 21 June 2013, composed of three Members, to Copenhagen to hold meetings with petitioners and the Danish authorities concerning petitions on child care/welfare and custody cases; - endorsed the mission as requested, on the understanding that a limited language regime of interpretation into one language only applied and provided that the committee's quota was respected; - forwarded the request to the Bureau for final decision. PE /CPG 28/39

29 16. Request from the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development to send a delegation to the Province of Apulia, Italy, from 18 to 20 September 2013 The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - took note of a letter dated 11 April 2013 by Mr DE CASTRO, Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (PE /CPG and financial statement) requesting authorisation to send a delegation composed of up to nine Members, including the Chair out of quota, to Apulia, in particular to Salento, to deepen the knowledge of Mediterranean agriculture, from 18 to 20 September 2013 including travel time; - endorsed the mission as requested, provided that the committee's quota was respected and on the understanding that a limited interpretation regime of interpretation into one language only applied for 18 September; - forwarded the request to the Bureau for final decision. 29/39 PE /CPG

30 17. Request from the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality to send a delegation to Hungary and Croatia from 19 to 20 September 2013 The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - took note of a letter dated 26 April 2013 by Mr GUSTAFSSON, Chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (PE /CPG and financial statement) requesting authorisation to send a delegation, composed of up to five Members, including the Chair out of quota, and three accompanying Members elected in Hungary to Hungary and Croatia from 19 to 20 September 2013 to assess the situation of Roma and local initiatives in this respect; - endorsed the mission as requested, on the understanding that the accompanying Members can travel with the delegation only in their country of election and were selected according to the applicable rules; - forwarded the request to the Bureau for final decision. PE /CPG 30/39

31 18. Request from the Committee on Foreign Affairs to send an ad hoc delegation to assess the political situation on the occasion of the parliamentary elections in Albania from 21 to 24 June 2013 The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - noted a letter dated 15 May 2013 by Mr BROK, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (PE /CPG and financial statement) requesting authorisation to send an ad hoc delegation, composed of four Members, to Albania from 21 to 24 June 2013, on the occasion of the parliamentary elections in Albania held on 23 June 2013; - noted that the Democracy Support and Election Observation Group decided not to support an official EP election observation mission (EOM) to Albania because rules would not permit EOMs to candidate or potential candidate countries; - considered it to be appropriate that, in principle, missions planned on the occasion of national elections were organised within the framework of the applicable rules on election observation missions only; - authorised, nevertheless, the sending of an ad hoc delegation made up of seven members appointed by the political groups in accordance with the rolling d'hondt system, which should also apply to the non-attached Members. 31/39 PE /CPG

32 Committee delegations outside the European Union 19. Request from the Committee on Fisheries to send a delegation to Japan from 15 to 19 July 2013 The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - took note of the letter dated 22 May 2013 by Mr MATO ADROVER, Chair of the Committee on Fisheries (PE /CPG and financial statement) re-confirming that committee's request for approval of a delegation composed of six Members, including the Chair out of quota, to Tokyo and Fukoka, Japan, from 15 to 19 July 2013 to further cooperation in the field of combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries and to study Japan's best practices in fisheries management and control; - recalled that the Conference of Presidents and the Bureau have both rejected this request previously on various occasions, inviting the PECH committee to make recourse to the provisions of Article 13(3) of the Implementing provisions governing the work of delegations by requesting authorisation for their respective rapporteurs to join missions of the inter-parliamentary delegations concerned instead of sending a committee delegation; - recalled that this approach has been taken also for comparable requests of other parliamentary committees; noted that for a variety of reasons, the Committee on Fisheries was not in a position to carry out the recommendation made by the Bureau in its currently valid decision of 26 February 2013; continued to find it inappropriate to send the requested delegation to Japan at this juncture; - forwarded the request to the Bureau for final decision. PE /CPG 32/39

33 20. Request from the CULT, ITRE Committees and from STOA to send a delegation to the 8th UN meeting of the Internet Governance Forum in Denpasar, Indonesia, from 22 to 25 October 2013 The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - noted a letter dated 15 May 2013, co-signed by Ms SARTORI, Chair of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Ms PACK, Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education and Mr CORREIA DE CAMPOS, Chair of STOA (PE /CPG and financial statement) requesting authorisation to send a four-member EP delegation (two Members from ITRE, one Member from CULT and one Member from STOA), to Denpasar, Indonesia, to the eighth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) held from 22 to 25 October 2013; - endorsed, on exceptional basis, the mission as requested, on the understanding that the mission was counted against the committees' respective quota for travel outside the EU, that the maximum duration of the mission including travel time was of five days and that no interpretation was provided; - forwarded the request to the Bureau for final decision. 33/39 PE /CPG

