View source for Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs

{{Politics of the European Union mini}}
The '''Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union''' ('''COSAC''') is a conference of [[Member of the European Parliament|Members of the European Parliament]] (MEPs) and national [[Members of Parliament]] (MPs) who are drawn from [[parliament]]ary [[committee]]s responsible for [[European Union]] affairs.<ref name="Glossary">{{ cite web | publisher=[[Europa (web portal)|European Union website]] | title=Europa glossary: National parliaments | year=2008 | url=http://europa.eu/scadplus/glossary/national_parliaments_en.htm | accessdate=2008-05-27 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408202445/http://europa.eu/scadplus/glossary/national_parliaments_en.htm | archivedate=2008-04-08 }}</ref>

==History and role==
[[File:COSAC Meeting Warsaw 2011.jpg|thumb|220px|left|COSAC meeting in [[Warsaw]] in 2011]]
{{further|National parliaments of the European Union}}
COSAC was founded in 1989 on a proposal of [[Laurent Fabius]], then President of the French National Assembly and at the same time an MEP on the [[European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs]] (AFCO). COSAC meets twice a year in the member state that holds the rotating [[Presidency of the Council of the European Union]].<ref name="Glossary"/>

The conference is mainly intended for personal contacts between Members of National Parliaments and [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]]s, 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 [[Interparliamentary EU Information Exchange|IPEX]] scrutiny website. The 17 Biannual COSAC report from April 2012 focused on recent developments in parliamentary scrutiny and the parliaments' use of IPEX.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cosac.eu/en/meetings/denmark2012/plenary/ |title=22-24 April 2012 Plenary Meeting |accessdate=8 June 2012 }}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

COSAC may also adopt contributions addressed to the [[List of European Union institutions|EU institutions]]. COSAC has gained the right to submit contributions and examine proposals on EU law relating to [[European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom & Security|Justice and Home Affairs]]<ref name="Glossary"/> and saw its role further expand under the [[Treaty of Lisbon]] with provisions for increased [[National parliaments of the European Union|involvement of national parliaments in EU affairs]].<ref name="TOL demo">{{ cite web | publisher=[[Europa (web portal)|European Union website]] | title=Treaty of Lisbon: A more democratic and transparent Europe | year=2008 | url=http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/glance/democracy/index_en.htm | accessdate=2008-05-27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229025748/http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/glance/democracy/index_en.htm | archive-date=2007-12-29 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Various committees from non-EU countries have also been invited to participate in the meetings as observers. For example, on 26 November 2023, the [[Standing Committee on European Integration (Armenia)|Standing Committee on European Integration]] representing [[Armenia]] participated in the COSAC meeting held in [[Madrid]], Spain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://armlur.am/1320151/|title=Arman Yeghoyan, the chairman of the Standing Committee on European Integration of the National Assembly, will be sent to Madrid|website=armlur.am}}</ref>

==Name==
COSAC is a [[French language|French]] [[acronym]] for the conference's former name "'''C'''onférence des '''o'''rganes '''s'''pécialisés dans les '''a'''ffaires '''c'''ommunautaires 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<ref name="Glossary"/> and under the [[Treaty of Lisbon]] COSAC's name is listed as the ''conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs''.<ref name="Lisbon protocol">{{cite web |publisher=[[EUR-Lex|Eur-Lex website]] |title=Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union: PROTOCOL (No 1) ON THE ROLE OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION |year=2008 |url=http://data.europa.eu/eli/treaty/teu_2016/pro_1/oj |accessdate=2022-01-04}}</ref>

