PV CPG 17.10.2013

PE 521.272/CPG

EN

PE-7/CPG/PV/2013-18

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS

MINUTES

of the meeting of Thursday

17 October 2013

Paul-Henri SPAAK Building, Room 06 B 01

Brussels

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CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS

MINUTES

of the meeting of

Thursday, 17 October 2013

from 11.00 to 13.00 hours

Paul-Henri SPAAK Building, Room 06 B 01

Brussels

CONTENTS

Page

1. Adoption of the draft agenda ...................................................................................................... 8

2. Approval of the draft minutes of the meeting of 10 October 2013 ............................................ 9

4. Communications of the President ............................................................................................. 12

5. Implementation of the new OLAF Regulation - Selection of Members whose

duties are to end upon expiry of the first 36 months of their term in office (in the

presence of representatives of other Institutions) ..................................................................... 13

6. Preparation of the European Council of 24 to 25 October 2013 .............................................. 15

7. Delegated and implementing acts - Screening of current files ................................................. 17

Committee delegations within the EU and the applicant countries ................................................ 18

8. Request from the Committee on Regional Development to send a delegation to the

Netherlands from 28 to 30 October 2013 ................................................................................. 18

Committee delegations outside the European Union ...................................................................... 19

9. Request from the Subcommittee on Human Rights to include one of its Members

to the delegation of the Delegation for Relations with the Countries of South East

Asia and ASEAN, travelling to Laos and Vietnam at the end of October 2013 ...................... 19

Election Observation Missions ......................................................................................................... 20

10. Joint request from the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group and

the Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia,

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Montenegro and Kosovo to extend the mission of three Members participating in

the 6th Interparliamentary meeting in Kosovo, to observe its municipal elections

scheduled for 3 November 2013 ...............................................................................................20

11. Request from the S&D Group to organise a meeting of a delegation of the Group

in Athens, Greece, from 1 to 2 December 2013 ........................................................................22

12. Urgent matters and any other business......................................................................................23

12.1 Notice-and-action procedures on the internet ...........................................................................23

12.2 Refusal to grant Mr AL-HASHIMI, former Iraqi Vice-President, access to the

European Parliament .................................................................................................................23

12.3 Members travelling individually to observe elections in third countries in parallel

to official European Parliament Election Observation Missions ..............................................24

13. Items for information ................................................................................................................25

13.1 Internal correspondence ............................................................................................................25

13.2 Interinstitutional correspondence ..............................................................................................25

13.3 External correspondence ...........................................................................................................25

14. Date and place of next meeting .................................................................................................26

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CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS

MINUTES

of the meeting of Thursday, 17 October 2013

from 11.00 to 13.00 hours

Brussels

The meeting opened at 11.06 hours with Mr Martin SCHULZ,

President of the European Parliament, in the chair

Present

Mr SCHULZ, President

Political Group Chairs

Ms WORTMANN-KOOL (Acting) (EPP)

Mr SWOBODA (S&D)

Mr VERHOFSTADT (ALDE)

Ms HARMS (Co-Chair) (Greens/EFA)

Mr CALLANAN (ECR)

Ms ZIMMER (GUE/NGL)

Mr SPERONI (Co-Chair) (EFD)

Non-attached Member

Mr SOSA WAGNER1 (Non-attached Member)

Also Present

Mr WELLE, Secretary-General

1 Present pursuant to Rule 24 (2) of the Rules of Regulations of Procedure

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Invited:

Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs

Also invited:

Mr THEURER, Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control1

The Council2

represented by Ms TUTS

Mr MILTON

Mr DE HERT

The Commission2

represented by Mr BARANY

Mr CLEMENS

Ms KNÖFEL1

The Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs

and Security Policy 2

represented by Mr CASTRO

Mr LEVINE

The Economic and Social Committee 2

represented by Ms ADAMISOVA

Ms MITUTA

The Committee of the Regions2

represented by Mr KIENEL

Office of the President

Mr WINKLER

Mr KAISER

Ms MARTINEZ IGLESIAS

Ms STRASSER

Mr MANNELLI

Mr FREEDMAN

Ms WOLLNY

Ms PELZ

1 Present for item 5 2 Present for items 1-3

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Mr DIRRIG

Office of the Secretary-General

Mr MANGOLD

Mr SORENSEN

Ms FREDSGAARD

Ms FERNANDEZ PERLES

Secretariat

DG Presidency (PRES) Ms F. RATTI/Mr DUNSTAN/Mr LANE/Mr KNUDSEN/

Mr BROGGI/Mr SANCHEZ/Mr SCOTT1/Mr URBIETA/

Ms JIMENEZ LOZANO

DG Internal Policies (IPOL)

