PV CPG 5.10.2017
PE-8/CPG/PV/2017-17
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS
MINUTES
of the ordinary meeting of Thursday
5October 2017
from 10:00 to 12:00 hours
Louise WEISS Building, Room R1.1
Strasbourg
CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS
MINUTES
of the ordinary meeting of
Thursday,5October 2017
from10:00 to 12:00 hours
Louise WEISS Building, Room R1.1
Strasbourg
CONTENTS
Page
1.Adoption of the draft agenda
2.Approval of the draft Minutes of the meeting of 28 September 2017
3.Adoption of the draft agenda for the October II part-session (from 23 to 26 October 2017) – Scheduling of key debates in plenary
4.1Digital Summit in Tallinn
4.2 Revision of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission
4.3 High-Level Conference on Africa
4.4 Mission of the Committee on Budgetary Control to Hungary
5.Follow-up of the State of the Union debate - exchange of views on speakers to be invited to Plenary
6.Exchange of views with Mr Klaus REGLING, Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism
7.Draft Commission decision on a Code of Conduct for the Members of the European Commission
8.Request from the Special Committee on Terrorism to appoint co-rapporteurs
9.Request from the Committee on Foreign Affairs for authorisation to send a Member to attend the 6th Ordinary Session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly to be held in Kiev, Ukraine, from 30 October to 1 November 2017
10.Request from the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group to send an election observation delegation to observe the presidential and parliamentary elections in Honduras, to be held on 26 November 2017
11.Request from the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group to send an election observation delegation to observe the general elections in Nepal, to be held on 26 November 2017 and 7 December 2017
12.Urgent matters and any other business
12.1Request from the Delegation for Relations with the countries of South Asia to hold the 7th EU-Bhutan Inter-parliamentary Meeting in Brussels on 18 October 2017
12.2Situation of two former Members of Parliament in Turkey
12.3Conduct of representatives of Caterpillar
12.4Joint Declaration on the EU’s legislative priorities for 2018
12.5Proposal to enter into negotiations with the Council of the European Union on the budget discharge
12.6Situation in Poland
12.7Legislative reports on the Entry/Exit System
13.1Internal correspondence
13.2 Inter-institutional correspondence
13.3External correspondence
14.Date and place of next meetings
CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS
MINUTES
of the meeting of Thursday5 October 2017
from10:00 to 12:00 hours
Strasbourg
The meeting opened at 10.07 hours with Mr Antonio TAJANI,
President of the European Parliament, in the chair
Present
Mr TAJANI, President
Political Group Chairs
MrWEBER(EPP)
MrBULLMANN (Acting)(S&D)
MrKAMALL(Co-Chair)(ECR)
MrVERHOFSTADT(ALDE)
MrDE JONG (Acting)(GUE/NGL)
MsKELLER (Co-Chair)(Greens/EFA)
MrLUNDGREN (Acting)(EFDD)
Mr DE GRAAFF (Co-Chair)(ENF)
MsDODDS[1](NI)
Also Present
MrWELLE, Secretary-General
Mr WINKLER, Deputy Secretary-General
Invited:
Ms WIKSTRÖM, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs
Also invited - Item 6
MrGUALTIERI, Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Invited Guest
MrREGLING, Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism, accompanied by Mr REGO
The Council[2]
represented byMrKERLEROUX
Mr FROIS FIDALGO
The Commission1
represented byMrPINE
MrMACEK
The Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy1
represented byMrGONZATO
Office of the President
MrCANGA FANO
MrCHIOCCHETTI
MsVLASE
Mr WEISS
Ms GLATINY
Office of the Secretary-General
Mr MANGOLD
MsFERNANDEZ PERLES
MsFREDSGAARD
MrDE FINANCE
Office of the Deputy Secretary-General
Mr SCHWARZ
Secretariat
DG Presidency (PRES)Mr LANE/Ms ROBSON/Ms GANDOLFO/Ms VLASTARA1/
Ms SAILIS1
DG Internal Policies (IPOL)
Mr RIBERA d’ALCALA/Ms VANDENBOSCH/Mr HUBER/
MsLINDEMANN1
DG External Policies (EXPO)
MrAGUIRIANO
DG European Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS)
Mr TEASDALE
DG Communication (COMM)
Mr DUCH GUILLOT/Ms VAN DEN BROEKE
DG Personnel (PERS)
Mr KNUDSEN
DG Infrastructures and Logistics (INLO)
Ms KASSNITZ
