of the ordinary meeting of thursday 31 january 20132013)01-31_en.pdfthursday, 31 january 2013 from...

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PE 502.490/CPG

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PE-7/CPG/PV/2013-03

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS

MINUTES

of the ordinary meeting of Thursday

31 January 2013

Paul-Henri Spaak Building, Room 06B 01

Brussels

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MINUTES

of the ordinary meeting of

Thursday, 31 January 2013

from 11:00 to 13:00 hours

Paul-Henri Spaak Building, Room 06B 01

Brussels

CONTENTS

Page

PART I (From 11.00 - 12.00) ............................................................................................................ 8

1. Adoption of the draft agenda ...................................................................................................... 8

2. Approval of the Minutes of the meeting of 10 and 17 January 2013 ......................................... 9

3. Adoption of the final draft agenda for the February part-session (4 to 7 February 2013 in

Strasbourg) – Scheduling of key debates in plenary ................................................................ 10

4. Communications of the President ............................................................................................ 11

4.1 Future visits by Heads of State and Heads of Government to the European Parliament ......... 11

4.2 Monitoring mission to Ukraine ................................................................................................ 11

4.3 Submission of the OLAF Report in the case of Mr John DALLI ............................................ 12

4.4 Funding of political parties - Request for the application of article 210 of the rules of

Procedure .................................................................................................................................. 12

A. DECISIONS/EXCHANGE OF VIEWS ............................................................................... 14

5. Preparation of the meeting of the European Council on 7 and 8 February 2013 ..................... 14

B. DECISIONS WITHOUT DEBATE ..................................................................................... 16

6. Requests from the parliamentary committees to draw up own-initiative reports under Rule

48 .............................................................................................................................................. 16

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7. Requests for the application of Rule 50 concerning the procedure with associated

committees ................................................................................................................................ 17

8. Request for application of Rule 51 concerning the procedure with joint committee meetings 18

9. Delegated and implementing acts - Screening of current files ................................................. 19

10. Designation of co-rapporteurs for the report on the location of the seat of the European

Parliament ................................................................................................................................. 20

11. Designation of co-rapporteurs for a recommendation on the organisation and functioning of

the European External Action Service (EEAS) ........................................................................ 22

12. Draft programme for travel by parliamentary committee delegations outside the three places

of work during 2013 - Decision on activities from March to December .................................. 23

13. Draft programme for travel by standing delegations and Inter-Parliamentary Assemblies

during 2013 - Decision on activities from March to December ............................................... 32

14. Revised draft calendar of the ordinary meetings of the Conference of Presidents for 2013 .... 42

15. Urgent matters and any other business ..................................................................................... 43

15.1 Proposed allocation of appropriations under budget Item 400 (operating appropriations for

the political groups and non-attached Members) for 2013 ....................................................... 43

16. Items for information ................................................................................................................ 44

16.1 Internal correspondence ............................................................................................................ 44

16.2 Interinstitutional correspondence .............................................................................................. 44

16.3 External Correspondence .......................................................................................................... 44

17. Date and place of next meetings ............................................................................................... 45

PART II (From 12.00 - 13.00) ......................................................................................................... 46

18. Exchange of views with the Group Chairs of the Committee of the Regions on

interinstitutional cooperation and other relevant issues of common interest ............................ 46

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MINUTES

of the meeting of Thursday, 31 January 2013

from 11:00 to 13:00 hours

Brussels

The meeting opened at 11:10 hours with Mr Martin SCHULZ,

President of the European Parliament, in the chair

Present

Mr SCHULZ, President

Political Group Chairs

Mr DAUL (EPP)

Mr GUERRERO SALOM (Acting) (S&D)

Mr VERHOFSTADT (ALDE)

Ms HARMS (Co-Chair) (Greens/EFA)

Mr CALLANAN (ECR)

Mr SPERONI (Co-Chair) (EFD)

Ms ZIMMER (GUE/NGL)

Non attached Member

Mr SOSA WAGNER1 (Non-attached Member)

Also Present

Mr WELLE, Secretary-General

1 Present pursuant to Rule 24 (2) of the Rules of Regulations of Procedure

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Invited:

Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs

Invited for Part II - joint meeting with the Committee of the Regions (CoR)

Ms HÜBNER, Chair of the Committee on Regional Development (REGI))

Ms BRESSO, Vice-President of the CoR

Mr SCHNEIDER (Chair of EPP Group)

Mr LAMBERTZ (Chair of PES Group)

Mr VERKERK (Chair of the ALDE Group)

Mr SILBERG (Chair of the European Alliance)

Mr STAHL, Secretary-General of the CoR

Mr KNAPP

Mr HARRISON

Mr O'CURNEEN

Mr Ó CONCHÚIR

Mr CARMONA

Mr TERRUSO

Mr HORNUNG

Mr MONDRAGÓN

Mr GNAN

Ms KEREKGYARTO

Mr THEUNISSEN

The Council1

represented by Mr MILTON

Mr DE HERT

The Commission1

represented by Mr NYMAND-CHRISTENSEN

Mr BARANY

The Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and

Security Policy1

represented by Mr CASTRO

Mr LEVINE

1 Present for items 1-3 of the Agenda

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The Economic and Social Committee1

represented by Mr BERGER

The Committee of the Regions1

represented by Ms KOSJEK

Mr LÓPEZ

Office of the President

Mr KAISER

Ms MARTINEZ IGLESIAS

Mr MANNELLI

Ms STRASSER

Mr PRANCKEVICIUS

Ms PELZ

Ms CASALES LÓPEZ

Office of the Secretary-General

Mr MANGOLD

Mr SORENSEN

Ms FERNANDEZ PERLES

Ms FREDSGAARD

Secretariat

DG Presidency (PRES)

Ms F. RATTI/Mr DUNSTAN/Mr LANE /Mr KNUDSEN/Mr BROGGI/

Ms JIMENEZ LOZANO/Mr URBIETA/Mr SANCHEZ/Ms CAVALLIN1

DG Internal Policies (IPOL)

Mr RIBERA D'ALCALA/Ms VANDENBOSCH/Mr CHIOCCHETTI/

Mr TELL CREMADES2/Ms ILARIO/Ms SAILIS1

DG External Policies (EXPO)

Mr AGUIRIANO/Mr PENALVER

DG Communication (COMM)

Ms LAHOUSSE/Mr DUCH GUILLOT/Ms VAN DEN BROEKE

DG Interpretation and Conferences (INTE)

Ms COSMIDOU

DG Finance (FINS)

Mr VANHAEREN

DG Innovation, Technical Support (ITEC)

