On Monday, 2 February, the Saeima will host the Meeting of the Chairpersons of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC). This Meeting is one of six events organised by the Saeima in the framework of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The Meeting, which will take place in the Plenary Chamber of the Latvian parliament, will be opened by Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima, and Lolita Čigāne, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima.

“The Meeting of the Chairpersons of Committees for Union Affairs is an important tool which allows national parliaments to participate in shaping EU policy,” says Lolita Čigāne about the upcoming meeting, emphasising that it also allows parliamentarians to explain to their voters the decisions taken at EU level and their effect on member states and society.

The first session of the Meeting will be devoted to a discussion about the priorities of the Latvian Presidency and prospects for the EU after the election of the new European Commission. The keynote speakers at this session will be Frans Timmermans, first Vice-President of the European Commission for Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and Charter of Fundamental Rights, and Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The second session will be devoted to the Eastern Partnership and challenges ahead. The keynote speakers at this session will be Urban Ahlin, Speaker of the Swedish Parliament; Edgars Rinkēvičs, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia; and Ostap Semerak, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on European Integration of the Ukrainian Parliament.

Between the two sessions at 11:30 a.m., the participants of the Meeting will gather in the Plenary Chamber for the traditional family photo.

A live public broadcast of the proceedings of the meeting will be available on the website of the parliamentary dimension of the Latvian Presidency www.parleu2015.lv. The programme of the event is available at http://parleu2015.lv/files/cosac/en-draft-programme_cosac-chairpersons-2.pdf.

The Meeting will begin on 2 February at 9 a.m. in the Plenary Chamber of the Saeima at Jēkaba iela 11.

COSAC is organised once every six months by the country that holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC is attended by the chairpersons of committees for European affairs of the parliaments of all EU member states, as well as by members of the European Parliament. Other officials and experts are also invited to attend. It has become tradition to use the Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC not only to discuss the priorities of the presidency and other issues but also to draft the agenda of the Plenary Meeting of COSAC. This year the Plenary Meeting will take place on 31 May – 2 June in Riga.

Att. Media representatives:

Information on accreditation for events organised by the Saeima in the framework of the Latvian Presidency is available at: http://parleu2015.lv/en/media-1.