DG Translation (TRAD)
Mr MAVRIČ
DG Finance (FINS)
Mr KLETHI
DG Interpretation and Conferences (INTE)
Ms WALTER-DROP
DG Innovation and Technical Support (ITEC)
Mr VILELLA
DG Security and Safety (SAFE)
Mr CAROZZA
Legal Service (SJ)
Mr DREXLER/Ms MARTINEZ IGLESIAS
Directorate for relations with political groups
Mr SCHWETZ
Secretariat of the Bureau
Mr TZIORKAS
______
1Present for item 6
Political groups
Mr KAMP/Ms SCRIBAN/Ms LASKAVA(EPP)
Ms GARNIER/Mr BURU/Mr GUERRA(S&D)
Mr BARRETT/Mr BOYD(ECR)
Mr BEELS/Ms COLERA-GARZÓN/Mr RASMUSSEN/Mr McLAUGHLIN(ALDE)
Ms LEPOLA/Ms ASLETT-RYDBJERG(GUE/NGL)
Ms TSETSI/Mr BROUWER1/Mr LINAZASORO(Greens/EFA)
Ms LALOUX/Mr TEUSCHER(EFDD)
Mr CLAEYS/Mr CAMPOMENOSI(ENF)
Mr BORDEZ(NI)
Ms SCHADE,Ms BERTULESSI, Ms KOSTIDOU, Mr ROHLJEandMr VAUGIER acted as secretaries to the meeting.
______
1Replaced by Mr Padilla at 11:00
1.Adoption of the draft agenda
The Conference of Presidents
-noted and adopted the draft agenda in the form shown in these minutes (PE 610.424/CPG).
2.Approval of the draft Minutes of the meetingof28 September 2017
The Conference of Presidents
-notedand approved the draft Minutes of the ordinary meeting of 28 September 2017in Brussels(PE 610.387/CPG and annex).
3.Adoption of the draft agenda for the October IIpart-session (from 23 to 26 October 2017)– Scheduling of key debates in plenary
The Conference of Presidents
-noted the following document:
- thepreliminary draft agenda for the October II part-session (from 23 to 26October2017) in Strasbourg;
- a letter dated 3 October 2017 from Ms WIKSTRÖM, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, submitting a recommendation regarding the agenda of the OctoberII2017 part-session (from 23 to 26 October 2017) (PE610.506/CPG and annexes);
-held an exchange of views with the participation of Mr WEBER, Chair of the EPP Group, MrBULLMANN, acting Chair of the S&D Group, Mr KAMALL, Co-Chair of the ECR Group, MrVERHOFSTADT, Chair of the ALDE Group, Mr DE JONG, acting Chair of the GUE/NGL Group, Ms KELLER, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Mr LUNDGREN, acting Chair of the EFDD Group, and Mr DE GRAAFF, Co-Chair of the ENF Group, and adopted the draft agenda for the October II 2017 part-session without modification.
4.Communications by the President
4.1Digital Summit in Tallinn
The Conference of Presidents
- heard the President report that he had participated in the Digital Summit in Tallinn, on 29 September 2017, and that, during a working dinner with the Heads of State or Government ahead of the informal summit, a debateon the main challenges facing the EU one year after the adoption of the Bratislava roadmaphad taken place;
- heard him report that, following the informal debate, Mr TUSK, President of the European Council, had been mandated to set out, in two weeks’ time, a working plan for the Heads of State or Government of the 27 Member States with a view to the future of Europe;
- heard the President report that, on the margins of the informal summit, he had met Ms MAY, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who, following the invitation by Parliament’s President,confirmed her intention to attend a forthcoming meeting of the Conference of Presidents;
- heard the President further report on a paper presented by the European Commission that had been drawn up by European Political Strategy Centre, entitled “Two visions, One Direction: Plans for the Future of Europe”, providing a comparative assessment of the visions for the future of Europe set out by Mr JUNCKER, President of the European Commission, and by Mr MACRON, President of the French Republic, respectively;
- heard him stress that Parliament’s three resolutions of 16 February 2017(i) on improving the functioning of the European Union building on the potential of the Lisbon Treaty, (ii) on possible evolutions of and adjustments to the current institutional set-up of the European Union, and (iii) on a budgetary capacity for the euro area, had already delivered a significant contribution to the process of reflection on the future set-up of the EU, and heard him propose that a corresponding document be produced,setting out Parliament’s vision and proposals for the Future of Europe;
- endorsed the President’s proposal.
