Committee on Constitutional Affairs Ordinary meeting
15 July 2026
Contents updated on 15 Jul 2026
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AFCO European Parliament
Follow its sittings08:53 - 14:13
Speaker 1
Good morning, dear colleagues. Could I ask you to take your seats so that we can start with our AFCO committee meeting? Please be informed again that our meeting will be webstreamed here.
And with this, I open the last AFCO meeting before the summer break. The draft agenda was circulated to you on the 3rd of July 2026. And as communicated also by email of 13th of July, item 2 of the agenda regarding the election of the fourth vice-chair has been moved to the afternoon because of organizational reasons. We will deal with it right after item 6, chair's announcement concerning coordinators' recommendation. So, if there are no objections, I declare the agenda adopted with this amendment.
And let us move to item 3 of the agenda. Interpretation for this meeting is available in the following languages: German, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, and Slovenian for the afternoon only, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish, especially for the exchange, we are very honored, with the Council Presidency.
And in addition to the vote on the fourth Vice-Chair, I would like to remind you that our afternoon session will be devoted to the consideration of the draft report and a hearing on the institutional framework of the European Union and its interaction with national authorities in the application of Union law with particular reference to Article 19 TEU. I would also like to remind you that one of the also important items of today is the AFCO barbecue in the evening at 6:30 PM on the rooftop of the representation of the State of Hesse to the EU in Rue Montoyer 21. So, we now move onto the adoption of the minutes of the committee meeting of 24th of June 2026, if there are no objections, the minutes are declared approved.
And now I have the pleasure of welcoming Thomas Byrne, the Irish Minister for European Affairs and Defence, which these days is a very good combination, who is here to present us the priorities of the Irish Presidency of the Council in institutional affairs. Ireland is quite experienced. It assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the eighth time. The last time it led the work of the Council was in 2013, and I have to say that was still another European Union when we look back. There are several dossiers in the field of AFCO's competence where we look forward of seeing action and with the Council and by the Council.
The first, it will be no surprise for you with the also the priorities that you have as a Presidency, first is the future of the EU and EU reforms. The Parliament and the AFCO Committee in particular has pointed the need for internal EU reforms and also as a necessary step to enhance our Union's capacity to act in view also of the geopolitical challenges that it faces, but also in view of EU enlargement. Already in the last legislature, the Parliament initiated the treaty change procedure in line with Article 48 and submitted proposals for amendments of the treaties.
We would like to hear from the presidency about the Council's roadmap on EU reforms and in particular whether and when Parliament's proposal for treaty revision will be considered by the European Council and followed up. And secondly, I would like to mention the EP right of inquiry. You know this is also very important for our committee as the electoral act here. We have, and I assure you, we have every confidence in you because we know how willing you are to take these matters forward. And finally, AFCO is also interested to hear about the state of play on the negotiations of the EU's accession to the European Convention of Human Rights.
So, without further ado, I will give the floor to the Minister Byrne. You have the floor for 15 minutes.
14:13 - 15:39
Speaker 2
Thank you, Madam Chair, and honorable members, as there is interpretation in Irish, I will make some opening remarks in the Irish language. A dhuine uasail, a bhaill den choiste seo, is pléisiúr mór domsa bheith os bhur gcomhair anseo ag an gcoiste de ghnóthaí bunreachtúla ar son uachtaránacht na hÉireann ar Chomhairle an Aontais Eorpaigh.
Fáiltím roimh an deis ár tosaíochtaí a chur os bhur gcomhair don sé mhí atá romhainn agus chun éisteacht libh go díreach ó bhaill Pharlaimint na hEorpa ar na hábhair cainte is mó atá le rá agaibh sa choiste seo. Tá áit thábhachtach ag an gcoiste seo sa Pharlaimint, i bParlaimint na hEorpa, agus le cadramh na parlaiminte leis an gcomhairle. Is anseo a bhfuil a lán de na díospóireachtaí maidir le creat institiúideach an Aontais seo. The work of the committee is wider than the business of this house alone and incorporates how our union functions, how we as institutions interact, how democratic accountability is assured, and how our union remains effective, responsive, and evolving in a changing world. Ireland assumes the presidency at a particularly consequential moment for the European Union.
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