PE-8/CPG/PV/2015-10 EUROPEAN PARLIAMT CONFERCE OF PRESIDTS MINUTES of the ordinary meeting of Thursday 21 May 2015 Louise WEISS Building, Room R1.1 Strasbourg PE 553.276 /CPG
CONFERCE OF PRESIDTS MINUTES of the ordinary meeting of Thursday, 21 May 2015 from 10:00 to 12:00 hours Louise WEISS Building, Room R1.1 Strasbourg CONTTS Page 1. Adoption of the draft agenda... 7 2. Approval of the draft minutes of the meeting of 13 May 2015... 8 3. Adoption of the final draft agenda for the May II part-session (27 May 2015) and the draft agenda for the June part-session (from 8 to 11 June 2015) Scheduling of key debates in plenary... 9 4.1 Calendar 2016... 10 4.2 Situation in Greece... 10 4.3 Better Law-making... 11 A. DECISIONS/EXCHANGE OF VIEWS... 12 5. Situation in Greece... 12 6. Preparation of the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, Latvia, from 21 to 22 May 2015... 13 7. Work of the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group - Establishment of the Comprehensive Democracy Support Approach... 14 8. European Heritage Label: replacement of one of Parliament's four experts to serve on the European panel for the years 2015-2017... 15 9. First reading agreements - request from the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development for authorisation to open negotiations prior to the adoption of one of its reports16 10. Request from the Delegation for relations with Belarus to confirm the authorisation of its mission to Minsk, Belarus, from 18 to 19 June 2015... 17 11. Request from the Delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council to change its name... 18 PE 553.276/CPG 2/23
12. Request from the Greens/EFA Group for authorisation to hold a Group delegation meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, from 15 to 16 June 2015... 19 13. Urgent matters and any other business... 20 13.1 Implementation reports - state of play... 20 13.2 Request for authorisation for a Committee on Development mission to the European Development Days... 20 13.3 Request to move forward the date of the ad hoc delegation to Iran... 21 13.4 Parliament response to the European Commission's action plan on the digital single market strategy... 21 14. Items for information... 22 14.1 Internal correspondence... 22 14.2 Inter-institutional correspondence... 22 14.3 External correspondence... 22 15. Date and place of next meetings... 23 3/23 PE 553.276 /CPG
CONFERCE OF PRESIDTS MINUTES of the meeting of Thursday 21 May 2015 from 10:00 to 12:00 hours Strasbourg The meeting opened at 10.05 hours with Mr Martin SCHULZ, President of the European Parliament, in the chair Present Mr SCHULZ, President Political Group Chairs Mr WEBER (EPP) Mr PITTELLA (S&D) Mr KAMALL (ECR) Mr VERHOFSTADT (ALDE) Ms ZIMMER (GUE/NGL) Ms HARMS (Co-Chair) (Greens/EFA) Mr BORRELLI (Co-Chair) (EFDD) Ms DODDS 1 (NI) Also Present Mr Ms WELLE, Secretary-General RATTI, Deputy Secretary-General 1 Present pursuant to Rule 26 (2) of the Rules of Regulations of Procedure PE 553.276/CPG 4/23
Invited: Ms HÜBNER, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs (Acting) The Council 1 represented by Mr KERLEROUX Ms NOTBOOM The Commission 1 represented by Mr CLEMS Mr PINE The Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy 1 represented by Mr LEVINE The Economic and Social Committee 1 represented by Mr BERGER Office of the President Office of the Secretary-General Mr Mr Mr Ms Mr Ms Mr Mr Mr Ms WINKLER MACHMER MASUR WOLLNY DIRRIG PELZ KLEINER KOEKKOEK MANGOLD FREDSGAARD Office of the Deputy Secretary-General Mr LANE Mr ALEIXO 1 Mr NATSCHERADETZ 1 Secretariat DG Presidency (PRES) DG Internal Policies (IPOL) DG External Policies (EXPO) Mr KNUDS/Ms ROBSON/Mr MARINAI 1 Mr RIBERA d ALCALA/Mr CHIOCCHETTI 1 Present for items 1-3 5/23 PE 553.276 /CPG
Mr AGUIRIANO DG European Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS) Mr TEASDALE DG Communication (COMM) DG Personnel (PERS) DG Infrastructures and Logistics DG Translation (TRAD) Ms LAHOUSSE/Mr DUCH GUILLOT Mr KAISER Ms LINNUS Mr MAVRIČ DG Interpretation and Conferences (INTE) Ms WALTER-DROP DG Finance (FINS) Mr KLETHI DG Innovation and Technical Support (ITEC) Mr VILELLA Legal Service (SJ) Mr DREXLER/Mr PASSOS Directorate for relations with political groups Mr SCHWETZ Secretariat of the Bureau Mr TZIORKAS Political groups Mr KAMP/Mr RYNGAERT/Ms SCRIBAN/Ms LASKAVÁ Mr MORO SANCHEZ/Mr BURU/Ms PEREIRA/Mr CARDELLA Mr BARRETT/Mr BOYD Mr BEELS/Ms COLERA-GARZÓN/Mr RASMUSS/McLAUGHLIN Ms D'ALIMONTE/Ms LEPOLA Ms TSETSI/Mr DKINGER/Mr LINAZASORO Mr VAUGIER /Ms ALBERTINI Mr BORDEZ (EPP) (S&D) (ECR) (ALDE) (GUE/NGL) (Greens/EFA) (EFDD) (NI) Mr HILLER, Mr MEGHINI, Mr ISAACS, Mr ROHLJE and Ms SCHADE acted as secretaries to the meeting. PE 553.276/CPG 6/23