Mr VILELLA

__________________ 1 Present for items 1-3 of the Agenda 2 Present for Part II of the Agenda

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Legal Service

Mr PENNERA/Mr PASSOS

Directorate for relations with political groups

Mr SCHWETZ

Secretariat of the Bureau

Mr TZIORKAS

Political groups

Mr KAMP/Mr RYNGAERT/Ms SCRIBAN/Ms ALVARGONZÁLEZ (EPP)

Mr BURU/Ms PEREIRA (S&D)

Mr BEELS/Mr RASMUSSEN/Mr MCLAUGHLIN/Ms COLLERA-GARZÓN (ALDE)

Ms TSETSI/Mr LINAZASORO/Mr DENKINGER (Greens/EFA)

Mr BARRETT/Mr BOYD (ECR)

Ms D'ALIMONTE/Ms LEPOLA (GUE/NGL)

Mr BORDEZ/Mr VAUGIER/ Ms LAIKFAUF/Mr FRANÇOIS (EFD)

Mr BUGALHO (NI)

Mr HILLER, Mr PEGAZZANO, Mr MENEGHINI, Mr HUBER and Mr ISAACS acted as secretaries to

the meeting.

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PART I (From 11.00 - 12.00)

1. Adoption of the draft agenda

The Conference of Presidents

- noted and adopted the draft agenda (PE 502.489/CPG).

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2. Approval of the Minutes of the meeting of 10 and 17 January 2013

- noted and approved the Minutes of the meeting of 10 January 2013, held in Brussels

(PE 502.376/CPG/REV and annex);

- noted and approved the Minutes of the meeting of 17 January 2013, held in Strasbourg

(PE 502.447/CPG and annex).

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3. Adoption of the final draft agenda for the February part-session (4 to 7 February 2013 in Strasbourg)

– Scheduling of key debates in plenary


- noted the following documents:

a letter dated 16 January 2013 from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of

Committee Chairs, (CCC), submitting the CCC's recommendation concerning the

agenda of the February part-session of 2013 (PE 502.479/CPG and annexes);


Committee Chairs (CCC), on legislative files currently under negotiations in first,

early second, or second reading (PE 502.482/CPG and annex);

a provisional table dated 29 January 2013 summarising committee and delegation

meetings scheduled during the February plenary in Strasbourg (4-7 February 2013)

(PE 502.524CPG).

- considered the preliminary draft agenda for the February part-session (4 to 7 February 2013

in Strasbourg), in the light of notes drafted by DG Presidency setting out the various options,

distributed after the preparatory meetings of 29 and 30 January with the Secretaries-General

of the political groups, and adopted the proposal contained in those notes.

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4. Communications of the President

4.1 Future visits by Heads of State and Heads of Government to the European Parliament


- heard the President report that the following Heads of State/Heads of Government would

address the plenary during March and April 2013:

13 March: Mr Giorgio NAPOLITANO, President of the Italian republic,

16 April: Mr Jyrki KATAINEN, Prime Minister of Finland,

17 April: Mr Michael D HIGGINS, President of Ireland.

The President also noted that Mr Shimon PERES, President of the State of Israel, would

address a meeting of the Conference of Presidents on 7 March 2013.

4.2 Monitoring mission to Ukraine


- heard the President note that he met Mr YANUKOVYCH, President of Ukraine, on 24

January 2013, and discussed a possible agreement in relation to the LUTSENKO court case

and the detention conditions for Ms TYMOSHENKO. However, he also noted that recent

information from Ukraine seem to indicate a sudden deterioration of the situation in the

above court cases.

He therefore proposed to send exceptionally Messrs COX and KWASNIEWSKI to Ukraine

from 4 to 6 February in order to monitor the conditions on the ground and to follow-up on

the recent contacts with Mr YANUKOVYCH and Prime Minister AZAROV and to report

back to the Conference of Presidents on 6 February in Strasbourg;

- heard Ms HARMS, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, emphasise the recent worsening of

the detention conditions for Ms TYMOSHENKO and Mr LUTSENKO;

- endorsed the President's proposal.

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4.3 Submission of the OLAF Report in the case of Mr John DALLI


- heard the President note that following the mandate of the Conference of Presidents on 15

November 2012 to request the transmission from the European Commission of the OLAF

report on the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Commissioner DALLI, he had

sent two letters (PE502.529/CPG/1 and PE502.529/CPG/2) to Mr BARROSO, President of

the European Commission, conveying this request, while duly acknowledging the

Parliament's legal obligation to respect the confidentiality of the report in accordance with

the provisions of the Framework Agreement.

He also noted that Mr BARROSO had undertaken to transmit the OLAF Report to him and

that he would receive it in a matter of hours. The President further remarked that, after

consultations with the judicial authorities of Malta, he would inform the Group Leaders,

under strict conditions of confidentiality, on the parts of the report not covered by the

confidentiality of criminal proceedings in Malta.

- held a brief exchange of views with the participation of Mr DAUL, Chair of the EPP Group

and Ms HARMS, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group;

- heard the President confirm that he had received the OLAF Surveillance Committee's Report

relating to the DALLI case the previous day and that the parts of this Report not relevant to

legal proceedings in Malta would be made available to Group Leaders as soon as possible.

4.4 Funding of political parties - Request for the application of article 210 of the rules of Procedure


- heard the President note that he had received a letter signed by one-quarter of Parliament's

Members from four political groups, asking that rule 210 of the Rules of Procedure be

applied for the parties "European Alliance of Freedom" and "European Alliance of National

Movements" and for their affiliated foundations in order to verify whether they comply with

the conditions set out in Article 3(c) of Regulation EC 2004/2003 governing political parties

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at European level namely whether they observe the principles on which the European Union

is founded -and that consequently the procedure laid down in Rule 210 should be initiated;

- heard Mr GUERRERO SALOM, acting Chair of the S&D Group, request to suspend

payments to the above parties during the duration of the procedure set out in Rule 210;

- heard the President reply that these payments are legal entitlements and cannot be suspended

before the completion of the above procedure and then only in the event that the above-

mentioned parties no longer comply with the criteria set out in Regulation EC 2004/2003

governing political parties at European level.

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A. DECISIONS/EXCHANGE OF VIEWS

5. Preparation of the meeting of the European Council on 7 and 8 February 2013


- took note of the following documents:

the annotated draft agenda of 9 December 2012 from the General Secretariat of the

Council for the European Council of 7 - 8 February 2013 (CO EUR-PREP 46);

a press statement dated 22 of January 2013 by Mr VAN ROMPUY, President of the

European Council on the next European Council meeting (PE 502.509/CPG);

European Council Draft conclusions for its meeting on 22/23 November 2012

(15602/12) (Negotiating box) (PE 500.840/CPG);

Statement by the Members of the European Council of 23 November 2012;

Parliament's resolution on the Multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-

2020 (adopted with 517 votes in favour on 23 October 2012), P7_TA-PROV

(2012) 0360.

