PV CP 09.03.2000 PE-5/CP/PV/2000-06 CONFERENCE … · PE-5/CP/PV/2000-06 CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS MINUTES ... Letter dated 25 February 2000 from Mr MIRANDA seeking authorisation to

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 2

PE-5/CP/PV/2000-06

CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS

MINUTES

of the meeting of Thursday 9 March 2000

from 3.00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.

Paul-Henri SPAAK building, Room 6 B 01

BRUSSELS

C O N T E N T S

Page

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

2. Approval of minutes of meeting of 20 January 2000 ............................................ 9

3. Adoption of the final draft agendas for the March II (13-17) and March III (29-30)

part-sessions .......................................................................................................... 10

4. Composition of the group of high-ranking personalities on the Statute for

Members ................................................................................................................ 12

5. Commission proposals on access to EU documents ............................................. 13

6. Official opening of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia

in Vienna on 7 April 2000 ..................................................................................... 15

7. Visits by heads of state to the European Parliament ............................................. 16

8. Inquiry on return of, and illicit trade in, cultural property of the House of

Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee .................................................. 17

9. Statement by the President .................................................................................... 18

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 3

10. Letter from Mr JUNG of the Court of First Instance on case T-17/00 (Rothley and

others v. the European Parliament on changes to the Rules of Procedure following

the interinstitutional agreement of 25 May 1999 concerning internal investigations

by OLAF ................................................................................................................ 19

11. Relations between the Parliament and the Committee of Regions – proposed

meeting on 30 March 2000 between the Conference of Presidents and chairs of the

political groups of the Committee of Regions ...................................................... 20

12. Exchange of views on the draft framework agreement between Parliament and the

Commission .......................................................................................................... 21

13. Letter dated 31 January 2000 from Mrs PALACIO VALLELERSUNDI

concerning a dispute as to powers and responsibilities between the Committee on

the Environment and the Committee on Agriculture with respect to a proposal on

animal nutrition ..................................................................................................... 22

14. Letter from Mr BARÓN CRESPO of 12 January 2000 on the implementation of a

Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue ....................................................................... 24

15. Request by Mr PROVAN relating to the way in which the Commission made its

statement at the sitting of 19 January 2000 – note from Mr VANHAEREN dated

11 February 2000................................................................................................... 26

16. Request from Mr BROK seeking an increase in the amount of the prize money

awarded by Parliament to the winner of the Sakharov Prize ................................ 27

17. Letter dated 9 February 2000 from Mr BROK asking for a delegation from

Parliament to be sent to the United Nations session on human rights to be held in

Geneva ................................................................................................................... 28

18. Letter dated 7 February 2000 from Baroness NICHOLSON of Winterbourne

asking for a delegation from Parliament to be sent to Uganda and Sudan because

of the situation in those countries .......................................................................... 29

19. Letter dated 7 February 2000 from Mr GEMELLI seeking a derogation from the

relevant rules so that a delegation from the Committee on Petitions may be sent to

Berlin on 4 and 5 April 2000, dates set aside for political group meetings .......... 30

20. Letter dated 25 February 2000 from Mr MIRANDA seeking authorisation to

undertake two missions, one to Niger and Burkina Faso, the other to Chad and

Cameroon, from 24 to 28 March 2000 after the meeting of the ACP-EU Joint

Assembly, to be held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 20 to 23 March 2000 .................... 31

21. Request dated 24 February 2000 from the ELDR Group for authorisation for its

Bureau to meet in Lisbon on Wednesday 22 March 2000, a date set aside for

committee meetings .............................................................................................. 32

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 4

22. Urgent matters and other business

22.1. Letter of 7 March 2000 to the President from Mrs KREHL, Chair of the

Delegation for relations with the Russian federation, on the proposal to send

and ad hoc delegation to observe the presidential elections ........................ 33

23. Items for information ............................................................................................ 34

24. Date and place of next meeting ............................................................................. 37

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 5

CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS

MINUTES

of the meeting of

Thursday 9 March 2000

BRUSSELS

Mrs Nicole FONTAINE, President of the European Parliament, opened the meeting at 3.00 p.m.