34 21. Request from the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety to send a delegation to the 25th Meeting of Parties to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer (MOP 25) to Bangkok, Thailand from 23 to 25 October 201 Interparliamentary delegations The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - noted a letter dated 8 May 2013 by Mr GROOTE, Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (PE /CPG plus annex and financial statement) requesting authorisation to send a delegation composed of up to three Members to the 25th Meeting of Parties of the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer (MOP 25) taking place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 23 to 25 October 2013; - noted that a three-member delegation to the MOP 25 meeting, initially foreseen to take place in Kiev, Ukraine, on the same dates, had been approved by the Bureau in its decision of 4 February 2013 under the conditions set out in that decision; - recalled that the Bureau decision of 4 February 2013 underlines that, should parliamentary committees decide to cancel one of their missions and replace it with another, the new request would have to provide all appropriate details on the proposed mission, as well as a new financial statement and information on the available quota at the time of travel; - endorsed the request on an exceptional basis and on the understanding that the number of Members travelling was drawn from the committee's quota and that no interpretation was provided; - forwarded the request to the Bureau for final decision. PE /CPG 34/39

35 22. Request from the Committee on Political Affairs, Security and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM) to hold a seminar in Brussels from 18 to 19 June 2013 The Conference of Presidents, without debate, - noted a letter dated 13 May 2013 by Ms SAIFI, Chair of the Committee on Political Affairs, Security, and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA UfM) (PE /CPG and financial statement) requesting authorisation to organise a seminar for female parliamentarians in the Arab states in the European Parliament in Brussels from 18 June 2013 afternoon until 19 June 2013 in the evening with the aim of reinforcing the capacities of female parliamentarians in the Arab states and to promote their networking; - noted that the European Parliament is asked to provide the meeting facilities and interpretation into Arab, French and English for the seminar; - noted that the suggested dates for the event coincide with two days reserved for committee activities with a scarcity of meeting rooms and interpretation resources and re-confirmed its position that absolute priority must be given during these days to legislative work, especially in view of the approaching end of the legislative term; - therefore endorsed the requested meeting in principle while inviting the organisers to find alternative dates where meeting room and interpretation resources could be found. 35/39 PE /CPG

36 23. Urgent matters and any other business 23.1 Problems encountered by a group of Members regarding a visit to Morocco The Conference of Presidents, with debate, - decided to defer this item to its meeting the following week. PE /CPG 36/39

37 23.2 Draft calendar of the Parliament's part-sessions for the year 2014 The Conference of Presidents, - took note of a proposal for a draft calendar of the EP's part-sessions for 2014 from the President (PE /CPG); - took note of a proposal for a draft calendar of the EP's part-sessions for 2014 submitted by the political groups (PE ); - held an exchange of views, on the basis of the above proposals, with the participation of Mr SWOBODA, Chair of the S&D Group, Mr VERHOFSTADT, Chair of the ALDE Group, Ms HARMS, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Mr NICHOLSON, acting Chair of the ECR Group, Mr PAŠKA, acting Chair of the EFD Group, Ms ZIMMER, Chair of the GUE/NGL Group and Ms PACK, representing the Conference of Committee Chairs, - endorsed the draft calendar of part-sessions for 2014 as proposed by the President with the following modifications: move the mini session in week 8 to week 14; move the Strasbourg part-sessions in week 14 to week 9; maintain the Strasbourg part-sessions in week 16 which would also be the last week of parliamentary activity during the present legislature; - submitted the draft calendar of part-sessions for 2014, as amended, to the JUNE plenary for final adoption. 37/39 PE /CPG

38 24. Items for information 24.1 Internal correspondence The Conference of Presidents, - noted the following documents: a letter dated 16 May 2013 from Mr YÁÑEZ-BARNUEVO GARCÍA, Chair of the Delegation for relations with the Mercosur countries, on his working-party visit to Argentina on 2-3 May 2013 (PE /CPG); a letter dated 16 May 2013 from Mr LISEK, Chair of the EP Election Observation Delegation to Kenya, on the presidential, parliamentary and local elections in Kenya on 4 March 2013 (PE /CPG); a letter dated 21 May 2013 from Mrs BERÈS, Chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, on the modalities of Parliament's democratic control over the Troika (PE /CPG); Minutes of the meeting of the Conference of Presidents open to all MEPs held on 28 May 2013 (PE /PV); Verbatim of the meeting of the Conference of Presidents open to all MEPs held on 28 May 2013 (PE /PV) Interinstitutional correspondence There was none External correspondence There was none. PE /CPG 38/39

39 25. Date and place of next meeting The Conference of Presidents - noted that its next meeting would take place on 13 June 2013 from 10:00 to 12:00 hours in room R1.1 in the Louise Weiss Building, Strasbourg. * * * The meeting closed at hours 39/39 PE /CPG