Mr RIBERA d'ALCALA/Ms VANDENBOSCH/

Mr CHIOCCHETTI/Mr HAUCK/Ms SAILLIS1

Ms CASTILLO del CARPIO2

DG External Policies (EXPO)

Mr AGUIRIANO/Mr PENALVER/

DG Communication (COMM)

Ms LAHOUSSE/Mr DUCH GUILLOT/

Mr VAN DEN BROECK1

DG Interpretation and Conferences (INTE)

Ms COSMIDOU

DG Innovation, Technical

Support (ITEC) Mr VILELLA

Legal Service Mr DREXLER/Mr PASSOS/Ms GROS

TCHORBADJIYSKA2

Directorate for relations with political groups

Mr SCHWETZ

Secretariat of the Bureau Mr TZIORKAS

1 Present for items 1-3

2 Present for item 5

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Political groups

Mr KAMP/Mr RYNGAERT/Ms SCRIBAN/Ms LASKAVÁ (EPP)

Ms COLOMBO/Mr BURU/Ms GLIUBIZZI/Ms BAPTISTA (S&D)

Mr BEELS//Ms COLERA-GARZÓN/Mr RASMUSSEN/

Mr MCLAUGHLIN/Ms PERRIN (ALDE)

Mr DENKINGER/Mr LINAZASORO (Greens/EFA)

Mr BARRETT/Mr BOYD (ECR)

Ms D'ALIMONTE/Ms LEPOLA (GUE/NGL)

Mr BORDEZ/Mr VAUGIER/Ms GHILARDI (EFD)

Mr BUGALHO (NI)

Mr HILLER, Mr PEGAZZANO, Mr MENEGHINI, Mr ISAACS and Ms SCHADE acted as

secretaries to the meeting.

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1. Adoption of the draft agenda

The Conference of Presidents

- noted the draft agenda (PE 521.270/CPG) and adopted it in the form shown in

these minutes.

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2. Approval of the draft minutes of the meeting of 10 October 2013

The Conference of Presidents

- took note of the following documents:

the draft Minutes of the meeting of 10 October 2013 held in Brussels (PE

516.152/CPG and annex);

- heard Ms WORTMANN-KOOL, acting Chair of the EPP Group, refer to a written

remark from Mr DAUL, Chair of the EPP Group, seeking clarification on the item

on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in the draft minutes for the 10

October 2013 meeting;

- heard the President underline that the Parliament's resolution of 3 July 2013 on the

MFF sets out its conditions and this is, the sole basis for all negotiations with the

Council on this matter;

- following this clarification, adopted the draft minutes.

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3. Adoption of the final draft agenda for the October II part-session (21 to 24 October

2013 in Strasbourg) - Scheduling of key debates in plenary

The Conference of Presidents

- noted the following documents:

a letter dated 9 October 2013 from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of

Committee Chairs, submitting a recommendation on the agenda of the

Plenary part-session (Monday 21 to Thursday 24 October 2013 in

Strasbourg) (PE 521.291/CPG and annexes);

a letter dated 9 October 2013 from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of

Committee Chairs, on negotiations on first-reading agreements (PE

521.292/CPG and annexes);

a provisional table summarising committee and delegation meetings scheduled

during the October II plenary in Strasbourg (21 - 24 October 2013) (PE

521.315/CPG);

- took note of the preliminary draft agenda for the October II part-session (21 to 24

October 2013 in Strasbourg), in the light of notes drafted by DG Presidency setting

out the various options, distributed after the preparatory meetings of 15 and 16

October 2013 with the Secretaries-General of the political groups, and adopted the

proposal contained in those notes with the following modifications:

Tuesday, 22 October

- held an exchange of views on a possible vote on the MFF package (MFF

regulation and MFF Inter-institutional Agreement) in the October II part-session

with the participation of Ms WORTMANN-KOOL, acting Chair of the EPP

Group, 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

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CALLANAN, Chair of the ECR Group, Ms ZIMMER, Chair of the GUE/NGL

Group and Mr SPERONI, Co-Chair of the EFD Group;

- noted that the Council had delayed its formal adoption of the Draft Amending

Budget (DAB) no. 8 due to a parliamentary scrutiny reserve in one Member State,

and that the Parliament's conditions for holding the vote on the MFF package, as

outlined in its resolution of 3 July 2013, had therefore not been met;

- decided, by a large majority, to hold the vote on the MFF package at the

November part-session, at the earliest, and deplored the delays in Council in

adopting the DAB no. 8, which would slow down the adoption of the MFF

package;

Wednesday, 23 October 2013

- decided to take the Statement by the Vice-President of the Commission/High

Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security policy on the

situation in the Maldives as the second item in the afternoon session.

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4. Communications of the President

There were none.

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A. DECISIONS/EXCHANGE OF VIEWS

5. Implementation of the new OLAF Regulation - Selection of Members whose duties are to

end upon expiry of the first 36 months of their term in office (in the presence of

representatives of other Institutions)

The Conference of Presidents,

- noted the following document:

a letter, dated 2 October 2013 from Mr THEURER, Chair of the Budgetary

Control Committee, on the entry into force of the revised regulation on the

European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) - transitional measures - term of office

of members of the OLAF Supervisory Committee (PE 521.256/CPG);

- heard the President note that, following the entry into force on 1 October 2013 of

the revised OLAF Regulation, the President of the European Parliament should

choose by lot, from amongst the members of the OLAF Supervisory Committee,

two members whose duties were to end upon expiry of the first 3 years of their

term of office and that the term of office of the remaining three members would

be 5 years. The President also noted, given the inter-institutional character of the

appointment procedure, that representatives from the European Commission and

from the Council secretariat, as well as Mr THEURER, Chair of the Committee

on Budgetary Control, had been invited to assist in the drawing procedure;

- assisted in the drawing procedure and confirmed the results of the draw as

follows:

the mandate of Mr Herbert BÖSCH and Mr Tuomas PÖYSTI, members of the

OLAF Supervisory Committee, would finish at the end of 3 years from the date

of their taking up their duties;

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the mandate of Mr Johan DENOULF, Ms Catherine PIGNON and Mr

Jens MADSEN, members of the OLAF Supervisory Committee, would

therefore run for five years starting from the date of their taking up their

duties;

- heard Mr THEURER, Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control

(CONT), make reference to the inter-institutional dialogue on OLAF, as laid

down in Article 16 of the OLAF Regulation, and propose that the CONT

Committee could pursue this matter on behalf of the Parliament and report

back on a regular basis to the Conference of Presidents on the progress

made;

- endorsed Mr THEURER's proposal.

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6. Preparation of the European Council of 24 to 25 October 2013

The Conference of Presidents,

- noted the following documents:

the annotated draft agenda of 23 September 2013 from the General

Secretariat of the Council for the European Council of 24 to 25 October 2013

(PE 521.265/CPG);

European Council of 24 to 25 October 2013 - draft conclusions

(521.265/CPG/REV);

- heard the President note that the European Council of 24 to 25 October 2013

would focus on better legislation, the Eastern partnership Summit in Vilnius on 28

to 29 November, Banking Union and the EU's policy on refugees, in the wake of

the tragedy off the coast of Lampedusa.

On better legislation, the President noted that he would emphasise, in his speech

to the European Council, the Parliament's support for simplifying the Community

acquis, while also deploring delays in Council on important legislative proposals,

and that he would invite the Council to speed up work on some priority proposals,

based on a contribution from the Chair Conference of Committee Chairs.

On the Banking Union and the Eastern partnership, he noted that he would convey

the majority view of the Parliament.