- heard the President introduce the item by noting that he did not believe that the European

Council would be able to reach a political agreement on the 2014-2020 MFF at its meeting

on 7-8 February 2013 since the positions of the national delegations were still too divergent,

even though Mr VAN ROMPUY has endeavoured to prepare the ground by offering

concessions to various Member States.

The President also noted that if the European Council was to find an agreement, it would be

on the basis of a minimalist and conservative budget with policy areas such as agriculture

and cohesion virtually untouched and with the most significant cuts in areas such as

education, innovation, R&D, development aid and tackling climate change.

- held an exchange of views with the participation of Mr DAUL, Chair of the EPP Group, Mr

GUERRERO SALOM, acting Chair of the S&D Group, Mr VERHOFSTADT, Chair of the

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ALDE Group, Ms HARMS, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Mr CALLANAN, Chair of

the ECR Group, Ms ZIMMER Chair of the GUE/NGL Group, Mr SPERONI, Co-Chair of

the EFD Group and Mr SOSA WAGNER, non-attached Member;

- heard the President note that the 2013 budget foresaw a deficit in payments of around € 16

billion, owing to the difference between commitments and payments in the 2007-2013 MFF,

and strongly emphasise that the 2013 budget must be balanced before the 2014-2020 MFF is

put to the vote in the Parliament and that no structural deficits should be built into this MFF.

The President furthermore remarked that in case the European Council reached a political

agreement at its meeting of 7 - 8 February, the Parliament should be ready to respond

rapidly possibly by means of a resolution at the March session, ahead of receiving the

formal consultation from the General Affairs Council (GAC), as laid down in Article 312 of

the TFEU;

- endorsed, by a large majority, the President's proposals and decided to revert to the issue at

its next meeting, taking into account subsequent developments.

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B. DECISIONS WITHOUT DEBATE

6. Requests from the parliamentary committees to draw up own-initiative reports under Rule 48

This item was postponed.

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7. Requests for the application of Rule 50 concerning the procedure with associated committees

The Conference of Presidents, without debate,

- took note of the letter dated 16 January 2013 from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of

Committee Chairs, in which he submits requests for the application of Rule 50 concerning

the procedure with associated committees (PE 502.486/CPG and annexes);

- took note of and authorised the request for application of Rule 50 of the Rules of Procedure

for the following legislative report:

"Electronic transactions in the internal market: electronic identification and trust services

(2012/0146(COD))"

Committee responsible: ITRE

IMCO has requested application of Rule 50.

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8. Request for application of Rule 51 concerning the procedure with joint committee meetings


- took note of the letter dated 16 January 2013, from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of

Committee Chairs, in which he submits a request for the application of Rule 51

(PE 502.487/CPG and annexes) and authorised it.

Procedure for the following item:

Non-Legislative report

- Mid-term review of the Stockholm Programme

Committee Responsible: LIBE

JURI and AFCO have requested application of Rule 51.

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9. Delegated and implementing acts - Screening of current files


- took note of the letter dated 16 January 2013, from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of

Committee Chairs in which he transmits the results of screening files in view of the

February 2013 part-session (PE 502.480/CPG);

- recalled its decision of 19 April 2012 to request the competent services to carry out an

ongoing screening procedure of upcoming legislative proposals in order to avoid placing on

the plenary agenda any vote(s) leading to a first-reading agreement on dossiers where such

decisions might be legally questionable.

- noted the information provided in Mr LEHNE's letter of 16 January 2013 and the fact that

no legal concerns are raised in relation to any of the dossiers scheduled for vote during this

part-session.

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10. Designation of co-rapporteurs for the report on the location of the seat of the European Parliament


- took note of the letter dated 9 January 2013 from Mr CASINI, Chair of the Committee on

Constitutional Affairs, in which he submits requests to modify the title of the report to read

"report on the location of the seat of the European Parliament" and to appoint, for this report,

two co-rapporteurs coming from the groups ECR and the GREENS (PE 502.456/CPG);

- recalled that, by letter dated 24 October 2012, Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of

Committee Chairs, had already requested authorisation to draw up one report according to

Article 48 (2) of the TEU and Rule 74a of the Rules of Procedures entitled "Proposition of

amending Protocol 6 on the location of the seats of the institutions";

- noted that the Conference of Presidents, at its meeting on 15 November 2012, authorised the

AFCO committee to begin work on the matter, strictly as an initiative report under Rule 48

of Parliament's Rules of Procedure and not 74a as proposed by AFCO, while also recalling

that a judgement of the European Court of Justice on the plenary calendar is awaited, and

underlining that the deadline for amendments should be fixed to after the European Court of

Justice has ruled;

- took note that, by letter dated 16 January 2013, Mr LEHNE, the Chair of the Conference of

Committee Chairs, based on an initial demand by the AFCO committee, requested

authorisation to modify the title of the report to read "report on the location of the seat of the

European Parliament" instead of "Proposition of amending Protocol 6 on the location of the

seats of the institutions"; note that the Conference of Presidents is invited to address this

issue separately under item 6 at this meeting;

- recalled that the Rules of Procedure make no provision for the appointment of co-

rapporteurs and that consequently, the Conference of Presidents, on previous occasions, has

authorised the appointment of co-rapporteurs only for a limited number of highly important

reports, generally of a budgetary or institutional nature;

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- endorsed, exceptionally and without creating a precedent, the above request on co-

rapporteurship while deferring the decision on the request to change the title of the above

report to a future meeting.

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11. Designation of co-rapporteurs for a recommendation on the organisation and functioning of the

European External Action Service (EEAS)

This item was postponed.