Present:

Mrs Nicole FONTAINE, President

Political Group Chairmen:

Mr POETTERING (PPE-DE)

Mr SWOBODA (acting) (PSE)

Mr COX (ELDR)

Mr LANNOYE (Verts/ALE)

Mrs FRAHM (acting) (GUE/NGL)

Mr BONDE (EDD)

Non-attached Members (1)

Mrs GARAUD

Apologies for absence

Mr PASQUA

Mr DELL'ALBA

Also present:

M. PRIESTLEY, Secretary-General

_________________________ (1) Present pursuant to Rule 23(2) of Parliament's Rules of Procedure.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 6

Invited for Items 3 and 13

Mrs PALACIO VALLELERSUNDI, Chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen

The Council

represented by Mr BOIXAREU

Mr WALL

The Commission

represented by Mr EECKHOUT

Mr BRAWN

Mr BROGGIO

*

* *

Office of the President

Mr RØMER

Mr RIBERA

Mr EHLERS

Mrs DUCLOUX

Mr KAVALIERAKIS

Mr BASSOT

Mrs ALBANI-LIBERALI

Office of the Secretary-General

Mr STRATIGAKIS

Mr AGUIRIANO

Secretariat

DG I Mr VANHAEREN/Mrs RINGELSTEIN/Mr PORTA/

Mrs STENSBALLE

DG II Mr PERILLO/Mr ALVAREZ/Mr DUNNE

DG III Mr HARLEY

Legal Service Mr GARZÓN CLARIANA, Legal Adviser

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 7

Political groups

Messrs WELLE/LICANDRO/PEDERSEN (PPE/DE)

Mr LAFOREST/Mrs RYAN (PSE)

Messrs JENSEN/BEELS (ELDR)

Mr BEHREND/Mrs TSETSI/Mr FERGUSSON (V/ALE)

Mrs D’ALIMONTE (GUE/NGL)

Messrs PAGEL/GAY (UEN)

Mr DESTOUCHES/Mrs LECLERCQ (TDI)

Mr REYNOLDS (EDD)

Secretariat of the Non-attached Members

Mr VECCHIO VERDERAME (NI)

Messrs KYST, LANE, SÁNCHEZ RODRÍGUEZ, DREXLER and Mrs VANDENBOSCH.acted

as secretary to the meeting.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 8

1. Adoption of draft agenda

The Conference of Presidents

- noted the draft agenda (PE 288.777/BUR.);

- adopted the agenda as shown in these minutes.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 9

2. Approval of minutes of meeting of 20 January 2000


- noted the minutes of the meeting of 20 January 2000 in Strasbourg

(PE 282.985/BUR) ;

- approved the minutes of the meeting of 20 January 2000.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 10

3. Adoption of the final draft agendas for the March II (13-17) and March III (29-30) part-

sessions


- examined the final draft agenda on the basis of a note drawn up by DG I following a

meeting with Secretary-Generals of political groups and made the following changes:

MARCH II (13-17)

Monday

- decided to extend to 10 pm, Monday, 13 March 2000 the deadline for tabling

amendments and joint resolutions on the Council and Commission declarations on the

Lisbon extraordinary European Council, the vote to be taken on Wednesday, 15

March 2000

Tuesday

- decided to extend to 10 am, Tuesday, 14 March 2000 the deadline for tabling

amendments and joint resolutions on the Commission's annual legislative programme,

the vote to be taken on Thursday, 16 March 2000

- decided that the time allotted for the statement by the Commission on the decisions

taken at that day's meeting of the College would be from 5.00 pm to 5.45 pm and that

consequently Question Time to the Commission would run from 5.45 pm to 7.15 pm

Wednesday

- decided that the declaration by the Council and the Commission on the situation in

Turkey would be deferred to the April part-session (10-14 April)

