PARLEU2018BG.BG | MEETING OF THE CHAIRPERSONS OF THE CONFERENCE OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES FOR UNION AFFAIRS OF THE PARLIAMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (CHAIRPERSONS' COSAC)

MEETING OF THE CHAIRPERSONS OF THE CONFERENCE OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES FOR UNION AFFAIRS OF THE PARLIAMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (CHAIRPERSONS' COSAC)

from

21.01.2018

14:00

22.01.2018

14:30

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COSAC is a conference of the Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union, which deals with the current issues on the EU agenda. One of its main aims is to propose to the European Parliament, the Council, and the European Commission any contribution it deems appropriate, which derives from the COSAC meetings, as well as to encourage the exchange of information and best practices among national parliaments and the European Parliament. It may also organize interparliamentary conferences on specific topics of importance for the Member States.

COSAC plays an important role for the active participation of national parliaments in the debate on EU affairs.

Every COSAC meeting is organized by the Committee on European Union Affairs of the national parliament of the country holding the Presidency.

In the beginning of each Presidency, the first mandatory interparliamentary meeting from the Parliamentary Dimension Calendar is the Chairpersons’ COSAC. It is important because it presents and clarifies the priorities of the Presidency, approves the outline for the Bi-annual Report of COSAC, and discusses the draft agenda for the Plenary COSAC among other procedural issues.

As part of the Parliamentary Dimension of the Bulgarian Presidency, the Chairpersons’ COSAC will take place on 22 January 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria, preceded by a meeting of the Presidential Troika on 21 January 2018.

The COSAC Presidential Troika is composed of the delegations of the national Parliaments of the Presidency (Bulgaria), the preceding Presidency (Estonia), the following Presidency (Austria), and the European Parliament. The purpose of the Troika meeting is to discuss and agree on the agenda, the participants, the topics, and other important matters of the meeting.

Topics of the Chairpersons’ COSAC:

Session 1: Priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU

Session 2: The future of the European Union – Strength in Unity

Session 3: The role of EU macro-regional strategies for sustainable development,

stability and security

RЕGISTRATION

The Bulgarian Presidency has implemented an online registration system for all meetings.

You are kindly requested to register for the event through the designated Delegate Accreditation Officer (DAO) of your Chamber/Parliament. He/She will be responsible for your successful registration. Please, send the name, e-mail address and phone number of your DAO to: [email protected]

Your DAO will receive on their provided email address link to the registration system.

The DAO can view the accreditation status in the system. Once the process is complete, accredited participants will be issued with a badge that will grant them access to the venue hosting the relevant events. Participants will not be admitted to the venue without the badge. Accreditation is personal and non-transferable. The registration in the hotels will also happen through the accreditation system.

Should you require an additional information regarding accreditation, kindly contact us on: [email protected]

The deadline for registration is 11 January 2018.

Speakers

TSVETA KARAYANCHEVA

PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Tsveta Karayancheva started her political career as a municipal councilor in the town of Kardzhali. She was elected Member of the 41st, 42nd and 43rd National Assembly. She has been a Member of the standing parliamentary committees on regional policy, public works and local self-government, agriculture and forestry, and labor and social policy. She was elected Vice President of the Parliament within the current 44th National Assembly. On 17 November 2017 she was elected President of the Bulgarian Parliament. She is the Head of the National Assembly Delegation to the Interparliamentary Union as well as of the Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the South-East European Cooperation Process.

KRISTIAN VIGENIN

Chair of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds

Kristian Vigenin is Chair of the Committee on European affairs and Oversight of the European funds in the 44th National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. Prior to assuming this position in May 2017, he has been Member of the 40th (2005-2007) and 43rd (2014-2017) National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria; Minister of Foreign Affairs (May 2013 - August 2014); Member of the European Parliament (January 2007 - May 2013). Between 2010 and 2013 he was a co-President of the EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly. As a parliamentarian, he has been actively involved in the OSCE PA: he was appointed Special Representative of OSCE PA for South Caucasus in February 2016 and Vice-President of the SDSP Group in OSCE PA in July 2016 and, in addition, he has been elected as Member of the Bureau of OSCE PA, Rapporteur of 1st Committee.

LILYANA PAVLOVA

Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2018

Born on 6th of December 1977 in Sofia, Bulgaria, Mrs Lilyana Pavlova is a Bulgarian politician, currently Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2018. Lilyana Pavlova was a member of the Council of Ministers in the other two governments with the Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, namely Minister of the Regional Developments and Public Works (2014 - January 2017 and 2011 – 2013). She was a Deputy Minister in the same Ministry in the period 2009 - 2011.Mrs Pavlova has a long experience in the field of management of European funds and projects since 1997. In the period 2002 – 2009 she was held the position of Head of Department at National Fund Directorate, Ministry of Finance (Financial Management, Control and Certification of the Structural and Cohesion Funds of the European Union, pre-accession funds and programs).Lilyana Pavlova has a PhD in Economics. She graduated from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia in 2000, in International Economic Relations. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and European Integration from Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar". She is fluent in English and Russian.Married with a child.