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12. Draft programme for travel by parliamentary committee delegations outside the three places of work

during 2013 - Decision on activities from March to December



a letter of 21 November 2012 from Mr MATO ADROVER, Chair of the Committee

on Fisheries, transmitting a supplementary request for that committee's draft

programme of travel for 2013 (PE 502.514/CPG);

a letter of 26 November 2012 from Mr GUSTAFSSON, Chair of the Committee on

Women's Rights and Gender Equality, transmitting a supplementary request for that

committee's draft programme of travel for 2013 (PE 500.915/CPG);

a letter of 4 December 2012 from Ms JOLY, Chair of the Committee on Development,

transmitting a modification for that committee's draft programme of travel for 2013

(PE 502.341/CPG);

a letter of 5 December 2012 from Ms JOLY, Chair of the Committee on Development,

transmitting a clarification for that committee's draft programme of travel for 2013

(PE 502.449/CPG);

a letter of 5 December 2012 from Mr CASINI, Chair of the Committee on

Constitutional Affairs, transmitting clarifications for that committee's draft programme

of travel for 2013 (PE 502.347/CPG);

a letter of 17 January 2013 from Mr GROOTE, Chair of the Committee on the

Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, indicating the venue and the date of the

meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the Montreal Protocol in Kiev on 23-25 October 2013

(PE 502.503/CPG);

a letter of 21 January 2013 from Mr MOREIRA, Chair of the Committee on

International Trade, transmitting a modification and supplementary requests for that

committee's draft programme of travel for 2013 (PE 502.506/CPG);

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a letter of 24 January 2013 from Ms PACK, Chair of the Committee on Culture and

Education, transmitting a supplementary requests for that committee's draft

programme of travel for 2013 (PE 502.485/CPG and annexes);

a letter of 24 January 2013 from Mr HARBOUR, Chair of the Committee on the

Internal Market and Consumer Protection, transmitting a modification for that

committee's draft programme of travel for 2013 (PE 502.515/CPG)

Extract of the draft minutes of the Bureau meeting of 14 January 2013 on the draft

programme for travel by parliamentary committee delegations outside the three places

of work during 2013 - Decision on activities in January and February;

Rules on travel by Committee Delegations outside the three places of work of the

European Parliament.

- took note of a letter of 25 October 2012 from Mr LEHNE, Chair of the Conference of

Committee Chairs, transmitting the draft programme for travel by parliamentary committees

outside the three places of work for 2013 (PE 499.477/CPG, annexes and financial

statement);

- took note of the above mentioned letters transmitting clarifications and requests for

modifications of the various committee's draft programmes of travel for 2013;

- recalled the Bureau's decision of 14 January 2013 authorising committee delegations

included in the 2013 annual travel programme and foreseen for the first two months of the

year;

- took note of the modification of Parliament’s calendar of part-sessions in 2013, as adopted

by the plenary on 16 January 2013 and the modification of the calendar for the Parliament's

activities for the year 2013, as adopted by the Conference of Presidents on 17 January 2013;

- recalled the rules in force governing travel by delegations from the parliamentary

committees outside the three places of work;

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Calendar of committee travel for 2013

- welcomed the fact that the parliamentary committees have scheduled their delegations, as far

as possible, in accordance with the initial 2013 calendar of parliamentary activities and in

respect of the rules on travel, notably in terms of scheduling travel during weeks set aside

for external activities;

- noted that due to the changes to the 2013 calendar, week 35 has now been divided into two

days set aside for travel and two days for committee activities recall that committees are

only entitled to a full linguistic regime when meeting on dates set aside for external

parliamentary activities;

- noted that a certain number of committee delegation visits are planned at periods which

include days without parliamentary activities (Fridays or weekends) and/or public holidays;

approve those requests, while recalling that any other derogation from the rules on travel

periods or quotas must be subject to individual authorisation on the basis of a fully detailed

request, including a financial statement; in this context, in particular, noted that certain visits

are foreseen for weeks designated for committee activities; endorsed these visits while

underlining that they will be subject to a limited interpretation regime, in line with the

decision of the Bureau of 12 March 2012;

- regretted the lack of precision in the programmes submitted by a number of Committees, as

regards the number of participating Members and/or the foreseen dates of travel for the

proposed visits. This concerns, in particular, the INTA, BUDG and LIBE committees.

Specific requests should be submitted by the committees concerned in connection with each

one of these visits, accompanied by justifications and financial statements and respecting the

rules in force concerning travel periods, duration of missions (including journey times) and

quotas;

General principles and budgetary considerations

- noted that the applicable rules do not oblige committees to use their entire yearly quota for

travel and encouraged them to set aside part of their quota in order to be able to add one or

more missions during the year, in line with Article 8(2) of these rules;

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- noted that the overall estimated cost for travel by parliamentary committees outside the three

places of work for the period March to December 2013 is € 4.712.179;

- recalled that Parliament's resolution of 23 October 2012 on the draft general budget of the

EU for 2013 reconfirmed the decision in the 2012 budget resolution to reduce all budget

lines related to travel; underlined that this guiding principle should always be taken into

account when considering all mission requests for Members and staff, without jeopardizing

Parliament's capacity to fulfil its legal and political obligations as set out in the Treaties and

in international law; in this context, encouraged committees to consider making greater use

of the opportunities provided by videoconferencing;

- noted that, as a general principle, security arrangements for delegations in third countries

must be consistent with the principles laid down in the Rules on travel by Committee

delegations outside the three places of work of the EP and notably in line with the attached

Protocol on emergencies arising during official travel activities outside the three places of

work), and that delegations are only authorised to travel on the condition that the security

situation on the ground is satisfactory; insisted on the need to assess security situation

aspects thoroughly prior to each departure, on the basis of all available information,

including from the EEAS (SitCen);

- noted that in certain cases, there is an overlap of dates and destinations either between

committees or between committees and interparliamentary delegations; invited all the

committees concerned to coordinate their visits to the maximum degree possible; equally,

emphasised the importance of cooperation between the parliamentary committees and the

interparliamentary delegations in their work, in particular, in terms of making efforts to

coordinate their respective missions to third countries;

- insisted that committee visits to the agencies for which they are responsible should, in line

with Article 2.2a of the applicable rules, be restricted to a maximum of three Members, and

should be scheduled during the weeks set aside for external parliamentary activity and recall

that the Chair of the committee concerned cannot participate in such visits outside the

committee's quota;

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- recalled that the provisions set out in Article 4 of the applicable rules allow accompanying

Members to travel with committees only on missions inside the European Union;

accompanying Members cannot travel on mission outside the European Union and applicant

countries, or on any ad hoc delegations or visits to agencies; any authorisation for

accompanying members to travel under Article 4.1(b) and (c) of these rules is subject to

approval of the committee concerned, availability of appropriations for the Members

concerned under Article 22(1) of the Implementing measures for the Statute for Members

and authorisation by the Bureau;

- underlined that in line with previous decisions of the governing bodies, missions which take

place in Brussels, Luxembourg or Strasbourg, but outside Parliament's premises, shall be

deemed 'out of quota' only if no demands are placed on the Parliament's resources

(interpretation, travel and subsistence allowances etc.);

