Codecision: Preparing for the

Presidency

Aidan FeeneyCodecision Unit,

Council Legal Service

Budapest, 8 April, 2009

Overview

• Tasks facing the incoming Presidency– Procedures– Preparatory steps to be taken– Planning required

• Principles– Support from the Codecision Unit & the

Secretariat– Mandates from and feedback to Coreper– Establishing timetables and meeting

deadlines

Getting ready: P – six months

• Identify the Actors– Perm. Rep., Capital, Working-Party Chairs

• Make contacts– counterparts in EP and Commission– line up assistance in the Council Secretariat– forward planning with the Codecision Unit

• Identify dossiers in hand 1st, 2nd readings & conciliations• Follow ongoing changes to smooth the handover

– political agreement becomes Common Position– accompany outgoing presidency to trilogues

In the beginning…• Key tasks at the start of your Presidency...• Contact the Parliamentary Committees’ Chairs

– possibilities of 1st or 2nd reading agreements?

• Contacts with Rapporteurs and key shadow rapporteurs

• If there are conciliations running:– contacts with the EP Vice-Presidents in

charge– decisions on the timing of conciliations

Procedures

• 1st Reading Agreements• “Early” 2nd Reading Agreements• 2nd Reading Agreements• Conciliations

1st Reading

• EP and Council working in parallel.– No time limits are fixed by the Treaty

• The key to progress:– making the right contacts with the right people at

the right time• Working method is the “trilogue”, whose actors are:

– Chair of the Council Working Party• (and/or Coreper chair)

– EP Rapporteur (and shadow rapporteurs)– Commission officials

1st Reading – Presidency tasks• (Informal) Presidency evaluates the possibilities of an

agreement, continues contacts with the EP• (Formal) If the Presidency is ready to begin trilogues, a

mandate from Coreper becomes necessary• If an agreement is not reached before the EP votes in

committee, the Presidency can continue negotiations in the period before the EP's vote in plenary

• If an agreement is reached, Presidency arranges for confirmation of the agreement by Coreper before sending a letter of confirmation (Chair of Coreper to the Chair of the EP committee)

“Early” 2nd Reading agreements

• Is a negotiated common position– special situations (change of Presidency, unusual

timetables or interinstitutional relations) • Presidency manages the negotiations after a negative

vote in EP plenary, but before Council adopts a Common Position

• Agreement negotiated on the basis of a future Common Position– EP chair confirms by letter to Coreper Chair

• Procedure: Council common position approved by EP without any amendments

2nd Reading Agreements• Last possibility of agreeing / avoiding conciliation• Date of transmission of the Common Position (often during

previous Presidency) determines the timetable• Strict deadline for the EP plenary vote (3 months + 1 extra

month)• More pressure on the Presidency to reach agreement

– more involvement of the Coreper Chair• The negotiating method is (again) the trilogue

– Working Party Chair or Coreper Chair• Agreement is finalised: letter from Coreper Chair to Chair of

EP committee

Conciliation Procedure

• If no agreement will be reached at 2nd Reading immediately make use of the remaining 2nd reading period to prepare for conciliation

• Working method: trilogues with the EP Vice-President in charge– beginning long before the 2nd Reading procedure in

the Council is officially closed– and before a "conciliation committee" is convened.

• EP delegation: a Vice-President, the Rapporteur, the parliamentary committee Chair, representatives of each Political Group

Presidency tasks in Conciliation• The proactive role of the Coreper chair is key to a

successful conciliation.– if the trilogues go well, the formal procedure can be

an "open-and-closed" affair.• Coreper and WP Chair negotiate, consult and mediate

with Member States (Coreper mandate)– propose creative compromise texts (both legislative

drafting and political declarations)– seek consensus through real negotiation

• Support: Codecision Unit of the Council (supported by the Council DG originally responsible for the dossier)

The Conciliation Committee

• Minister co-chairs meeting with EP Vice-President– presence of Commissioner

• Beforehand: several trilogues on the same evening– Minister representing Council– may be a demanding and long process !

• “Shuttle diplomacy” method– Constant Council and EP Delegation meetings

• If agreement reached – procedure closes with a formal meeting of the Conciliation Committee (27+27)– may be surprisingly short!

Review...

• Getting ready: P – six months• in the beginning…• the Codecision procedures• 1st Reading agreements & Presidency tasks• “Early” 2nd Reading agreements• 2nd Reading Agreements• Conciliation, the C. Committee, & Presidency

tasks

Thank you!

• Resources for further information and advice…• Codecision Guide, on www.consilium.europa.eu

– click on “policies”… then “codecision”• Joint Declaration on Practical Arrangements for

the Codecision Procedure (OJ C 145, 30.6.2007, p.5)