- decided that Question Time to the Council would be taken, as normal, from 5.30 pm

to 7.00 pm

Thursday

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 11

- decided to advance the FERRER Report on EU interim agreement with Mexico and

the READ Report on the information society for all to Thursday and that that the

deadline for amendments fir these reports be fixed for 5 pm on Tuesday, 14 March

2000

- agreed that the GARCIA MARGALLO Report on financial services be deferred to the

March III part-session and that the KUCKELKORN Report on supplementary

pensions be taken in the April part session

Friday

- decided to defer the oral question from the ELDR Group to the Commission on

information policy to Friday, 14 April 2000

- decided to add the oral question from the V/ALE Group to the Commission on

additionality

MARCH III (29-30)

Wednesday

- decided to add, as a separate item, the oral question, from Mr LANNOYE and others,

to the Commission on noise pollution and night flights

Thursday

- decided to add a declaration by the Commission on the decision of the European

Patents Office on human cloning.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 12

4. Composition of the group of high-ranking personalities on the Statute for Members


- heard the President who informed the Conference of Presidents of the

recommendation of the Bureau, made at its meeting of 1 March 2000, that there

should be at least one woman member of the group of high-ranking personalities on

the Statute for Members;

- heard Mr SWOBODA, Mr POETTERING, Mr COX, Mrs GARAUD and

Mr LANNOYE who all supported the recommendation made by the Bureau;

- decided unanimously to include, depending on their acceptance, Mrs REHN and Mrs

VEIL as members of the group of high-ranking personalities on the Statute for

Members.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 13

5. Commission proposals on access to EU documents


- noted the following documents :

. a letter of Mr PRODI to the President of 3 March 2000 referring to an article

published in the Wall Street Journal by Mr SÖDERMAN, the European

Ombudsman, on Commission proposals on access to EU documents

(PE 288.811/BUR. + annexes);

. a letter of Mr BONDE, Chair of the EDD Group, of 11 February 2000, requesting

that Mr PRODI et MR SÖDERMAN be invited to a meeting of the Conference of

Presidents (PE 288.775/BUR.);

- heard Mr BONDE who referred to his letter of 11 February 2000 and proposed that

Mr SÖDERMAN and Mr PRODI be invited to attend a future meeting of the

Conference of Presidents. Mr BONDE said he was unhappy with the tenor of the new

Commission proposal on access to EU documents;

- heard Mrs FRAHM who supported the actions of the Ombudsman and saw no reason

why he should not seek publicity for his work;

- heard Mr SWOBODA who said he was reluctant that the Parliament should get

involved in a public disagreement between the Ombudsman and the President of the

European Commission;

- heard Mr POETTERING who said he was inclined to support the Ombudsman in this

matter but agreed that it would be useful for the Conference of Presidents to have an

exchange of views with him at a meeting in the near future;

- heard Mr COX and Mr LANNOYE who also supported the proposal that a meeting be

held, first of all, with Mr SÖDERMAN;

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 14

- heard Mrs PALACIO VALLELERSUNDI who reminded the Conference of

Presidents of the provisions of Rule 179 which set out the obligations on the

Ombudsman to keep the relevant parliamentary committee informed of cases of

maladministration;

- decided to invite Mr SÖDERMAN to attend one of its forthcoming meetings in order

to have a general exchange of views on access to EU documents and then, at a

subsequent meeting, Mr PRODI.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 15

6. Official opening of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna

on 7 April 2000

The European Parliament

- noted that Mr IMBENI, Vice-President, would be attending the official opening;

- heard Mr POETTERING who said that if the President of the Commission attended

the opening ceremony, then the President of Parliament should also be present;

- heard Mr COX who urged that Mrs FONTAINE attend the opening ceremony;

- suggested to the President to consider attending the official opening of the Centre on 7

April 2000 in order to underline Parliament's commitment to fighting racism and

xenophobia.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 16

7. Visits by heads of state to the European Parliament


- heard the President who reminded the Conference of Presidents of the forthcoming

visit by Presidents BOUTE FLIKA, KLESTIL and CIAMPI and the King of Morocco,

Mohamed VI. She also referred to possible future visits of the Presidents of Slovenia

and Slovakia and the proposal that these visits could be part of a cycle of visits from

the heads of state of the applicant countries;