4.2 Revision of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission
The Conference of Presidents
- heard the President report that, by letter of 2 October 2017, Mr JUNCKER, President of the European Commission, had formalised the agreement of the Commission on the amendment to theFramework Agreement onrelations between the European Parliament and the European Commission,as proposed by the President after consultation of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, and had invited Parliament to proceed with the formal revision of the Framework Agreement accordingly;
- heard him announce that the agreed text of the proposed revision would be referred to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, pursuant to Rule 140 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, for formal adoption;
- endorsed the President’s approach.
4.3High-Level Conference on Africa
The Conference of Presidents
- heard the President report that, following the Conference of Presidents decision of 5 July 2017, a draft programme of the High-Level Conference on Africa, to be held on 22 November 2017 on Parliament’s premises in Brussels, had been circulated to all political groups (PE 610.514/CPG);
- heard him underline that the High-Level Conference on Africa would feed into the preparation of Parliament’s position in view of its participation at the Africa-EU Summit to be held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 29 and 30 November 2017;
- heard him invite the political groups to submit suggestions with a view to contributing to the success of the event as well as to Parliament’s participation in the Africa-EU Summit;
- endorsedthe President’s approach.
4.4Mission of the Committee on Budgetary Control to Hungary
The Conference of Presidents
- heard the President report on the mission of the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) to Hungary, which had taken place from 18 to 20 September 2017, recalling that, by letter dated 6 September 2017, Ms GRÄSSLE, Chair of the CONT Committee, had drawn the President’s attention to the lack of cooperation from the Hungarian authorities in the organisation of the visit;
- heard him report that, therefore, he had contacted the Hungarian authorities with a view to facilitating the CONT mission, and that he had been informed by CONT that the mission had taken place successfully and according to the programme.
5.Follow-up of the State of the Union debate - exchange of views on speakers to be invited to Plenary
The Conference of Presidents
- took noteof a proposal dated 4 October 2017 to hold a series of European Parliament plenary debates on the Future of Europe (PE 610.512/CPG);
- heard the President recall the exchange of views on 28 September 2017 and present the proposal to hold a series of Parliament plenary debates on the Future of Europe, noting that there was an overall consensus on the way to proceed and implement the programme of plenary debates with Heads of State or Government and high-level personalities;
- held an exchange of views with the participation of Mr WEBER, Chair of the EPP Group, MrBULLMANN, acting Chair of the S&D Group, Mr KAMALL, Co-Chair of the ECR Group, MrVERHOFSTADT, Chair of the ALDE Group, Mr DE JONG, acting Chair of the GUE/NGL Group,and Ms KELLER, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, during which broad support for the initiative was expressed and during which, inter alia, the following issues were raised:
- the importance to have lively and interactive plenary debates;
- the need to structure the debates in an effective manner and to focus on specific topics;
- the desirability to set up a high-level inter-institutionalworkinggroup with a view to following-upon the debates on the Future of Europe;
- heard the President put forwardthat the proposal to hold a series of plenary debates on the Future of Europe be endorsed, in principle, on the understanding that the programme of the series would be regularly updated in consultation withthe political groups, taking into account the availability of guest speakers and the inclusion of possible topical clusters;
- heardthe Presidentundertake to explore with Mr JUNCKER, President of the European Commission, and Mr TUSK, President of the European Council, the possibility of setting up astructured inter-institutional dialogue on the Future of Europe;
- endorsedthe President’sapproach.
