The Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of the Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC) will take place from 23 to 25 June 2019 in Bucharest. The Swiss Federal Assembly’s EFTA/EU delegation will attend at the invitation of the Romanian EU Council presidency. Switzerland will be represented at this interparliamentary conference by the president of the delegation, National Council member Hans-Peter Portmann (FDP, ZH), National Council member Kathy Riklin (CVP, ZH) and Council of States member Didier Berberat (SP, NE).

​The 61st meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of the Parliaments of the European Union will focus on the priority issues of Romania’s EU Council presidency. These include the EU’s international trade relations, shaping the future relationship with the United Kingdom and developing a European education area to strengthen the single market.

The meeting will also give delegates the opportunity to foster contacts with other parliaments. The Swiss members of parliament will hold various bilateral meetings with delegations from Switzerland’s neighbours and from the European Parliament on Switzerland-EU bilateral relations and the next steps to be taken regarding the institutional agreement.

The Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of the Parliaments of the European Union was set up in 1989 and since its incorporation in the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997 it has served as a platform for fostering interparliamentary dialogue. Switzerland has attended the biannual meetings of the Committees for Union Affairs since 2015.