- heard Mr POETTERING, Mr SWOBODA and Mrs GARAUD who agreed that the

emphasis of future visits should be on the applicant countries with these visits to take

place on average every two months, although such a schedule to be applied flexibly;

- agreed, in principle, to receive the heads of state of the applicant countries to the

European Union already in accession negotiations on official visits to the European

Parliament, these visits to proceed during 2000 with that of Mr Milan KUČAN,

President of the Republic of Slovenia, and Mr Rudolf SCHUSTER, President of the

Republic of Slovakia

- decided that visits by heads of state to the European Parliament could take place on a

frequency of one visit every two months, this schedule, however, to be applied with

the necessary flexiblity.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 17

8. Inquiry on return of, and illicit trade in, cultural property of the House of Commons Culture,

Media and Sport Committee


- noted a letter of 3 March 2000 from Mr Colin LEE, Clerk of the Culture, Media and

Sport Committee of the House of Commons, on the above subject

(PE 288.820/BUR.);

- decided that Mrs PALACIO, Mr De CLERQ and Mr RUFFOLO would be designated

to give oral evidence to the above inquiry.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 18

9. Statement by the President


- heard the President who informed the Conference on the details and outcome of her

official visit to the Middle East.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 19

10. Letter from Mr JUNG of the Court of First Instance on case T-17/00 (Rothley and others v.

the European Parliament on changes to the Rules of Procedure following the

interinstitutional agreement of 25 May 1999 concerning internal investigations by OLAF


- heard Mr POETTERING who referred to the letter of 7 March 2000 from the Court of

First Instance in which the Court set a deadline of 22 March 2000 for the resolution of

the case by amicable agreement;

- heard Mrs FRAHM, Mr COX and Mrs GARAUD;

- decided to examine this question at its meeting of 16 March 2000.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 20

11. Relations between the Parliament and the Committee of Regions – proposed meeting on 30

March 2000 between the Conference of Presidents and chairs of the political groups of the

Committee of Regions



. a letter of 27 October 1999 to Mr DAMMEYER, President of the Committee of

the Regions, proposing that a plenary session of the Committee be held in parallel

with that of the Parliament on 20-21 September 2000 in Brussels as well as the

organisation of a meeting between the Conference of Presidents and the chairs of

the political groups of the Committee of Regions (PE 282.857/BUR.);

. a letter of 22 December 1999 from the President to Mr DAMMEYER proposing

that the meeting between the Conference of Presidents and the chairs of the

political groups of the Committee of Regions be held on 30 March 2000

(PE 288.789/BUR.);

- decided to confirm its meeting on 30 March 2000 with the president, first vice-

president and the chairs of political groups of the Committee of the Regions.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 21

12. Exchange of views on the draft framework agreement between Parliament and the

Commission


- heard the President who outlined the areas where there continued to be disagreement

between the Parliament and the Commission. As regards Annex III relating to access

to Commission confidential documents, she informed the Conference of Presidents

that Mr NAPOLITANO, Chair of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, and

Mrs THEATO, Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee, were seeking information

from all the political groups as regards their position on Annex III in advance of

further negotiations with the Commission on this matter;

- heard Mr POETTERING who informed the President that the chairs of political

groups had scheduled a meeting to discuss the framework agreement on Monday, 13

March 2000 in Strasbourg. It was the intention of the political groups, he said, to link

negotiations on Annex III with negotiations on the main body of the agreement. He

proposed that the Conference of Presidents review progress on the draft framework

agreement at its meeting of 16 March 2000;

- heard Mr SWOBODA who agreed with the proposal made by Mr POETTERING but

also suggested that a letter from Mr PRODI of 3 March 2000 on the operation of the

discharge procedure be also discussed under this item;

