Paris, 6 March 2022

67th Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs (COSAC)

The 67^th Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs (COSAC) took place in Paris, in the framework of the parliamentary dimension of the French Presidency of the EU Council, on 4 and 5 March. The Hellenic Parliament was represented by Dimitris Kairidis, Deputy Chairman of the European Affairs Committee and Giorgos Koumoutsakos, Ioannis Bournous and Nadia Giannakopoulou.

As expected, the conference focused mainly on developments in Ukraine. In his speech, during the special session on Ukraine, Mr Kairidis expressed on behalf of the Greek people the indignation at the barbarity of war, while welcoming the heroism and fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people, stating that “we all stand united, against Russian revisionism and revanchism, and any attempt to turn back the clock of history to the period of empires”. He went on to note that at a time that even Switzerland is abandoning neutrality, Turkey refuses to impose sanctions on Russia and agree to its expulsion from the Council of Europe. Furthermore, Turkey is the only NATO country that hesitated to use the word “war” and that reluctantly promised to close the Straits, after securing the passage of the Russian fleet following consultations with Moscow, while it also allows the movement of products subject to embargo. In this context, he called on Turkey to decide whether it is, at the end of the day, a country with a European orientation, which respects the principles and values of Europe and participates in the struggle to restore them, of whether it is a “black market trader”-type country taking advantage of a difficult situation. He concluded by reminding that Greece has supported Turkey’s European perspective more than any other country, noting, however, that in the current situation there is no room for hypocrisy or “bazaar style bargaining and dealing” and asking the neighbouring country to clarify whether it will impose sanctions on Moscow, thus aligning with the struggle to defend the European values and culture and whether it will stop being opportunistic and exploiting the tragedy financially.

In his second speech, in the context of the debate on climate change and energy transition, Mr Kairidis stressed that the work climate “collapse” better reflects the threat to life on our planet and called on the EU to move forward with a common energy market, saying he is in favour of the carbon border adjustment mechanism, and to effectively address the reluctance of third parties to contribute to the green transition. As for Greece, he expressed pride for the fact that it managed to reduce energy production from coal and lignite and to utilize alternative forms of energy.

Lastly, in his speech on the section on the European recovery and resilience plan, the head of the Greek delegation, commenting on Germany’s decision to rearm, pointed out that it is moving in the direction of the geostrategic awakening of Europe, adding that it should however be done in a European framework, so as not to fuel phobias and rivalries from the distant past.

In the context of the discussion on evaluating the course of the French Presidency and the keynote speech by French PM Jean Castex, Mr Koumoutsakos stressed that in these hours of the brutal attack against Ukraine and against global peace, the peoples of Europe are sending a strong message of solidarity to the heroically fighting people of Ukraine and a message of determination to Russia that Europe stands with all its might against raw acts of violence. He noted that the brutal invasion into Ukraine showed everyone that Europe should never again be described as an “economic giant but political dwarf”. Europe must be – and it has proven it these days – a solid international player that intervenes in developments, defends its interests and honours its principles and values.

In his second speech, in the framework of the debate on the Conference on the Future of Europe and the keynote speech by MEP Guy Verhofstadt, Co-Chair of the Executive Board of the Conference on the Future of Europe, Mr Koumoutsakos said, inter alia, that European citizens have become more demanding and are calling on the Union to move more decisively in four key areas: 1) in the field of Defence and Security, where strategic autonomy is now imperative, in the context where strong mutual assistance is needed when a member states receives a threat of war (casus belli) or is attacked by a third country, 2) in the economy, where there should be no return to the rationale of an iron fiscal discipline, 3) in energy, where the Union must gain energy autonomy and, lastly, 4) in the refugee issue, where it has been confirmed that the principle of solidarity is of the essence and that the New Pact on Migration and Asylum in Europe must be built on the equal distribution of the refugee burden between member states of the Union.

Mr Bournous, taking the floor in the same session, expressed the view that the success of the Conference depends on whether the recommendation of the European Citizens’ Panels for a more democratic and united Europe will be taken into account. Referring to the views of Eurosceptic national governments and political forces opposed to changes to the European Treaties, he warned against their effort to ignore the voice of the people in the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe. At this crucial point, he stressed, not only are there high expectations by European citizens that should not be ignored, but it would be “suicidal” for Europe not to stand more democratically and united in the face of the threats of the current situation in order to defend peace, stability and democracy across the continent and worldwide.

Mrs Giannakopoulou, during the discussion on the European recovery and resilience plan, began her speech by condemning Russia’s barbaric invasion into Ukraine, expressing her support for the Ukrainian people and emphasising that we stand against authoritarianism and despotism. She further stressed that the recovery and resilience mechanism mitigated the socio-economic impact of the pandemic and would help the EU achieve its goal of climate neutrality by 2050 and digital transition, creating investments and jobs. The question for the EU, Mrs Giannakopoulou concluded, is, however, to strike the right balance between debt reduction and the development process.

The Conference concluded with the adoption of the Declaration on the Ukraine crisis by all EU parliaments, which was co-signed by the Representatives of the Parliaments of Albania, Andorra, Switzerland, Georgia, Iceland and Norway.

 

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