6.Exchange of views with Mr Klaus REGLING, Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism
The Conference of Presidents
-took note of the following documents:
- Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism (PE 610.479/CPG);
- the annual report 2016 of the European Stability Mechanism, published on 15 June 2017 (PE 610.485/CPG);
-heard the President welcome Mr REGLING, Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM),and congratulate him on his reappointment as Managing Director for the next five-year term, and recall that the ESMhad been set up as an international financial institution by the euro area Member States with a view to safeguarding the stability of the euro area as a whole;
-heard the President note that the integration of the ESM Treaty into the EU legal framework, currently not foreseen in any legal provision, could become a desirable outcome, depending on the model chosen for the future of the Economic and Monetary Union, and that, in their letter of intent on the Commission Work Programme 2018, Mr JUNCKER, President of the European Commission, and Mr TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the European Commission, had announced a proposal for the transformation of the ESM into a European Monetary Fund (EMF);
-heardMr REGLING thank the President for the invitation, stressing the importance of the dialogue with Parliament and underline the positive achievements of the ESM during its first five years of activity;
-heard Mr REGLING focus on the situation of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the current debate on the deepening of the EMU, highlighting the need to proceed with the completion of the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union and the need to overcome conflicting positions on key proposals concerning the Single Resolution Fund and the European Deposit Insurance Scheme;
- heard him develop on the fiscal dimension of the euro area, stressing that the creation of a fiscal capacity for the euro area was controversial, while underlining that the budget of the European Union offered several possibilities to promote economic convergence and already had that function, e.g. by means of the European Fund for Strategic Investment;
-heard Mr REGLING note the desirability to devise a facility to counter severe asymmetrical shocks within the EMU and to improve the capacity for macroeconomic stabilisation of the euro area, while noting that there were examples forestablishing such a facility without creating permanent transfers or debt mutualisation, which would make the undertakingpolitically less controversial;
-heard himelaborate on several scenarios for the development of the institutional dimension of the EMU, notably the potential transformation of the ESM into an EMF, the possible incorporation of the ESM into the legal framework of the EU Treaties, entailing a shift from the inter-governmental to the community method, and the creation of a permanent President of the Eurogroup charged with the external representation of the euro area and carrying out the function of a euro area finance minister;heard him also recall that the ESM was accountable to the national parliaments;
-heard Mr REGLING report on the situation in Greece under the assistance programme of the ESM, underlining the progress achieved and the need to implementfully the structural reforms with a view to completing successfully the third review of the programme and to exiting the ESM assistance programme;
-held an exchange of views with the participation of Mr WEBER, Chair of the EPP Group, MrBULLMANN, acting Chair of the S&D Group, Mr KAMALL, Co-Chair of the ECR Group, MrVERHOFSTADT, Chair of the ALDE Group, Mr DE JONG, acting Chair of the GUE/NGL Group, Ms KELLER, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Mr LUNDGREN, acting Chair of the EFDD Group, and Mr DE GRAAFF, Co-Chair of the ENF Group, focussed, inter alia, on the following issues:
- the stepsformoving from the ESM towards an EMF;
- the development of a European system of democratic governance and accountability;
- the need to ensure parliamentary scrutiny at both European and national level;
- the creation of a fiscal capacity for the euro area;
-heardMr GUALTIERI, Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, report on the required reforms for the completion of the EMU, democratic governance of the euro area, and the creation of an EMF;
-heard Mr REGLING reply and set out, inter alia, the institutional changes necessary for the ESM to assume the function of an EMF;
-heard the President conclude by thanking Mr REGLING for the exchange of views.
7.Draft Commission decision on a Code of Conduct for the Members of the European Commission
The Conference of Presidents
-took note of the following documents:
- a letter dated 14 September 2017 from Mr JUNCKER, President of the European Commission, on the draft Commission decision on a Code of Conduct for the Members of the European Commission replacing the Code of Conduct for Commissioners of 20April 2011(PE 610.461/CPG);
- a draft Commission decision of 12 September 2017 on a Code of Conduct for the Members of the European Commission (C(2017) 6200) (PE 610.461/CPG/ANN);
- the Code of Conduct for Commissioners of 20 April 2011 (C(2011)2904) (PE 610.480/CPG);
- a letter dated 23 November 2016 from Mr JUNCKER, President of the European Commission, on the Commission proposal to amend the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission, and the Code of Conduct for Commissioners (PE 595.156/CPG);
- the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission of 20 November 2010 (OJ L 304, 20.11.2010);
-heardthe Presidentrecall that, under the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission, when the Commission comes forward with a revision of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners relating to conflict of interest or ethical behaviour, it shouldseek Parliament’s opinion;
-heard himrecall that, in line with Parliament’s Rules of Procedure and in line with precedent, it was in the remit of the Conference of Presidents to consider the Code of Conduct for Commissioners and to adopt an opinion;
-heard him note that theCommission draft decision on the Code of Conduct for Members of the European Commission constituted an overall revision of the previous Code of Conduct of 2011, and heard him propose that the draft Commission decision be submitted to the Conference of the Committee Chairs for a recommendation;
-held an exchange of views with the participation of Mr WEBER, Chair of the EPP Group, MrBULLMANN, acting Chair of the S&D Group, Mr DE JONG, acting Chair of the GUE/NGL Group,and Ms KELLER, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, during which a broad support for the proposal was expressed while underlining the importance of ensuringthe appropriate involvement of committees;