==List of European affairs committees==
{{Expand section|date=February 2009}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!width=150px|State
!Committee
|-
|{{flag|Belgium}}
|[[Advisory Committee on European Affairs]] and [[Federal Advisory Committee on European Affairs]] (includes MEPs)
|-
|{{HRV}}
|European Affairs Committee<ref>{{Cite web |title=Odbor za europske poslove |url=http://www.sabor.hr/en/committees/european-affairs-committee-10-term |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=Croatian Parliament |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|{{Flag|Finland}}
|[[Grand committee]]
|-
|{{flag|France}}
|The Committee in Charge of European Affairs (lower house)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/europe/commission_english_2008.pdf|title=PLAQUETTE CAE 2008 novembre version anglaise .indd}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Germany}}
|Committee on the Affairs of the European Union (lower house)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/bundestag/committees/a21/index.html |title=German Bundestag: Committee on the Affairs of the European Union |accessdate=2011-09-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903064159/http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/bundestag/committees/a21/index.html |archivedate=2011-09-03 }}</ref> and the Committee on European Union Questions (upper house)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bundesrat.de/nn_11398/EN/organisation-en/ausschuesse-en/eu-en/eu-en-node.html?__nnn=true|title=Bundesrat - Committee on European Union Affairs|website=www.bundesrat.de}}</ref> (also, the Chamber for European Affairs in the upper house)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bundesrat.de/nn_11006/EN/organisation-en/europakammer-en/europakammer-en-inhalt.html?__nnn=true |title=Bundesrat Chamber for European Affairs |accessdate=2011-09-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324002512/http://www.bundesrat.de/nn_11006/EN/organisation-en/europakammer-en/europakammer-en-inhalt.html?__nnn=true |archivedate=2012-03-24 }}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Ireland}}
| Joint Committee on European Union Affairs <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/oireachtasbusiness/committees_list/eu-affairs/|title=European Union Affairs, Houses of the Oireachtas|first=Houses of the|last=Oireachtas|website=www.oireachtas.ie}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Italy}}
| Committee on European Union Policies (lower house)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.camera.it/99?shadow_organo_parlamentare=1507 |title=Camera.it - Deputati e Organi Parlamentari - Commissioni |access-date=2011-09-19 |archive-date=2011-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929191227/http://www.camera.it/99?shadow_organo_parlamentare=1507 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Committee on European Union Policies (upper house)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.senato.it/english/business/28031/28046/genpagina.htm |title=Senato.it - Senate Bodies - Committees |accessdate=2011-09-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015142611/http://www.senato.it/english/business/28031/28046/genpagina.htm |archivedate=2011-10-15 }}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Poland}}
|European Union Affairs Committee (lower house)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sejm.gov.pl/komisje/www_sue_e.htm|title=European Union Affairs Committee (SUE)|website=www.sejm.gov.pl}}</ref> European Union Affairs Committee (upper house)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senat.gov.pl/k7eng/kom/ksue.htm|title=Senat RP - Prace Komisji|website=www.senat.gov.pl|access-date=2011-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820180537/http://www.senat.gov.pl/k7eng/kom/ksue.htm|archive-date=2011-08-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Portugal}}
|European Affairs Committee<ref>{{Cite web |title=Standing committees |url=https://www.parlamento.pt/sites/EN/Committees/Paginas/Committees-Standing-Legislature.aspx |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.parlamento.pt}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Romania}}
|The Committee on European Affairs (lower house)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cdep.ro/pls/parlam/structura.co?leg=2008&idl=2&idc=33|title=Committees of the Chamber of Deputies|website=www.cdep.ro}}</ref> and European Affairs Committee (upper house)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senat.ro/Start.aspx|title=Pagina Oficială a Senatului României|first=Senatul|last=României|website=www.senat.ro}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Slovakia}}
|European Affairs Committee <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nrsr.sk/web/Default.aspx?sid=vybory/vybor&ID=148|title=European Affairs Committee of National Council|website=www.nrsr.sk}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Slovenia}}
|Committee on European Union Affairs<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.dz-rs.si/wps/portal/en/Home/ODrzavnemZboru/KdoJeKdo/DelovnoTelo?idDT=DT032 |title = Home}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Spain}}
|Joint Commission for the European Union<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.congreso.es/web/guest/comisiones?p_p_id=organos&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&codComision=318&selectedLegislatura=IX|title=Comisiones - Congreso de los Diputados|website=www.congreso.es}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Sweden}}
|The Committee on EU Affairs<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.riksdagen.se/templates/R_Page____7125.aspx |title=The Committee on EU Affairs - Riksdagen |accessdate=2011-09-19 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123093312/http://www.riksdagen.se/templates/R_Page____7125.aspx |archivedate=2011-01-23 }}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|United Kingdom}} (former member state)
|[[European Scrutiny Committee]] (lower house) and [[European Union Committee]] (upper house, includes sub-committees)
|}

==See also==
* [[European Assizes]]
* [[National parliaments of the European Union]]
* [[Joint parliamentary meeting on the Future of Europe]]
* [[List of acronyms: European sovereign-debt crisis]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.cosac.eu/ Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union]
*[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/webnp/ Cooperation between the European Parliament and National Parliaments]

{{Europarl|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Politics of the European Union]]
[[Category:European Parliament]]


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