The ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) approved without modification, on Wednesday 3 March, the draft interinstitutional declaration submitted to them on Monday by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 12668/8).
“What was presented on Monday was approved today”, a diplomatic source confirmed. A written procedure is under way, with a view to formal adoption by the end of the week.
The Conference will be co-chaired by the institutional trio of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the EU, in particular at the level of the executive committee responsible for steering the day-to-day work of the Conference through decisions taken by consensus. At Parliament’s request, each institution may be represented on the Committee by three full members, with four others as observers.
The aim is to reach conclusions by 2022. France, which launched the initiative, would like to have feedback after a year of debates, under its Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2022. Paris hopes that this will provide an initial political framework setting out guidelines for the future of Europe, even though not all the subjects may have been addressed.
The ball is now in the European Parliament’s court. The Conference of Presidents of the political groups (CoP) will be invited to vote on the draft joint declaration this Thursday.
Two pro-European groups - Greens/EFA and S&D - believe that it is now time to sign an agreement that it will be almost impossible to renegotiate with the Member States and get to the heart of the matter. The Renew Europe group’s position is to be followed closely, given that the Belgian Guy Verhofstadt will not benefit from a specific status.
See the draft joint declaration: http://bit.ly/2NXZO7k (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)