codecision: preparing for the presidency aidan feeney codecision unit, council legal service...
TRANSCRIPT
Codecision: Preparing for the
Presidency
Aidan FeeneyCodecision Unit,
Council Legal Service
Budapest, 8 April, 2009
Overview
• Tasks facing the incoming Presidency– Procedures– Preparatory steps to be taken– Planning required
• Principles– Support from the Codecision Unit & the
Secretariat– Mandates from and feedback to Coreper– Establishing timetables and meeting
deadlines
Getting ready: P – six months
• Identify the Actors– Perm. Rep., Capital, Working-Party Chairs
• Make contacts– counterparts in EP and Commission– line up assistance in the Council Secretariat– forward planning with the Codecision Unit
• Identify dossiers in hand 1st, 2nd readings & conciliations• Follow ongoing changes to smooth the handover
– political agreement becomes Common Position– accompany outgoing presidency to trilogues
In the beginning…• Key tasks at the start of your Presidency...• Contact the Parliamentary Committees’ Chairs
– possibilities of 1st or 2nd reading agreements?
• Contacts with Rapporteurs and key shadow rapporteurs
• If there are conciliations running:– contacts with the EP Vice-Presidents in
charge– decisions on the timing of conciliations
Procedures
• 1st Reading Agreements• “Early” 2nd Reading Agreements• 2nd Reading Agreements• Conciliations
1st Reading
• EP and Council working in parallel.– No time limits are fixed by the Treaty
• The key to progress:– making the right contacts with the right people at
the right time• Working method is the “trilogue”, whose actors are:
– Chair of the Council Working Party• (and/or Coreper chair)
– EP Rapporteur (and shadow rapporteurs)– Commission officials
1st Reading – Presidency tasks• (Informal) Presidency evaluates the possibilities of an
agreement, continues contacts with the EP• (Formal) If the Presidency is ready to begin trilogues, a
mandate from Coreper becomes necessary• If an agreement is not reached before the EP votes in
committee, the Presidency can continue negotiations in the period before the EP's vote in plenary
• If an agreement is reached, Presidency arranges for confirmation of the agreement by Coreper before sending a letter of confirmation (Chair of Coreper to the Chair of the EP committee)
“Early” 2nd Reading agreements
• Is a negotiated common position– special situations (change of Presidency, unusual
timetables or interinstitutional relations) • Presidency manages the negotiations after a negative
vote in EP plenary, but before Council adopts a Common Position
• Agreement negotiated on the basis of a future Common Position– EP chair confirms by letter to Coreper Chair
• Procedure: Council common position approved by EP without any amendments
2nd Reading Agreements• Last possibility of agreeing / avoiding conciliation• Date of transmission of the Common Position (often during
previous Presidency) determines the timetable• Strict deadline for the EP plenary vote (3 months + 1 extra
month)• More pressure on the Presidency to reach agreement
– more involvement of the Coreper Chair• The negotiating method is (again) the trilogue
– Working Party Chair or Coreper Chair• Agreement is finalised: letter from Coreper Chair to Chair of
EP committee
Conciliation Procedure
• If no agreement will be reached at 2nd Reading immediately make use of the remaining 2nd reading period to prepare for conciliation
• Working method: trilogues with the EP Vice-President in charge– beginning long before the 2nd Reading procedure in
the Council is officially closed– and before a "conciliation committee" is convened.
• EP delegation: a Vice-President, the Rapporteur, the parliamentary committee Chair, representatives of each Political Group
Presidency tasks in Conciliation• The proactive role of the Coreper chair is key to a
successful conciliation.– if the trilogues go well, the formal procedure can be
an "open-and-closed" affair.• Coreper and WP Chair negotiate, consult and mediate
with Member States (Coreper mandate)– propose creative compromise texts (both legislative
drafting and political declarations)– seek consensus through real negotiation
• Support: Codecision Unit of the Council (supported by the Council DG originally responsible for the dossier)
The Conciliation Committee
• Minister co-chairs meeting with EP Vice-President– presence of Commissioner
• Beforehand: several trilogues on the same evening– Minister representing Council– may be a demanding and long process !
• “Shuttle diplomacy” method– Constant Council and EP Delegation meetings
• If agreement reached – procedure closes with a formal meeting of the Conciliation Committee (27+27)– may be surprisingly short!
Review...
• Getting ready: P – six months• in the beginning…• the Codecision procedures• 1st Reading agreements & Presidency tasks• “Early” 2nd Reading agreements• 2nd Reading Agreements• Conciliation, the C. Committee, & Presidency
tasks
Thank you!
• Resources for further information and advice…• Codecision Guide, on www.consilium.europa.eu
– click on “policies”… then “codecision”• Joint Declaration on Practical Arrangements for
the Codecision Procedure (OJ C 145, 30.6.2007, p.5)