- requested the various committees, in application of Article 10 of the applicable Rules, to

forward to the President, prior to the various visits, the respective programmes (indicating

their total duration, including journey times), and providing at the same time full

information concerning the number of Members participating in the delegation (within and

outside the quota) and of accompanying Members, secretariat and group staff;

- underlined that, where parliamentary committees decide to cancel one of their missions and

replace it with another, the new request must be accompanied by all relevant details on the

proposed mission as well as a new financial statement and information on the available

quota at the time of travel;

Specific comments

- welcomed the fact that a number of recurrent events have been included in the annual travel

programme by parliamentary committee delegations;

- noted that in the below four cases, the precise dates and/or venues for the conferences or

meetings in question have not yet been confirmed, and underlined that these requests,

including the relevant financial statements, must be resubmitted for consideration on an

individual basis once this information becomes available; further underline that the sending

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of delegations to these meetings will be drawn, as appropriate, from the committee's annual

quota for travel inside or outside the EU, which must be respected;

DROI: request to send maximum 2 Members to Geneva, Switzerland to participate in

the session of the UN Human Rights Council foreseen for early March 2013;

DEVE: request to send a delegation of 2 Members to Brussels, to participate in the

European Development Days;

DEVE: request to send a delegation of 4 Members in September 2013 to New York,

United States to participate in the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Review

Summit;

request to send a joint delegation of 2 ITRE Members, 1 CULT Member and 1

Member of STOA to participate in the follow-up to the 7th Internet Governance

Forum (destination and dates to be determined by the host organisation);

- stressed that the SEDE subcommittee's visits to Niger (and possibly Mali), Somalia, and

Afghanistan, foreseen for weeks 14, 18 and 44 respectively, should only take place if the

security situation on the ground proves to be satisfactory and that decisions on this issue will

be taken by the competent bodies at a later stage, on the basis of available information from

the EEAS, to be submitted by the relevant subcommittee in due time. The same proviso shall

apply to DROI's proposed missions to Ethiopia and Pakistan, CRIM's proposed mission to

Guatemala, and any possible joint visit by AFET/SEDE to the Turkish/Syrian border;

- noted the request of the SEDE subcommittee to send a delegation of five days duration to

Georgia in week 29; take the view that the mission should be restricted to four days in total,

including travel time;

- noted the request of the DEVE committee to send a delegation of 4 members to Rome to

attend the FAO International Conference on Nutrition from 13-15 November 2012; pointed

out that the dates in question fall during a week reserved for political group activities and in

this light endorsed the sending of a restricted delegation of 2 members to this conference;

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- approved the request of the BUDG committee to send a delegation jointly to Serbia and

Montenegro in week 14, while underlining that if a decision is taken to split this visit into

two separate delegations, further individual authorisation for these visits must be requested;

- invited the CONT committee to provide further information on the specific objectives and

scope of its proposed delegations, prior to any decision on these requests being taken;

took note of the request of the JURI committee that its foreseen meeting with judges and

officials of the ECHR in Strasbourg on the Thursday of a part-session week (outside session

hours) should be deemed as out of quota; endorsed this request on the understanding that no

additional demands are placed on EP resources (interpretation, subsistence allowances etc.);

- took note of the following requests for delegations:

a) AGRI Committee to Russia in week 35, the Members of which "...expressed a general

interest in a deeper understanding of the present and especially the future agricultural

policy in Russia since it will be forced to align its national legislation with WTO

rules",

b) PECH Committee to Japan in week 29 in order to "...have a clear overview of fisheries

activities in Japan, were the fisheries sector constitutes a major industry and represents

a large part of the country's economy...",

c) JURI committee to South Africa (week 14) and the West Coast of the U.S (week 35)

both of them focusing on intellectual property rights (a JURI delegation to China,

which had been authorised as part of the 2012 programme, has now been scheduled

for week 14, and is also envisaged to concentrate on intellectual property rights);

invited these Committees to make recourse to the provisions of Article 13(3) of the

Implementing provisions governing the work of delegations by requesting authorisation for

their respective rapporteurs to join missions of the interparliamentary delegations concerned

instead of sending a Committee delegation;

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- endorsed in principle the request (not included in the 2013 programme) from the FEMM

Committee to send a delegation composed of up to four Members to the neighbouring

regions of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia on 15-17 July 2013, including journey times

(turquoise week), it being understood that the Committee's quota for travel within the EU

and the applicant countries is respected; noted that this delegation could potentially be

merged with the proposed visit of the LIBE committee to Romania to focus on Roma issues

and other topics and invite the two committees concerned to cooperate to the maximum

degree possible in this regard;

- noted the request of the AFCO committee to send a delegation of up to 8 members to

Washington DC; recalled that authorisation for a similar visit was withheld during the 2012

exercise;

- noted the request of the CRIM special committee to send a delegation of 8 members to the

United States and Guatemala during week 18; invite the committee to provide further

justification for the visit prior to a decision being taken on the matter;

- gave a favourable opinion on the draft programme of parliamentary committee delegations

for 2013 and the related modifications and supplementary requests noted in this decision,

under the conditions set out above;

- underlined its view that, with the exception of the aspects mentioned above, in principle no

further requests for exceptional derogations for committee travel should be approved during

the course of 2013;

- reiterated its intention to further review existing Rules on delegation travel, to enter into

force at the latest at the beginning of the next legislature; restate its wish to achieve a better

balance between the need to continue a policy of budgetary restraint while guaranteeing an

improved capacity of Parliament to carry out its duties under the Treaties and to meet its

political priorities in a rapidly changing global environment;

- encouraged delegations to restrict the number of accompanying staff to the minimum; is of

the opinion that, in principle and notwithstanding the provisions of Art 15 of the applicable

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Rules, the number of accompanying staff should ideally not exceed the number of Members

travelling;

- recalled that Members' assistants may neither be a member of nor accompany a delegation;

- referred the matter to the Bureau for final decision.

