COSAC working group meeting

19-20 March 2003 in Athens

Contribution of the Netherlands delegation
regarding the establishment of the COSAC secretariat

The Hague, 12 March 2003

In view of

" the proposal of the former Danish presidency to establish a COSAC-secretariat as put forward to the extra-plenary COSAC of 27 January 2003,

" the position paper of the Dutch delegation of 15 December 2002,

" the note of the Netherlands delegation, co-signed by the delegations of the European Parliament, Austria, Italy, Estonia, Greece, Germany, the Czech republic, Latvia and Bulgaria of 15 December 2002, and

" the contribution of the Italian delegation of 27 January 2003.

Taking into consideration

" that the COSAC is a consultative platform for the national parliaments,

" that the COSAC neither is nor should be an institution of the European Union,

" that the COSAC could benefit from a small secretariat rendering technical support,

" that a COSAC secretariat should not result in bureaucracy,

" that a COSAC secretariat should function well under the steering of the chairmanship of the COSAC, and

" that the staff of the COSAC secretariat would benefit from a sound attunement with the regular duties of the national parliaments.

Proposes

" to set up a COSAC secretariat consisting of the liaison officers at the European Parliament of the national parliaments that form the Troika, and

" in so far as national parliaments that are part of the Troika do not dispose of liaison officers, to have an official appointed by the parliament involved who will man the Brussels office for the duration of the Troika or travel to Brussels to attend the meetings of the secretariat.

Explanation

Thanks to the above-mentioned set-up the secretariat is always directly linked to the presidency, which in turn guarantees a sound steering. Co-operation among the staff of the secretariat need not be limited to electronic and telephone contact since for all liaison staff office space is available in the European Parliament building. The concentrated housing of the secretariat makes it possible to set up a joint filing system accessible for all members of staff. Moreover, it will make it easier to realise contact with former staff of the secretariat where needed. Since the members of staff continue to be employed by their national parliaments, no special regulations are required regarding the legal position. The personnel expenses of the secretariat are carried by the national parliaments according to their own legal regulations.
Those national parliaments who do not dispose of liaison staff can either temporarily station an official in Brussels or have the person involved travel to and fro periodically.