1. Adoption of the draft agenda - noted and adopted the draft agenda in the form shown in these Minutes (PE 553.274/CPG). 7/23 PE 553.276 /CPG
2. Approval of the draft minutes of the meeting of 13 May 2015 - noted the draft minutes of the meeting of 13 May 2015, held in Brussels (PE 553.246/CPG and annex); - heard Mr PITTELLA, Chair of the S&D Group, request a modification in the draft minutes on point 13. 'Request from the Committee on Budgetary Control for authorisation to travel to Washington DC, USA, from 15 to 19 June 2015'; - decided to postpone the approval of the draft minutes of the meeting of 13 May 2015 to a subsequent meeting. PE 553.276/CPG 8/23
3. Adoption of the final draft agenda for the May II part-session (27 May 2015) and the draft agenda for the June part-session (from 8 to 11 June 2015) Scheduling of key debates in plenary - noted the following documents: a letter dated 19 May 2015 from Mr BUZEK, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, submitting a recommendation regarding the draft agenda for the June I partsession (from 8 to 11 June 2015) in Strasbourg, and the June II part-session (24 June 2015) in Brussels (PE 553.322/CPG and annexes); a letter dated 20 May 2015 from Mr BUZEK, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, on co-decision files currently under negotiation (PE 553.323/CPG and annexes); - held an exchange of views with the participation of Mr WEBER, Chair of the EPP Group, Mr PITTELLA, Chair of the S&D Group, Mr KAMALL, Chair of the ECR Group, Mr VERHOFSTADT, Chair of the ALDE Group, Mrs ZIMMER, Chair of the GUE/NGL Group, Ms HARMS, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Mr BORRELLI, Co-Chair of the EFDD Group, and Ms DODDS, Non-attached Member, and adopted both the final draft agenda for the May II part-session (27 May 2015), and the draft agenda for the June partsession (from 8 to 11 June 2015), without modifications. 9/23 PE 553.276 /CPG
4. Communications by the President 4.1 Calendar 2016 - heard the President note that a cross-group proposal including 9 weeks for external parliamentary activities and constituency work, had been circulated among the political groups; - held an exchange of views with the participation of Mr WEBER, Chair of the EPP Group, Mr PITTELLA, Chair of the S&D Group, Mr KAMALL, Chair of the ECR Group, Mr VERHOFSTADT, Chair of the ALDE Group, Mrs ZIMMER, Chair of the GUE/NGL Group, Ms HARMS, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Mr BORRELLI, Co-Chair of the EFDD Group, and Ms HÜBNER, acting Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC), during which the need to balance constituency work, political group and parliamentary committee work was stressed; - heard the President propose that a revised proposal incorporating input from committees be circulated to the political groups by the 1 June 2015, in order to allow consideration and possible adoption by the Conference of Presidents at its meeting on 4 June 2015; - agreed with the President's proposal. 4.2 Situation in Greece - heard the President report that he had a phone conversation with Mr TSIPRAS, Prime Minister of Greece, on his possible participation in an extraordinary meeting of the Conference of Presidents the following week in Brussels; - further heard the President report he would notify the Chairs of the political groups once arrangements were determined. PE 553.276/CPG 10/23
4.3 Better Law-making - heard the President note that on 19 May 2015 the European Commission had adopted its proposals for a new Inter-institutional Agreement on Better Regulation, which was part of a comprehensive package including the following elements: a Communication on an 'EU better regulation agenda'; a proposal for an Inter-Institutional Agreement including a Common Understanding on Delegated Acts; a Communication on a more targeted and participative REFIT programme; a Decision to create a new 'REFIT platform', and a Decision to create a new 'Regulatory Scrutiny Board', replacing the Commission's current Impact Assessment Board; - heard the President suggest that the political groups look at these proposals and hold an exchange of views at the extraordinary meeting of the Conference of Presidents with the incoming Luxembourg Presidency on 1 June 2015, and following that discussion, consider and possibly agree the mandate and future structure for the negotiation process at its meeting on 4 June 2015; - agreed with the President's proposal. 11/23 PE 553.276 /CPG