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13. Draft programme for travel by standing delegations and Inter-Parliamentary Assemblies during 2013

- Decision on activities from March to December


- took note of the letter dated 12 November 2012 from Mr CASHMAN, Chair of the

Conference of Delegation Chairs, submitting the draft programme for travel by Standing

Delegations and Inter-Parliamentary Assemblies for 2013 (PE 500.836/CPG annexes and

financial statement);

- took note of the letter dated 28 November 2012 from Mr REUL, Chair of the Delegation for

Relations with the Korean Peninsula, informing about a modification of the Delegation's

annual programme for 2013 (PE 500.899/CPG);

- took note of the letter dated 10 January 2013 from Mr RIVELLINI, Chair of the Delegation

for relations with the People's Republic of China, informing about the postponement of the

Bureau visit to China (PE 502.464/CPG);

- took note of the letter dated 25 January 2013 from Ms FLAUTRE, Chair of the Delegation

to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), informing about an updated

calendar for activities for the year 2013 (PE 502.513/CPG);

- recalled the Conference of President's decision of 6 December 2012 on inter-parliamentary

delegations included in the 2013 annual travel programme and foreseen for the first two

months of the year;

- took note of the modification of Parliament’s calendar of part-sessions in 2013, as adopted

by the plenary on 16 January 2013 and the modification of the calendar for the Parliament's

activities for the year 2013, as adopted by the Conference of Presidents on 17 January 2013;

- took note of the Implementing provisions governing the work of delegations, as adopted by

the Conference of Presidents on 10 March 2011 and last amended on 10 January 2013

(PE 422.560/CPG and annexes);

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General remarks

- recalled that the Implementing provisions governing the work of delegations, as approved by

the Conference of Presidents on 10 March 2011 and last amended on 10 January 2013,

stipulate that all inter-parliamentary meetings shall require prior authorisation from the

Conference of Presidents, based on requests to be submitted in good time and emphasised

that no exceptions from these rules other than those explicitly authorised in this decision will

be granted at this stage but could be examined on a case-by-case basis later on; recalled in

this context that any mission not specifying the destination and/or exact date cannot be

deemed authorised through the adoption of the annual programme, unless explicitly

authorised in this decision;

- recalled that the Implementing provisions governing the work of delegations apply to

standing inter-parliamentary delegations (delegation to one or more parliamentary

cooperation committee(s), delegation to a joint parliamentary committee, delegation to a

parliamentary assembly) and ad hoc delegations;

- recalled its decisions of 6 December 2012 and 10 January 2013 regarding modifications of

the Implementing provisions governing the work of delegations; reiterated its intention to

further review existing Rules on delegation travel, to enter into force at the latest at the

beginning of the next legislature; restated the need to continue a policy of budgetary

restraint while guaranteeing an improved capacity of Parliament to carry out its duties under

the Treaties and to meet its political priorities in a rapidly changing global environment;

- recalled that any request for authorisation shall contain all the necessary elements for

authorisation with clear reference to the applicable rules, in particular the number of

members travelling, including members participating outside of the quota or joining a

mission by virtue of special provisions in the applicable rules, the duration of the mission

including travel time, the draft programme and a financial statement;

- noted that inter-parliamentary meetings shall be authorised by the Conference of Presidents

in the form of an overall annual programme covering all the Standing inter-parliamentary

Delegations; noted in this respect the recommendations on the draft annual programme for

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activities of the Standing Delegations and Inter-parliamentary Assemblies for 2013,

accompanied by the opinions of the AFET, INTA and DEVE Committees as adopted by the

Conference of Delegation Chairs on 23 October 2012;

- noted that the draft annual programme shall list all proposals for inter-parliamentary

meetings irrespective of whether they are to be held in- or outside of one of Parliament's

places of work; noted that apart from the organisation of full inter-parliamentary meetings,

some standing inter-parliamentary delegations are also planning to send working parties on

missions and to organise meetings of their respective Bureaus, both in one of Parliament's

places of work and in third countries and that for such missions, the existing rules should

fully apply;

- noted that while, in principle, meetings of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA)

are included in the annual programme, the ACP-EU JPA and its bodies enjoy legal and

operational independence within the framework of Parliament's rules and of the ACP-EU

JPA'S Rules of Procedure; noted that, according to the programme, the 25th JPA Session

will take place in Brussels on 17-19 June and the 26th JPA Session is planned to take place

in an ACP country on 16-18 December; noted that 17-19 June and 16-18 December are days

reserved for parliamentary committee work; strongly invited the EP representatives in the

relevant bodies to make, as a matter of principle, every effort that those meetings are

scheduled in respect of the EP calendar of activities; further noted that two regional JPA

meetings are scheduled, one to take place in the Caribbean from 11-15 February and one to

take place in West Africa from 15-19 July; recalled that the relevant rules of procedure

allow for up to three regional parliamentary meetings lasting for up three days each decided

upon the request of the ACP Bureau or of the regions concerned and that one member of

parliament from each ACP State in the region and an equivalent number of members of the

European Parliament shall participate in regional meetings; noted that committee and

Bureau meetings are planned to take place in Brussels on 15 and 16 June (Saturday and

Sunday) and in an ACP country on 14 and 15 December (Saturday and Sunday);

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- welcomed the fact that the draft annual programme of Standing Delegations for 2013 has

been prepared in coordination with the parliamentary committees in order to improve the

synergy between Committees and Standing Delegations;

- emphasised the importance of cooperation between the parliamentary committees and the

inter-parliamentary delegations in their work, in particular, in terms of making efforts to

coordinate their respective missions to third countries;

- welcomed the fact that the large majority of requests submitted are in conformity with the

rules in force; noted however that with regard to some of the planned activities derogations

are requested and further justifications are needed;

- recalled its decision of 10 March 2011 whereby Members' assistants may not be a member

of or accompany a delegation;

- encouraged delegations to restrict the number of accompanying staff to the minimum; is of

the opinion that, in principle and notwithstanding the applicable provisions in force, the

number of accompanying staff should ideally not exceed the number of Members travelling;

- recalled that each mission needs to be sufficiently justified and that the conformity of a

mission with the applicable rules as such does not replace a thorough justification on

political grounds and that the availability of quota for travel in itself is not justification

enough;

- approved the Parliament's draft annual programme of Standing Delegations and inter-

parliamentary delegations for 2013, on the basis of the existing Rules in force, as concerns

the period of March until December, with the following specific remarks:

Budgetary considerations

- recalled that Parliament's resolution of 23 October 2012 on the draft general budget of the

EU for 2013 reconfirmed the decision in the 2012 budget resolution to reduce all budget

lines related to travel; underlined that this guiding principle should always be taken into

account when considering all mission requests for Members and staff, without jeopardizing

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Parliament's capacity to fulfil its legal and political obligations as set out in the Treaties and

in international law;

- noted that the overall estimated cost for the 2013 inter-parliamentary delegation missions for

the whole of the year 2013 is estimated at € 8.212.753 and for the period covered by the

present decision (March to December) at € 6.356.923; commended the significant reduction

of more than one third for the whole of the year 2013 compared to the annual estimated cost

for 2012;

- invited the inter-parliamentary delegations, with the objective to enhance interaction and

flexibility in their contacts with their parliamentary counterparts as well as potentially

reducing costs, to explore the option, when possible, of using video-conferences;