DENITSA NIKOLOVA

Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works оf the Republic of Bulgaria

Denitsa Nikolova is Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works of the Republic of Bulgaria, in charge of the urban policy and territorial cohesion, regional development programs, European Territorial Cooperation programs, the Solidarity Fund and the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. Ms. Nikolova holds a Master's degree in Financе and has a number of specializations as well as practical knowledge and experience in the field of general management, financial control and implementation of EU funded programs and in the development and implementation of financial engineering instruments. Her extensive professional experience includes also strategic planning of regional development, project management, foreign investment consultancy and financial instruments implementation in Bulgaria.

AMBASSADOR RAUL MÄLK

Ambassador-at-Large for Baltic Sea Region

After graduation from the University of Tartu in 1975, Raul Mälk worked at the Estonian public radio, from 1985 as Editor- in-Chief. During the years of change he worked in the Office of the Chairman of the Supreme Council 1990-92. From 1992 Raul Mälk has worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was Deputy Under-Secretary for Political Affairs, Press and Information, acting Deputy Under-Secretary for EU Affairs (two periods), Director General of the Policy Planning department. From 2011 he is Ambassador-at-Large for Baltic Sea Region. Raul Mälk has been Estonian Ambassador to United Kingdom, Ireland and Portugal and Estonian Permanent Representative to European Union (2007-11). He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia 1998-99.

FRANS TIMMERMANS

First Vice-President of the European Commission, Commissioner for Better Regulation, Interinstitutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights

Frans Timmermans holds a degree in French language and literature from the Radboud University Nijmegen.Mr. Timmermans attended Postgraduate courses in European Law and French Literature at the University of Nancy. He has been twice elected Member of the Dutch parliament and is former Minister of European Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. He has the following responsibilities within the European Commission: 1.Coordinating the work on better regulation within the EC, ensuring that every proposal respects the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, which are at the heart of the Commission's work; 2. Coordinating the Commission's work on the rule of law and ensuring that every Commission proposal and initiative complies with the Charter of Fundamental Rights; 3.Guiding the work of the Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality and the Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs; 4.Horizontal responsibility for sustainable development; 5. Overseeing the European Commission's relations with the other European institutions and promoting a new partnership with national Parliaments; 6. Coordinating the work on transparency.

ISKRA MIHAYLOVA

Chair of the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) of the European Parliament

Iskra Mihaylova was born on September 7, 1957 in Sofia, Bulgaria. She has a rich career in the field of regional policy and cooperation with the EU. Her path in active politics began in 2001 when she was appointed adviser to the Minister for Regional Development. After the elections in 2005 in Bulgaria, Mihaylova continued her participation in regional policy as Deputy Minister until 2009. In the period 2009-2013 she was a Member of the 41st National Assembly and Chair of the Environment and Water Committee. She was also Member of the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds. From May 2013 to June 2014 Iskra Mihaylova was Minister of Environment and Water. She has participated in a number of international forums as a lecturer and as an official representative of Bulgaria - Minister, Deputy Minister, MEP, in EU Member States, USA, Israel, China, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Macedonia /FYROM/ and others. For many years she has worked for the implementation of the European Cohesion Policy in Bulgaria and has been actively involved in the management and implementation of the Operational Programs "Regional Development" and "Environment" and in the Monitoring Committees for the Cross-Border Cooperation Programs. Since 01.07.2015 she has been a Member of the European Parliament with the group of "Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe". Currently Iskra Mihaylova is Chair of the Committee on Regional Development in the European Parliament (REGI). She is also Deputy Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). Iskra Mihaylova is Member of the Conference of Committee Chairs of the EP; of the Delegation to the EU-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee; of the Delegation to the EU-Armenia and EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees and the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee, as well as of the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.

AUDRONE PERKAUSKIENE

Head of division Regional Cooperation and the OSCE, European External Action Service (EEAS)

Audrone Perkauskiene is an EU official who serves as the Head of Eastern Partnership - Regional Cooperation and OSCE Division in the European External Action Service (EEAS). She is in charge of (1) developing the Eastern Partnership as the policy framework for the EU's relations with its 6 Eastern European partners (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine) and managing the multilateral dimension of the Partnership; (2) the EU's contribution to regional cooperation in its Northern and Eastern neighbourhood: Arctic, Northern Dimension, Baltic, Barents and Black Seas and (3) coordinating the EU's relations with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Audrone Perkauskiene joined the European External Action Service (EEAS) since its establishment in December 2010. Prior to her current post, she was responsible for coordinating EU relations with the Central Asian states. From 2006 to 2010 she was employed by the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union (DG External Relations, Politico – Military Affairs). Before becoming an EU official, she held a number of high-level positions in Lithuanian civil and diplomatic service.

Parliamentary Dimension
Bulgarian Presidency
of the Council of the European Union