A. DECISIONS/EXCHANGE OF VIEWS 5. Situation in Greece This item was postponed with a view to discussing the issue with Mr TSIPRAS, Prime Minister of Greece, at an extraordinary meeting of the Conference of Presidents, along with other major actors. PE 553.276/CPG 12/23
6. Preparation of the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, Latvia, from 21 to 22 May 2015 - heard the President note that he would participate in the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, Latvia, from 21 to 22 May 2015, during which he would address the following points: - European Parliament perspectives on the partnership agreements, in particular with Georgia and Ukraine; - the need for reforms to make sure that human rights are respected, in particular in relation to Belarus and Azerbaijan; - European external policy and the deal with Ukraine had been a great example of solidarity; - the need to keep fighting corruption. - supported the President's position. 13/23 PE 553.276 /CPG
B. DECISIONS WITHOUT DEBATE 7. Work of the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group - Establishment of the Comprehensive Democracy Support Approach This item was postponed. PE 553.276/CPG 14/23
8. European Heritage Label: replacement of one of Parliament's four experts to serve on the European panel for the years 2015-2017, without debate: - took note of a letter dated 30 April 2015 from Ms COSTA, Chair of the Committee on Education and Culture (CULT), submitting a proposal to replace one of Parliament's four experts to serve on the European Panel for the years 2015-2017(PE 553.271/CPG); - noted that one of the experts, Mr Jean MUSITELLI, appointed by decision of the Conference of Presidents on 11 December 2014, had recently resigned from his post; further noted that at its meeting of 16 April 2015 the CULT Committee had decided to propose Ms Martine PASTOR, as replacement; - agreed to the appointment of the expert proposed and invited the President to inform the European Commission accordingly. 15/23 PE 553.276 /CPG
9. First reading agreements - request from the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development for authorisation to open negotiations prior to the adoption of one of its reports, without debate: - took note of a letter dated 5 May 2015 from Mr SIEKIERSKI, Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, requesting that the mandate to open negotiations on a report be placed on the plenary agenda for the May II part-session in Brussels (PE 553.273/CPG and annex); - recalled and confirmed its decision of 13 May 2015 to include the decision on a mandate to open negotiations in the draft agenda for the May II part-session. PE 553.276/CPG 16/23
10. Request from the Delegation for relations with Belarus to confirm the authorisation of its mission to Minsk, Belarus, from 18 to 19 June 2015, without debate: - took note of a letter dated 7 May 2015 from Mr ZDROJEWSKI, Chair of the Delegation for relations with Belarus, requesting authorisation for a delegation of a total number of seven Members to Minsk, Belarus, from 18 to 19 June 2015 (PE 553.283/CPG, annex and financial statement); - noted that the mission had been included in the draft programme of activities by standing inter-parliamentary delegations for the first half of 2015 and recalled that, at its meeting on 15 January 2015, the Conference of Presidents had decided to come back to the mission in due time prior to the departure of the delegation, in order to take a final decision on the basis of information on security on the ground from the EEAS (including SitCen); - took note of the recommendations in the Country Security Assessment; - noted that the mission was scheduled to take place on days set aside for external parliamentary activities; - authorised the request for this mission, on condition that the recommendations of the Country Security Assessment were fully respected. 17/23 PE 553.276 /CPG
11. Request from the Delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council to change its name This item was postponed to a future meeting. PE 553.276/CPG 18/23