Modifications to the annual programme

- noted the modifications with regard to the annual programme such as submitted on 12

November 2012:

1. Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China, Bureau visit to Beijing

and another location in China, initially foreseen for week 7, has been postponed to

week 14;

2. 17th EP-Republic of Korea IPM in Seoul and 4th EP-Democratic People's Republic of

Korea IPM in Pyongyang, initially foreseen to be held from 28 April to 4 May and

now foreseen to take place from 15 to 20 July 2013 - noted that this meeting is the

second IPM during the year 2013 and therefore not in conformity with the applicable

rules; approved, exceptionally, the request due to the fact that the 16th IPM EP-

Republic of Korea could not be held during 2012 for reasons outside Parliament's

control and was, therefore, held on 10 January 2013 in Brussels;

3. 71st EU-Turkey JPC, initially foreseen to be held during week 12 (18-24 March), is

now taking place from 13 to 15 February in Ankara, such as approved by the

Conference of Presidents at its meeting on 10 January 2013;

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4. the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) plans the

following activities during the year 2013:

Bureau meeting, Strasbourg, 22 May;

JPC meeting, Brussels, 19-20 June;

Bureau meeting, Turkey, 11 October;

JPC meeting, Turkey, 28-29 October

Calendar of missions

- with regard to the calendar of missions for 2013, stressed the importance that both the

relevant rules in force as well as the planned calendar of activities are respected; noted that,

while most parliamentary delegations have scheduled their missions in accordance with the

rules, a certain number of planned missions would require derogations to the rules;

- noted that there are inter-parliamentary meetings outside Parliament's three places of work

that are planned in periods which include days without parliamentary activities (Fridays),

weekends and public holidays and approved those requests;

- deplored that in certain cases the dates and venues of the meetings have not yet been fixed;

- noted that a number of missions of inter-parliamentary delegations are planned in weeks

reserved for committee activities, political group activities or during plenary sessions; noted

that this is not in line with Article 6 of the Implementing provisions governing the work of

delegations; therefore invited the relevant organs to find new dates compatible with

Parliament's calendar or to provide further justifications on a case-by-base basis:

6th Barents Parliamentary Conference, 22-24 April;

Bureau of the ASEAN Delegation inter-parliamentary assembly, Brunei, 16-20

September - partly coincides with days set aside for parliamentary committee meetings

(Monday to Wednesday);

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7th IPM EP-Pan African Parliament, Midrand, week 41 or 42;

7th EU-Iceland JPC, Reykjavik, week 44 or 51;

Working group to Gaza, 18-20 December;

DAND Working Group to Peru, 18-20 December;

Delegation for relations with India, Bureau/WG, Delhi, 18-20 December;

- noted that the 19th EP-New Zealand IPM, Brussels (and another location envisaged), week

17 or week 45, can only be authorised on the condition that the venue is limited to Brussels

only;

- recalled that Parliament's EuroLat Delegation has been authorised by the Conference of

Presidents at its meeting on 13 September 2012 to participate in the EuroLat Plenary Session

in Santiago de Chile on 23-25 January 2013 on the condition that this mission is fully taken

into account in the 2013 programme of activities;

Security

- noted that security arrangements for delegations in third countries must be consistent with

Article 14(2) and (3) and the principles as set out in Art. 18 of the Implementing provisions

governing the work of delegations and notably in line with Annex IV of these Rules

(Protocol on emergencies arising during official travel activities outside the three places of

work);

- stressed that delegations are only authorised to travel on the condition that the security

situation on the ground is satisfactory; insisted on the need to assess security situation

aspects thoroughly prior to each departure, on the basis of all available information,

including from the EEAS (SitCen);

- decided to come back to the scheduled delegations to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria and

Yemen in due time prior to the departure of the delegations in question, to take a final

decision on the basis of information on security on the ground from the EEAS (including

SitCen);

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Meetings in parallel with plenary

- noted that a number of inter-parliamentary meetings are scheduled to take place in

Strasbourg during Parliament's part-sessions; note that while plenary is the core activity of

Parliament, the provisions of Article 3(4) of the Rules governing the holding of meetings

simultaneously with plenary sittings, as approved by the Conference of Presidents on 15

September 2010, allow for Delegations to meet in Strasbourg on Wednesdays from 15.00 to

19.00 and on Thursdays from 9.00 until voting time, provided that such meetings do not

coincide with a key debate and emphasise the importance of the strict respect of these rules;

authorised the following meetings on the understanding that these conditions are fully met:

5. 5th EP-Iran IPM, Strasbourg (week 21) or Brussels (week 22);

6. EU-Turkey JPC Bureau, Strasbourg, 22 May;

7. SINEEA Bureau meeting , Strasbourg, 12 June;

8. 5th EU-West Nordic Council IPM, Strasbourg, 11 September;

9. EP-PLC IPM, Strasbourg, 11-12 September;

10. 16th EU-Russia PCC, Strasbourg, 11-12 December;

- noted that during week 41 the October I part-session is held in Strasbourg; declined to

authorise the following meetings and invited the Delegations concerned to submit individual

authorisation requests for other dates which comply with Parliament's calendar:

11. Bureau EU-Chile JPC, Brussels, 7 October;

12. 7th EU-Montenegro SAPC, Brussels, 9-10 October;

13. 7th IPM EP- Pan African Parliament, Midrand, week 41 or 42;

Quotas and Uniform Supplementary Quotas

- recalled that while Article 8(6) sets out the general principle of bi-annual quotas for standing

inter-parliamentary delegations or working group missions to third countries, Articles 9 and

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10 of the same rules allow for additional travel quotas to be allocated under certain

conditions;

- noted that such an additional travel quota has only been apportioned to the Delegation for

relations with the United States for the years 2012/2013 by decision of the Conference of

Presidents of 8 December 2011;

- recalled the need to respect the travel quotas as set out above;

- noted that the additional Member travelling with the Bureau of the Delegation for relations

with Canada to Ottawa and British Columbia from 28 April to 2 May needs to be counted

towards the Delegation's quota;

Frequency and venue of inter-parliamentary meetings

- recalled that Articles 8(3) and (4) of the Implementing provisions governing the work of

delegations specify that, as a general rule, "each standing interparliamentary delegation

shall, as far as possible, hold one interparliamentary meeting per year", which should be

"held alternately in one of Parliament's places of work and in the third country/countries

concerned";

- noted that occasionally inter-parliamentary meetings are planned to be held or being

extended to a country holding the rotating Presidency of the Council or any other location

the Parliament's places of work, which is not in conformity with Article 8(4) of the relevant

rules; recalled that authorisation for such meetings with additional locations has to be

requested on a case by case basis;