- agreed to discuss progress with respect to the draft framework agreement at its

meeting of 16 March 2000, that discussion to include the letter from Mr PRODI of 3

March 2000 on the operation of the discharge procedure.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 22

13. Letter dated 31 January 2000 from Mrs PALACIO VALLELERSUNDI concerning a

dispute as to powers and responsibilities between the Committee on the Environment and

the Committee on Agriculture with respect to a proposal on animal nutrition


- noted the above letter from Mrs PALACIO VALLELERSUNDI, chairman of the

Conference of Committee Chairmen, attaching is a letter from Mrs JACKSON,

chairman of the Committee on the Environment, and a letter from Mr GRAEFE ZU

BARINGDORF, chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, concerning the conflict

of competences with regard to the proposal by the Commission on undesirable

substances in animal nutrition (COM(99)0654 - PE 283.010/BUR/Ann. 1 and 2);

- heard Mrs PALACIO VALLELERSUNDI who did not disguise the fact that this

conflict of competences between the Environment and Agricultural Committees was

an extremely difficult one. Her proposal, nevertheless, was that the Environment

Committee be appointed the lead committee on this proposal and the Agricultural

Committee consulted for opinion, that consultation to take place under the HUGHES

procedure;

- heard Mr LANNOYE who referred to Mrs PALACIO VALLELERSUNDI's proposal

and said that this was very problematic for the Agricultural Committee. The fears

expressed in the Agricultural Committee were that its competences, as set out in

Annex VI of the Rules of Procedure, were being questioned and might lead to a

marginalisation of that committee particularly with respect to proposals put forward

under co-decision;

- heard Mr POETTERING, Mr SWOBODA and Mrs FRAHM who all agreed that a

solution should be found to associate both committees as equitably as possible in the

parliamentary treatment of this proposal;

- instructed the Secretary-General to examine the possible modalities by which the

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 23

Committees on the Environment and on Agriculture could fully cooperate in the

examination of this legislative proposal, with the view to taking a definitive decision

on this conflict of competence at its meeting of 16 March 2000.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 24

14. Letter from Mr BARÓN CRESPO of 12 January 2000 on the implementation of a

Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue



. a letter from Mr BARÓN CRESPO, chairman of the PSE Group, to the President

of 12 January 2000, proposing that a ‘steering group’ be set up within Parliament

responsible for the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue (PE 282.983/BUR.);

. a letter from Mrs READ, chairman of the Delegation for Relations with the United

States, to the President of 6 December 1999, on this subject (PE 282.913/BUR.);

. a note from the Secretary-General to the President on the above subject of 28

January 2000 (PE 280.381/BUR.);

. a letter from Mr DESAMA, Chair of the Conference of Delegation Chairs, to the

President of 25 February 2000 endorsing the establishment of the TLD Steering

Group and supporting the installation video-conferencing facilities

(PE 288.793/BUR.);

- heard Mrs PALACIO who said that the Conference of Committee Chairs would be

examining the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue at its next meeting;

- heard Mrs GARAUD who pointed to a possible lack of balance in any transatlantic

dialogue due to the fact that Congress was the sole legislator in the Unites States,

while Parliament was only a co-legislator;

- heard Mr LANNOYE who asked why such a dialogue was limited to the United

States and not extended to Japan, and why other legislative committees were not

represented in the proposed steering group;

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 25

- heard Mr SWOBODA who supported the principle of legislative dialogue with the

Congress but agreed that an examination could be undertaken as to whether similar

arrangements should not be set up with Japan. He said dialogue was essential to

prevent the United States from legislating their own standards for the rest of the

world;

- heard Mr COX who agreed that contacts with the Congress in the area of legislation

should be formalized. He suggested that the detailed arrangements for such contacts

be examined by the Conference of Committee Chairs with a view to putting a

proposal for decision to the Conference of Presidents;

- decided to request an opinion from the Conference of Committee Chairs on the

steering group's composition and its precise terms of reference.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 26

