On 7–8 July 2013, the Meeting of the Chairpersons of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs (COSAC) will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania. The main objectives of the meeting are to present the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, to adopt the draft programme of the L COSAC Meeting to be held in Vilnius on 27–29 October 2013, and to discuss about the future of Europe.

 

On Sunday, 7 July 2013, at 16.30–17.30, the meeting of the Presidential Troika of COSAC (Ireland, Lithuania and Greece) will be held in Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas Hall, Building 1 of the Seimas, to discuss the draft programme of the L COSAC Meeting, the outline of the 20^th Bi-annual Report of COSAC and the appointment of the Permanent Member of the COSAC Secretariat for 2014–2015.

 

On Monday, 8 July 2013, at 9.00–15.00, in the Plenary Hall, Building 2 of the Seimas, the Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC will be opened by a welcome address of Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas, followed by discussions on the current affairs of COSAC and the briefing on the results of the meeting of the Presidential Troika.

 

Linas Antanas Linkevičius, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, will present the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU at the Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC. Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration, will deliver a keynote speech Towards a Political and Economic Union: Next Steps.

 

For more information and a detailed programme of the Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC, see here.

 

The Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC of 8 July 2013 will be webcast live on:

the website of the Seimas,

the website of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union,

the television channel titled Seimas – tiesiogiai (en. Seimas Live).

 

The first meeting of COSAC took place on 16-17 November 1989 in Paris. Since 2009, when the Lisbon Treaty came into force and strengthened the role of the European Parliament and national Parliaments in the EU decision-making, the powers of COSAC in the consideration of EU matters have increased respectively.

 

The Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs is a conference of the committees of the national Parliaments of the European Union Member States dealing with the European Union affairs, as well as representatives of the European Parliament. It is a bi-annual forum that may submit any contribution it deems appropriate for the attention of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. The Conference in addition promotes the exchange of information and best practice among national Parliaments and the European Parliament, including their sectoral committees. It may also organise inter-parliamentary conferences on specific topics.

 

Asta Markevičienė, Public Relations Unit, tel. +370 5 239 6202, e-mail: [email protected]

 

Morta Vidūnaitė, Adviser to Gediminas Kirkilas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6278, mob. +370 612 01121, e-mail: [email protected]