Members of Lords EU Committee attend 52nd COSAC in Rome
1 December 2014
A delegation from the Lords EU Committee will attend 52nd the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments (COSAC) in Rome from Sunday 30 November to Tuesday 2 December 2014. Lord Boswell of Aynho, EU Committee Chairman, will give a speech on the role of EU Institutions and national parliaments.
- Italian Presidency parliamentary dimension: papers for 52nd COSAC
- About COSAC
- Report: The Role of National Parliaments in the EU
- Joint letter to President Juncker (PDF)
- Role: Lords EU Committee
What is COSAC?
The Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments (COSAC) was established in 1989. It meets biannually, in whichever country holds the rotating Presidency of the EU, giving members of parliamentary committees and the European Parliament an opportunity to discuss issues of current concern.
Delegation
The Lords delegation will be led by EU Committee Chairman, Lord Boswell of Aynho. Baroness Quin (Chairman, Justice and Institutions Sub-Committee) and Lord Sharkey (member, Home Affairs, Health and Education Sub-Committee) will also attend the conference.
The Role of National Parliaments
Lord Boswell will give a key-note speech in the first debate, on the role of the EU institutions and national parliaments in promoting supranational democracy.
The EU Committee’s report on The Role of National Parliaments in the EU, published in March 2014, recommended several improvements to existing systems for involving national parliaments in scrutinising EU policies and laws. In June 2014 representatives of 29 chambers of national parliaments, including Lord Boswell, signed a joint letter to the incoming President of the European Commission, proposing the establishment of a working group to explore these ideas in more detail.
Other debates
The conference will also debate the Europe 2020 Strategy, the EU’s global role (including in the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe), and democratic control of EU agencies.