12. Request from the Greens/EFA Group for authorisation to hold a Group delegation meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, from 15 to 16 June 2015, without debate: - took note of a letter dated 7 May 2015 from Ms HARMS and Mr LAMBERTS (Co-Chairs of the Greens/EFA Group, requesting authorisation to hold a Group delegation meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, from 15 to 16 June 2015 (PE 553.278/CPG and financial statement); - noted that the meeting coincided with two days reserved for parliamentary committee activities (Monday and Tuesday); - authorised the request, by way of exception, on condition that a limited language regime with interpretation into one language only be applied. 19/23 PE 553.276 /CPG
13. Urgent matters and any other business 13.1 Implementation reports - state of play - noted a letter dated 20 May 2015 from Mr BUZEK, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, on implementation reports (PE 553.329/CPG and annexes); - heard Mr WEBER, Chair of the EPP Group, stress the importance of parliamentary scrutiny of implementation of EU legislation and on the need to look for mechanisms to encourage parliamentary committees to draw up implementation reports; - held an exchange of views with the participation of Mr VERHOFSTADT, Chair of the ALDE Group, Ms HARMS, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group and Ms HÜBNER, acting Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, during which various suggestions to increase the attractiveness of implementation reports were made, such as the better use of EP facilities for scrutiny of legislation: hearings, expert studies and delegation visits; - agreed to return to this matter at a future meeting, following proposals. 13.2 Request for authorisation for a Committee on Development mission to the European Development Days - heard Mr PITTELLA, Chair of the S&D Group, on behalf of Ms MC AVAN, Chair of the Committee on Development (DEVE), request authorisation for a DEVE Committee mission to the European Development Days in Brussels, from 3 to 4 June 2015; - endorsed this request on an exceptional basis and forwarded it to the Bureau for a final decision. PE 553.276/CPG 20/23
13.3 Request to move forward the date of the ad hoc delegation to Iran - heard Mr WEBER, Chair of the EPP Group, on behalf from Mr BROK, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) request that the date of the ad hoc delegation to Iran, which the Conference of Presidents had authorised at its meeting on 11 February 2015, be brought forward to 5 to 7 June 2015; - authorised, on an exceptional basis, the request to change the date of the mission to Iran to 5 to 7 June 2015. 13.4 Parliament's response to the European Commission's action plan on the digital single market strategy - heard Mr WEBER, Chair of the EPP Group, note the ongoing conflict of competence between numerous committees wishing to draft own-initiative reports on the "Action plan on the digital single market strategy", and express the concern if this conflict were only handled at Committee level, there might be a heavy and time-consuming procedure under the applicable Rules (Rules 54 or 55); - heard the President invite the political Groups to consider drawing up a resolution of the political groups that would enable swift political input from the Parliament on this matter; - agreed with the President's proposal. 21/23 PE 553.276 /CPG
14. Items for information 14.1 Internal correspondence - noted the following documents: draft Programme of the Conference of Presidents' meeting with the incoming Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of Monday 1 June 2015 (PE 553.272/CPG); a letter dated 7 May 2015 from Mr PANZERI, Chair of the Conference of Delegation Chairs, on the conduct of MEPs travelling abroad (PE 553.303/CPG). 14.2 Inter-institutional correspondence There was none. 14.3 External correspondence a letter dated 12 May 2015 from Mr BETTEL, Prime Minister of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, inviting President SCHULZ and the Conference of Presidents to pay a working visit to Luxembourg on 1 June 2015 (PE 553.310/CPG). PE 553.276/CPG 22/23
15. Date and place of next meetings - noted that an extraordinary meeting would be held on 1 June 2015 in Luxembourg with the incoming Luxembourg Presidency; - noted that the next ordinary meeting would be held on 4 June 2015 from 11:00 to 13:00 hours in room 06B01 in the Paul Henri SPAAK Building, Brussels - noted that an extraordinary meeting could be held once a suitable time could be arranged with Mr TSIPRAS, Prime Minister of Greece, in room 06B01 of the Paul Henri SPAAK Building, Brussels. * * * The meeting closed at 11.19 hours 23/23 PE 553.276 /CPG