Committee on European Union Affairs Chairman urges EU Commission to respond more speedily to opinions from national parliaments

In a first-ever full address to the COSAC in Irish, Joe Costello, TD, Chairman of the Committee on European Union Affairs, said: “The Commission can occasionally be slow to respond to reasoned opinions. Ireland submitted a reasoned opinion to the Commission on the CCCTB and we are still awaiting, as are other parliaments, for a substantive reply to that opinion after 6 months. I would urge the Commission to issue responses in a shorter time frame which specifically address the matters raised in each opinion submitted to it. I would have a concern if ‘One size fits all’ responses by the Commission came to be the standard response of the Commission.”

Deputy Costello said that that the eight week window is extremely short for the required number of parliamentary chambers to have conducted the scrutiny of a proposal and to raise a yellow flag on the provisions of a legislative act which they deem not to be in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity.

“But clearly it can be done if national parliaments remain committed to the process and engage actively and early enough with the process through the various means available.  In our case a general election intervened at the time the CCCTB proposal was sent to us but we were able to submit a reasoned opinion through a special committee convened under new procedures put in place to account for such eventualities,” said Deputy Costello.

He told the meeting Ireland is moving towards a new model of scrutiny of draft legislation and has mainstreamed the consideration of EU Affairs across its entire committee structure. 

“The benefit of this is that legislative proposals will now be considered by the committee with the specific expertise in the area. We will also increase our focus on the consideration of regulatory impact assessments to ensure such legislation is transposed in a more democratic and efficient manner,” he said.
 
The Oireachtas was also continuing to strengthen its links with Irish MEPs and the European Parliament, according to Deputy Costello.

“The strengthening of the powers of the EP as co-legislators with the Council creates a new dynamic for national parliaments,” he said. “Irish MEPs from the Republic as well as from Northern Ireland are now invited to attend and speak at meetings of all Oireachtas Committees, though not to vote. One meeting per month of the European Union Affairs Committee will be dedicated to explore issues of common concern with our MEPs.”
 
The Irish parliament is determined to become more proactive in the future in view of the commitment to dialogue under the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty.
 
“In particular, we will seek to influence and to input matters of importance to us on a national and EU wide basis into the Commission’s Annual Work programme so that we can begin to influence policy making upstream rather than waiting for draft decisions to appear on our desks,” he concluded.

For further information please contact:

Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2

P: +3531 618 3903
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F: +3531 618 4551

Notes to the editor:

1. COSAC is a Conference of the committees of the national Parliaments of the European Union Member States dealing with European affairs as well as representatives of the European Parliament.
At the bi-annual meetings of COSAC, six Members represent each Parliament. In addition, the national Parliaments of the candidate countries are invited to participate with three observers each.
COSAC meetings usually take place in the capital of the country holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
COSAC was established in May 1989 at a meeting in Madrid, where the Speakers of the Parliaments of the EU Member States agreed to strengthen the role of national Parliaments in relation to the Community matters by bringing together their Committees on European Affairs. The first meeting of COSAC took place on 16-17 November 1989 in Paris.
COSAC was formally recognised in a protocol to the Amsterdam Treaty that was concluded by the Heads of State or Government in June 1997. The Protocol on the Role of National Parliaments in the European Union came into force 1 May 1999.

Committee on European Union Affairs

Membership

Deputies

Joe Costello, TD (Chairman)
Paschal Donohoe, TD (Vice-Chairman)
Timmy Dooley, TD
Bernard J Durkan, TD
Colm Keaveney, TD
Seán Kyne, TD
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, TD
Joe O’Reilly, TD
Mick Wallace, TD

Senators

Colm Burke,
Fidelma Healy Eames,
James Heffernan,
Terry Leyden,
Kathryn Reilly