15. Request submitted by Mr PROVAN relating to the way in which the Commission made its

statement at the sitting of 19 January 2000 – note from Mr VANHAEREN dated

11 February 2000



. an extract from the record of proceedings of 19 January 2000 (PE 282.988/BUR);

. a note from Mr VANHAEREN, Director General a.i. of DG I (PE 288.762/BUR);

- decided to approve the proposals put forward by Mr VANHAEREN while taking

account of the need to apply flexibly the provisions limiting the Commission's initial

statement to 10 minutes.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 27

16. Request from Mr BROK seeking an increase in the amount of the prize money awarded by

Parliament to the winner of the Sakharov Prize


- noted a letter of 26 October 1999 to the President from Mr BROK, Chair of

Committee on Foreign Affairs, proposing to increase the monetary value of the

Sakharov prize, as well as a letter by the President of 9 September 1999 on the same

subject (PE 288.779/BUR. + Ann.);

- decided to make a recommendation to the Bureau to increase the monetary value

of the Sakharov prize to €50,000.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 28

17. Letter dated 9 February 2000 from Mr BROK asking for a delegation from Parliament to be

sent to the United Nations session on human rights to be held in Geneva


- noted the above letter to the President from Mr BROK, Chair of the Foreign Affairs

Committee (PE 288.760/BUR.);

- authorised the Foreign Affairs Committee to send a delegation of three members,

chosen by reference to the rolling d'Hondt system, to attend, over a period of three

days, the forthcoming session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in

Geneva.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 29

18. Letter dated 7 February 2000 from Baroness NICHOLSON of Winterbourne asking for a

delegation from Parliament to be sent to Uganda and Sudan because of the situation in those

countries


- noted the above letter to the President from Baroness NICHOLSON of Winterbourne,

acting Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee (PE 288.761/BUR.);

- decided to refer this matter to the Bureau of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly .

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 30

19. Letter dated 7 February from Mr GEMELLI 2000 seeking a derogation from the relevant

rules so that a delegation from the Committee on Petitions may be sent to Berlin on 4 and 5

April 2000, dates set aside for political group meetings


- noted the above letter to the President from Mr GEMELLI, Chair of the Committee on

Petitions (PE 288.767/BUR.);

- decided to authorise the Committee on Petitions to send a delegation to Berlin on 4

and 5 April 2000, dates set aside for political group meetings, subject to approval by

the Bureau of the programme of committee delegations for the year 2000.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 31

20. Letter dated 25 February 2000 from Mr MIRANDA seeking authorisation to undertake two

missions, one to Niger and Burkina Faso, the other to Chad and Cameroon, from 24 to 28

March 2000 after the meeting of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly, to be held in Abuja, Nigeria,

from 20 to 23 March 2000


- noted the above letter to the President from Mr MIRANDA, Chair of the Committee

on Development and Cooperation (PE 288.780/BUR.);

- agreed to authorise the two missions requested by the Committee on Development.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 32

21. Request dated 24 February 2000 from the ELDR Group for authorisation for its Bureau to

meet in Lisbon on Wednesday 22 March 2000, a date set aside for committee meetings


- noted a note from the Secretary-General enclosing the above request sent to the

President as well as a financial statement relating to the proposed meeting

(PE 288.786/BUR.);

- decided to authorise the Bureau of the ELDR Group to meet in Lisbon on Wednesday

22 March 2000,

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 33

22. Urgent matters and other business

22.1. Letter of 7 March 2000 to the President from Mrs KREHL, Chair of the Delegation for

relations with the Russian federation, on the proposal to send an ad hoc delegation to

observe the presidential elections


- noted the above letter to the President from Mrs KREHL, Chair of the Delegation for

relations with the Russian federation (PE 288.819/BUR.);

- confirmed its decision on this matter taken at its meeting of 17 February 2000.