The President also noted that he would emphasise the importance of a European

refugee policy, based on the principles of the immediate saving of individual

human life, EU support for national authorities and solidarity between Member

States in receiving refugees. He also remarked that he would advocate extending a

temporary protection system within the Community;

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- held an exchange of views with the participation of Ms WORTMANN-KOOL,

acting Chair of the EPP Group, 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 CALLANAN, Chair of the ECR Group, Mr

SPERONI, Co-Chair of the EFD Group and Mr SOSA WAGNER, Non-Attached

Member;

- heard the President thank Group Leaders for their contributions;

- endorsed the line initially set out by the President.

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B. DECISIONS WITHOUT DEBATE

7. Delegated and implementing acts - Screening of current files

The Conference of Presidents, without debate,

- took note of a letter dated 9 October 2013, from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the

Conference of Committee Chairs, on the screening of current files in view of the

October II 2013 part-session (PE 521.293/CPG);

- recalled its decision of 19 April 2012 to request the competent services to carry out

an on-going 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

9 October 2013 had transmitted the results of screening files in view of the October

II 2013 part-session; noted that no legal concerns were raised in relation to any of

the dossiers scheduled for vote during this part-session.

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Committee delegations within the EU and the applicant countries

8. Request from the Committee on Regional Development to send a delegation to the

Netherlands from 28 to 30 October 2013

The Conference of Presidents, without debate,

- took note of the letter dated 4 October 2013 from Ms HÜBNER, Chair of the

Committee on Regional Development, requesting authorisation for a delegation of

that Committee to visit technology and innovation sites in the Netherlands from

28 to 30 October 2013 (PE 521.281/CPG and financial statement);

- noted that the mission had not been included in the annual programme for travel

by parliamentary committee delegations outside the three places of work during

2013;

- noted that the delegation would comprise three Members and one accompanying

Member elected in the Member State to which the delegation travels; further

noted that the dates of the delegation coincided with three days set aside for

external parliamentary activities;

- endorsed the delegation as requested, including the accompanying Member hors

quota, on the understanding that the delegation’s overall quota was respected;

- referred the matter to the Bureau for a final decision.

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Committee delegations outside the European Union

9. Request from the Subcommittee on Human Rights to include one of its Members to the

delegation of the Delegation for Relations with the Countries of South East Asia and

ASEAN, travelling to Laos and Vietnam at the end of October 2013

The Conference of Presidents, without debate,

- took note of the letter dated take note of the letter dated 3 October 2013 from Ms

LOCHBIHLER, Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), requesting

authorisation for one of the Members of the Subcommittee to accompany the

European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with the Countries of South East

Asia and ASEAN on their visit to the Lao People's Democratic Republic hors

quota on 28 October 2013, to monitor the human rights situation, in particular,

with respect to the situation of Mr Sombath Somphone (PE 521.266/CPG);

- declined to endorse this request and instead invited the travelling delegation to

ensure the appropriate follow up of this matter;

- referred the matter to the Bureau for a final decision.

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Election Observation Missions

10. Joint request from the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group and the

Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and

Kosovo to extend the mission of three Members participating in the 6th Interparliamentary

meeting in Kosovo, to observe its municipal elections scheduled for 3 November 2013

The Conference of President, without debate

- took note of the letter dated take note of the letter dated 1 October 2013, co-

signed by Mr BROK and Ms JOLY, Co-Chairs of the Democracy Support and

Election Coordination Group (DEG), and Mr KUKAN, Chair of the

Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia,

Montenegro and Kosovo, requesting authorisation to extend the mission of up

to three Members participating in the 6th EP-Kosovo Inter-parliamentary

meeting in Pristina, which would end on 31 October 2013, until 4 November

2013 in order to observe the municipal elections in Kosovo ((PE 516.159/CPG

and annexes/ financial statement);

- recalled that according to Article 9 of the Decision of the Conference of

Presidents of 13 September 2012 on the Democracy Support and Election

Coordination Group and implementing provisions governing election

observation delegations, an EP election observations delegation is sent where

the elections or referendums are being held at national level;

- noted that the relevant criteria for the sending of an election observation

mission had not been fulfilled;

- noted that the proposed dates for the prolonged mission coincided with three

days without parliamentary activities and one day set aside for committee

activities;

- nevertheless, authorised, on an exceptional basis and without creating a

precedent, the extension of the mission of up to three Members participating in

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the 6th EP-Kosovo Inter-Parliamentary Meeting until 4 November 2013 in

order to observe the municipal elections in Kosovo, on condition that Members

authorised to prolong their stay in the country were fully integrated into the EU

Election Observation Mission, as is always the case for EP election

observation delegations.

