Since February 2017, I have been the Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC). It is a long and complicated title, but it means that I coordinate all the Committees in the European Parliament and its Chairs. I am honored by the assignment, which by many is considered the most powerful appointment to date for a Swedish MEP.
The work involves many tasks that go beyond the ordinary work of the European Parliament. From solving conflicts of jurisdiction between committees to coordinating the committees’ work related to Brexit. The Legislative work in all committees will be affected by Britain leaving the EU – from fisheries issues to basic civil liberties.
My main priority as the Chair is to streamline, improve and strengthen the legislative work between the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission. During our meetings, we regularly meet the European Commissioners and Ministers from the Precedency of the Council to discuss priorities for the EU and important legislative proposals. It is EU policy at the highest level!
As Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs, I have been pushing the committees to focus all their energy on the legislative work during this final phase of the mandate. The EU’s new long-term budget, the MFF, and the programs encompassed by it must be the European Parliament’s number one priority! Following my recommendation, the European Parliament’s highest decision-making body, the Conference of Presidents, took the decision to minimise Members travel possibilities and external meetings – to enable resources to be concentrated on legislative work in the committees.
For the benefit of the citizens, the European Parliament’s committees must cooperate much better. Hence, effective legislative work, so that more results can be achieved for citizens, is another of my priorities as the Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs. I am therefore proud of having managed to halve the time for conflicts of competences since I became the Chair.
In order to streamline the committee work, I have developed a handbook in competency conflict management. In the past, tedious long-term conflicts of competences between committees on different legislations have been slowing down the legislative work in the European Parliament. Through the handbook, we now have the tools to quickly resolve conflicts of competences between the various committees, which means that the legislative work can get started earlier, and thus sooner benefit the citizens, which is the aim of European legislation.
