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The Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) is a conference of
COSAC was founded in 1989 on a proposal of
Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European UnionCooperation between the European Parliament and National Parliaments
Politics of the European Union European Parliament {{EU-stub
Members of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
(MEPs) and national Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MPs) who are drawn from parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
ary committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
s responsible for European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
affairs.
History and role
COSAC was founded in 1989 on a proposal of Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician serving as President of the Constitutional Council since 8 March 2016. A member of the Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 Mar ...
, then President of the French National Assembly and at the same time an MEP on the European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs The Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) is a committee of the European Parliament dealing with institutional matters such as the Treaties of the European Union and the Parliament's rules of procedure. It is currently chaired by Antonio Tajan ...
(AFCO). COSAC meets twice a year in the member state that holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union
The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...
.
The conference is mainly intended for personal contacts between Members of National Parliaments and MEPs, and for exchanges of information. The conference is therefore interested in the means by which the parliaments are able to co-operate and communicate with each other via interparliamentary meetings, and through the IPEX scrutiny website. The 17 Biannual COSAC report from April 2012 focused on recent developments in parliamentary scrutiny and the parliaments' use of IPEX.
COSAC may also adopt contributions addressed to the EU institutions
The institutions of the European Union are the seven principal decision-making bodies of the European Union and the Euratom. They are, as listed in Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union:
* the European Parliament,
* the European Council ...
. COSAC has gained the right to submit contributions and examine proposals on EU law relating to Justice and Home Affairs and saw its role further expand under the Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...
with provisions for increased involvement of national parliaments in EU affairs.
Name
COSAC is a Frenchacronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
for the conference's former name "Conférence des organes spécialisés dans les affaires communautaires et européennes des parlements de l'Union européenne" (Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union). It is known by similar terms such as the Conference of European Community Affairs Committees and under the Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...
COSAC's name is listed as the conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs.
List of European affairs committees
See also
* European Assizes *National parliaments of the European Union
The national parliaments of the European Union are those legislatures responsible for each member state of the European Union (EU). They have a certain degree of institutionalised influence which was expanded under the Treaty of Lisbon to include ...
* Joint parliamentary meeting on the Future of Europe
* List of acronyms: European sovereign-debt crisis
References
External links
Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union
Politics of the European Union European Parliament {{EU-stub