- further noted that, notwithstanding the general principles mentioned above, a large number

of standing delegations have established a general practise to hold inter-parliamentary

meetings more frequently than once a year; noted that this deviation from the general rule is

subject to the limits and conditions set out in Rule 8(6) of the Implementing provisions

governing the work of delegations, namely provided that this is based on an underlying

international law instrument and on specific duly approved Rules of Procedure of the

Standing delegation concerned, which have been appropriately approved by the Bureau, or

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on some other decision by the Conference of Presidents or the Bureau permitting this

practise; for the above reasons declines to authorise:

16th EP-India IPM, Delhi and two other locations, 29 April - 3 May;

additional EP-Japan IPM in Brussels, week 22;

19th EU-Chile JPC, Brussels, 28-29 May;

42nd EP-Israel IPM, Brussels, 9 October;

18th EU-Moldova PCC, Chisinau, 28-30 October;

17th EU-Mexico JPC, Mexico City, 29-30 October;

3rd Cariforum-EU JPC, Brussels;

- welcomed the initiative of the delegations for relations with the G20 countries in the region

Asia/Australia-New Zealand (China, India, Japan, South-Korea, Australia and Indonesia) to

organise an IPM between their delegations and their counterparts of the afore-mentioned

countries during week 22 in Brussels whilst recalling that holding such a meeting should not

impede on the work of parliamentary committees which have priority during this week,

notably as concerns meeting rooms and interpretation facilities;

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14. Revised draft calendar of the ordinary meetings of the Conference of Presidents for 2013


- took note of and approved the draft revised calendar of the ordinary meetings of the

Conference of Presidents for 2013 (PE 499.493/CPG/rev).

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15. Urgent matters and any other business

15.1 Proposed allocation of appropriations under budget Item 400 (operating appropriations for the

political groups and non-attached Members) for 2013


- took note of a letter of 23 January 2013 from Mr DAUL, Chair of the EPP Group on behalf of

all the political groups, submitting a revised draft allocation of budget item 400

appropriations for 2013 (PE 502.454/REV/CPG and annex);

- endorsed the revised draft allocation and submitted it to the Bureau for a final decision.

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16. Items for information

16.1 Internal correspondence



a letter from Baroness ASHTON, Vice-President of the European Commission - High

Representative dated 20 December 2012 on a proposal for a draft Arrangement

between the European Parliament, the Council and the European External Action

Service (EEAS) concerning access in the area of the Common Foreign and Security

Policy (PE 502.505/CPG and annex);


Committee Chairs, submitting a report on the application of the political declaration of

the Parliament, the Council and the Commission on correlation tables (PE

502.516/CPG and annex).

16.2 Interinstitutional correspondence

There was none

16.3 External Correspondence

There was none

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17. Date and place of next meetings

The Conference of Presidents will hold its next ordinary meeting on 6 February 2013 from 15:00

to 16:30 hours in room R1.1 in Louise Weiss Building, in Strasbourg.

In addition, the Conference of Presidents will hold an extra-ordinary meeting on 6 February 2013

from 16.30 to 17.30 hours in room R1.1 in Louise Weiss Building, in Strasbourg.

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PART II (From 12.00 - 13.00)

18. Exchange of views with the Group Chairs of the Committee of the Regions on interinstitutional

cooperation and other relevant issues of common interest



Letter of 26 June 2012 from Mrs Mercedes BRESSO to President Martin SCHULZ

(PE 502.504/CPG);

Letter of 21 September 2012 from President Martin SCHULZ to Mr Ramón Luis

VALCÁREL SISO (PE 502.507/CPG);

Extract from the minutes of the meeting of the Conference of Presidents of 10 January

2008;

Resolution of the Committee of the Regions on the On-going Negotiations on the Multi-

Annual Financial Framework (RESOL-V-002, CDR2263-2012_00_00_TRA_RES);

- heard the President welcome Ms BRESSO, 1st Vice-President, and the Chairs of the Political

Groups of the Committee of Regions to this joint meeting and emphasise the following

points;

relations between the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions Council

(CoR) had never been as close, as both institutions represent the interest of the citizen,

either directly or through their regional representatives, and while contacts had grown

ever more frequent, there was more work that needed still to be done to develop

cooperation further;

both institutions had a common interest in defending the EU budget in the negotiations

on the multi-annual financial framework (MFF). In fighting for this, the Parliament had

been fighting for the interests of the regions;

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there were serious problems with the EU budget for 2013, with a systematic deficit of

€16bn owing to the difference between commitments made, and payments provided for.

The most recent indications from the Council were that the MFF for 2014-20 could

contain a difference of €60bn between commitments and payments, which would lead to

an annual deficit of €7.5bn. This was something for which the European Parliament was

unlikely to vote, even if the Member States were able to reach agreement.

- heard Ms BRESSO, 1st Vice-President of the Committee of the Regions, apologise for the

absence of the Mr VALCARCEL, President of the CoR and thank the President for the

invitation to this meeting; further heard Ms BRESSO note that while the Parliament and

CoR had different roles and competences, they shared the same interests and could play a

key role in enhancing the democratic legitimacy of the EU; heard also her view that the EU

needed a credible financial basis going forward, with a budget that enabled the necessary

investment to foster growth;

- held an exchange of views with Mr DAUL, Chair of the EPP Group, Mr GUERRERO

SALOM, acting Chair of the S&D Group, Mr VERHOFSTADT, Chair of the ALDE Group,

Ms HARMS, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA Group, Ms ZIMMER, Chair of the GUE/NGL

Group and leaders of political groups of the Committee of the Regions, notably Mr

SCHNEIDER, Chair of the EPP Group, Mr LAMBERTZ, chair of the PES Group, Mr

VERKERK, chair of the ALDE Group and Mr SILBERG chair of the European Alliance,

inter alia, on the following issues:

there should be more regular contacts between the institutions, and in particular, the

rapporteurs on dossiers in the respective institutions should liaise closely, and at an

early stage of the legislative process;

proposals have been tabled to reform the working of the CoR to help the CoR to have

a greater impact in the legislative process;

there was complete agreement between the institutions on the need for an EU budget

with sufficient resources, and that the Parliament should, if necessary, be prepared to

veto an unsatisfactory proposal from the Council;

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an agreement on the MFF was essential in order to provide certainty to plan properly;

- heard the President conclude by noting that there was a great deal of agreement between the

institutions, in particular on Parliament's approach to the MFF, and that the proposals to reform

the work of the CoR to increase the impact it could have on the legislative process were of

great interest.

* *

*

The meeting closed at 13.20 hours

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