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11. Request from the S&D Group to organise a meeting of a delegation of the Group in

Athens, Greece, from 1 to 2 December 2013

The Conference of Presidents,

- noted a letter dated a letter dated 3 October 2013 signed by Mr SWOBODA,

President of the S&D Group, requesting authorisation to organise a meeting of a

delegation of the Group in Athens, Greece, from Sunday 1 to Monday

2 December 2013 (PE 521.258/CPG and financial statement);

- authorised the request, by way of exception, on the condition that a limited

language regime with interpretation into three languages only was applied.

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12. Urgent matters and any other business

12.1 Notice-and-action procedures on the internet

The Conference of Presidents,

- heard Ms HARMS, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, inviting the President to

take action in regard to a letter sent by a group of Members to Mr BARNIER,

Commissioner in charge for the Internal Market and Services, which requested

that the proposed recommendation on notice-and-action procedures on the internet

be changed into a Directive and deplored that no reply had been received to this

and a previous letter;

- held an exchange of views, with the participation of Mr SWOBODA, Chair of

the S&D Group, and Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs;

- heard the President note that while the letter was to be regarded as a political

initiative from individual Members, rather than from an official organ of the

Parliament and that he therefore could not intervene on an institutional level, he

was prepared to raise the matter with the Commissioner concerned.

12.2 Refusal to grant Mr AL-HASHIMI, former Iraqi Vice-President, access to the European

Parliament

The Conference of Presidents,

- heard the President note that Mr AL-HASHIMI, former Iraqi Vice-President, had

been invited by the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) to attend a

meeting of the AFET Committee on 17 October 2013 in Brussels;

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- heard the President inform the meeting that he had however refused Mr AL-

HASHIMI access to the Parliament's premises, since Interpol had issued a red

notice for Mr AL-HASHIMI's arrest on 8 May 2012, which was still in force;

- endorsed the action taken by the President.

12.3 Members travelling individually to observe elections in third countries in parallel to

official European Parliament Election Observation Missions

The Conference of Presidents,

- heard Mr SWOBODA, Chair of the S&D Group, deplore the fact that

several Members had travelled individually to observe the Presidential

elections in Azerbaijan on 9 October 2013, in parallel to an official

European Parliament Election Observation Mission, and that this unofficial

group had expressed contradictory views to media on the conduct of the

elections which blurred and weakened the image of the Parliament;

- heard Mr CALLANAN, Chair of the ECR Group, concur with Mr

SWOBODA and note that some Members had also travelled on an

individual basis to observe the recent elections in Cambodia;

- heard the President remark that he would look into the matter, including

examining how individual Members had been financed to observe the

elections in question and if Members had declared any possible external

funding of these mission in accordance with the Rules in force.

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13. Items for information

13.1 Internal correspondence

The Conference of Presidents,

- noted the following documents:

a letter dated 4 October 2013 from Mr BROK on the 3rd

Interparliamentary Conference on CFSP/CSDP that was held in Vilnius,

Lithuania from 4th to 6th September 2013 (PE 521.269/CPG and

annex);

a letter dated 9 October 2013 from Mr LEHNE on the state of play

regarding the Conference on Art 13 of the TSCG, due to held in

Vilnius, Lithuania on 16-17 October 2013 (PE 521.309/CPG).

13.2 Interinstitutional correspondence

There was none.

13.3 External correspondence

There was none.

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14. Date and place of next meeting

The Conference of Presidents

- noted that its next meeting would take place on Wednesday, 23 October 2013

from 15:00 to 17:30 in room R1,1 of the Louise-Weiss Building, Strasbourg

(meeting cancelled later).

* * *

The meeting closed at 12.54 hours