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 34

23. Items for information


- noted the following items :

A letter of 3 March 2000 from Mr PRODI, President of the Commission, to the

President on the remarks of the Commission concerning the discharge procedure in

respect of the 1998 financial year (PE 288.812/BUR.);

A letter of 18 February 2000 from the President to Mr VESTERDORF, President of

the Court of First instance of the European Communities, on the case T-17/00 R,

Rothley and others v. European Parliament and annexed thereto a letter from Mr

NAPOLITANO, Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs

(PE 288.800/BUR.);

A letter of 16 February 2000 from Mr IMBENI, Vice-President, to the President

forwarding the summary report and his speech to the CNUCED in Bangkok on 11-12

February 2000 (PE 288.773/BUR. + ann.).

A letter of 17 February 2000 from Mrs PALACIO VALLELERSUNDI, Chair of the

Conference of Committee Chairs, on the own initiative reports adopted by the

Conference of Committee Chairs on 15 February 2000 (PE 288.769/BUR.).

A letter of 14 February 2000 from Mr PRODI, President of the Commission, on

efforts undertaken by the European Union as a follow-up to the storms which affected

Germany, Austria and France last December (PE 288.785/BUR.+ ann.).

A letter of 14 February 2000 from Mr WEINBERGER, Austrian plenipotentiary

Minister, forwarding the preamble to the programme of the new Austrian government

(PE 288.776/BUR. + ann.).

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 35

A letter of 10 February 2000 from Mr PASQUA, Chair of the UEN group, to the

President concerning the appointment of Mr COLLINS as the group's representative

to the ad hoc delegation to Venezuela (PE 288.774/BUR.).

A letter of 16 February 2000 from Mr BARÓN CRESPO, Chair of the PSE group, to

the President concerning a change in the membership of delegations

(PE 288.770/BUR.).

A letter of 16 February 2000 from Mr LICANDRO, Deputy Secretary-General of the

EPP group, to the President concerning changes in the membership of committees and

delegations (PE 288.766/BUR.);

A letter of 17 February 2000 from Mr José-Luis VALVERDE, Professor of Pharmacy

and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Granada (Spain), to the President,

accepting the nomination as the European Parliament's representative on the

governing body of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products

(PE 288.801/BUR.);

A letter of 14 February 2000 from Prof. REYNIER to the President, accepting the

nomination as the European Parliament's representative on the governing body of the

European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (PE 288.805/BUR.);

A letter of 17 February 2000 from Prof. D. HENSCHLER to the President, accepting

the nomination on the governing body of the European Agency for the Evaluation of

Medicinal Products (PE 288.806/BUR.);

A letter of 11 February 2000 from Mrs Carla ROSSI, Professor of Mathematical

Studies at the Università degli studi di Roma 'Tor Vergata' (Italy), to the President

accepting the nomination as a substitute member of the governing body of the

European Monitoring Centre for Drug Addiction (PE 288.802/BUR.);

A letter of 16 February 2000 from Mrs Heinke SALISCH, Mayoress of Karlsruhe, to

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 36

the President accepting the appointment to the Management Board of the European

Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug addiction (PE 288.804/BUR.);

A letter of 11 February 2000 from Dr. Pierre PRADIER to the President accepting the

appointment to the Management Board of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs

and Drug addiction (PE 288.815/BUR.);

A letter of 17 February 2000 from Prof. M. SCOULLOS to the President accepting

the appointment to the Management Board of the European Environment Agency

(PE 288.803/BUR.);

A letter of 14 February 2000 from Mr Ken COLLINS to the President accepting the

appointment as a substitute member to the Management Board of the European

Environment Agency (PE 288.807/BUR.).

PV CP 09.03.2000

PE 288.822/BUR 37

24. Date and place of next meeting


- decided to hold its next meeting from 3 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. on Thursday 16 March

2000 in Strasbourg.

*

* *

The meeting closed at 5.25 p.m. on Thursday 9 March 2000

* *

*

Documents

PV CP 09.03.2000 PE-5/CP/PV/2000-06 CONFERENCE … · PE-5/CP/PV/2000-06 CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENTS MINUTES ... Letter dated 25 February 2000 from Mr MIRANDA seeking authorisation to