Olivier Chastel: Europe and its institutions are certainly in action
On 19 October, State Secretary Olivier Chastel presented a status report on the work of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU before the Conference of Committee Chairs of the European Parliament. This body is the political organ that allows better cooperation between the various parliamentary committees. It is composed of the chairs of all of the permanent or special Parliamentary Committees. It is an important body that has the power to make recommendations to the Conference of Presidents on the subject of the work of the committees and establishing the agenda for the session periods.
"During my last visit, I presented the major outlines of the programme of the Belgian Presidency; the hearing today has allowed me to accent or accelerate the discussions on the issues that are currently still under way", declared the State Secretary.
With regard to the increased supervision and financial regulation, Olivier Chastel reiterated the Belgian Presidency’s commitment to this issue. Negotiations are being conducted within the Council for the directive on investment fund managers. "We hope that this directive will be adopted by the European Parliament at the November session", said the State Secretary.
Citing the EU Strategy 2020, "It is indispensable for the Member States to appropriate the strategy and for us to avoid lapsing into the poor habits of the Lisbon Strategy 2010", asserted Olivier Chastel. The presentation by each Member State of the national programme will offer the best means of ensuring this appropriation.
On the subject of the negotiations on the European patent, the aim of the Presidency is to reach an agreement by the end of December. "A large-scale diplomatic campaign has been mounted in the European capitals, whilst ongoing collaboration with the European Commission, representatives of companies, are currently still under way in order to arrive at an agreement on the linguistic system", explained Olivier Chastel to the chairs of the parliamentary committees.
Enlargement is also one of the priorities of the Belgian presidency. On the topic of Turkey, the objective remains opening a new chapter on competition and progress in the implementation of the Ankara protocol. It will also be a question of drawing up an initial assessment on the adhesion negotiations with Iceland, and finishing the majority of the chapters with Croatia (with the exception of the area of competition and reorganisation of the judicial system).
"Between now and the end of the semester, the Belgian Presidency will be facing numerous challenges, but for each of them, the Presidency will continue to favour collective action together with the Member States within the Council, but also with the institutions, in order to further the cause of building Europe", concluded Olivier Chastel in his speech to the Conference of Committee Chairs of the European Parliament.
