Work meeting Belgian Presidency and the President of the European Parliament
This Friday, 17 September, Secretary of State Olivier Chastel participated, together with Prime Minister Yves Leterme and the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, in an initial working meeting on strengthening the relationship between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament.
The priorities related to the European External Action Service, the citizens’ initiative, the 2011 budget and the directive on hedge funds are subjects important to the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU that were tackled with the President of the European Parliament.
Olivier Chastel was keen to stress the significance of this meeting because, since the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force, the Parliament has more extended powers. "The recent agreement on financial supervision as well as the directive on late payments are concrete examples of strong cooperation established between the Council and the Parliament," declared Olivier Chastel.
The Belgian Presidency’s ambition goes well beyond the score of legislative agreements to be reached by 31 December 2010. "We want to establish a new practice in combination with the Treaty of Lisbon; the idea is to follow the progress made on the legislative front," emphasised Secretary of State Olivier Chastel. With this in mind, regular contacts between the institutions must be put in place.
