The Ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) welcomed the presentation by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU on Monday 1 March of a progress report on the negotiations on a joint declaration laying the foundations for the Conference on the Future of Europe.
According to our information, a consensus is emerging within the Member States on the draft text whose approval has so far been stalled on the governance issues of this citizens’ consultation exercise (see EUROPE 12664/15).
The national delegations that took the floor “broadly supported” the proposal on the table, said a European source.
Member States are due to study the text and will decide on the draft declaration on Wednesday 3 March, when Coreper is expected to launch the written adoption procedure.
No one EU institution will take on the leadership of the Conference. The Presidents of the European Parliament and the European Commission, as well as the leader of the country holding the six-month Presidency of the Council of the EU, will form a co-presidency more akin to patronage, since they will only intervene occasionally.
At the level below, an Executive Board will steer the day-to-day work of the Conference and its composition will ensure equal representation for the European Parliament, the Commission and the EU Council, in particular through a co-presidency. Each member of the institutional trio will be able to appoint three representatives and up to four observers, according to a recent draft joint declaration consulted by EUROPE. The national parliaments meeting within COSAC, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee will sit on the Executive Board as observers.
The European Parliament’s request to secure the participation of all political groups in the Executive Board was therefore taken into account. On the other hand, the wish of a majority of MEPs to see Guy Verhofstadt (Renew Europe, Belgium) play a specific role is ruled out.
Even a letter from the presidents of the EPP, S&D and Renew Europe groups addressed on Saturday 27 February to the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, does not seem to have convinced the Member States to let the Executive Board decide on its organisation and internal procedures as long as decisions are taken by consensus. “We call on you to remove the reference to the co-chairing of the Executive Board”, the letter states.
It is not clear at this stage whether a symbolic signing session of the joint declaration will take place. Even the holding of a face-to-face launch event on 9 May at the European Parliament headquarters in Strasbourg is not guaranteed, due to the health situation.
See the letter from the EPP, S&D and Renew Europe groups within the European Parliament: http://bit.ly/3bML2s9 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)