12th Conference of the Association of European Senates

Final Statement

On Friday 16 April 2010, the Heads of Delegations of the Upper Chambers, members of the Association of European Senates, attended the 12th Conference of the Association of European Senates, to debate the themes: "The Evolution of Parliamentary Diplomacy in the 21st Century. The Role of the Senates" and "The Role of Senates between Local Government and the European Union".

The Heads of Delegation

- express their deep sympathy to the Polish people for the tragedy in Smolensk and their profound gratitude to the President of the Polish Senate, Bogdan Borusewicz, for taking part in today's meeting.

- note with satisfaction that the Rome meeting coincides with the 10th anniversary of the institution of the Association of European Senates, which was founded in 2000 at the initiative of the President of the French Senate at the time, Christian Poncelet;

- welcome the presence at today's meeting of the Vice President of the European Commission, Antonio Tajani, as an important indication of interest in the role performed by the Association, and as an acknowledgement of the enhanced role of national Parliaments within the new European institutional framework, and express a warm welcome to the representative of the Association of Senates, Shoora and Equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World, Livinius Osuji, also underlining the importance of a growing relation between our two organisations;

- emphasise the increasing importance of the Association of European Senates as a multilateral forum and a focal point for inter-Parliamentary cooperation between Europe's Upper Chambers, and as a vehicle for promoting and enhancing bicameralism;

- note that Europe, which is calling upon to address daunting challenges, now enjoys greater cohesion;

The Heads of Delegation

- acknowledge the importance of multilateral dialogue and relations with the mass media and with civil society in the framework of parliamentary diplomacy;

- firmly believe that the international activities of Parliaments, and particularly of Upper Chambers, are a crucial means of fostering democracy and the rule of law, as well as stability and development also outside Europe's borders;

- acknowledge that the exchange of information and best practices between Europe's Upper Chambers is essential for improving and developing the international action of Parliaments;

The Heads of Delegation

- Consider the Lisbon Treaty to be an essential factor for innovating and strengthening the European institutions, also in view of establishing productive and sustainable relations between the Member States of the European Union and the other European countries;

- Consider that in view of the new powers that the Lisbon Treaty attributes to national Parliaments, they can play an important part in dealing with European issues, since they are now fully integrated into the EU institutional framework;

- Express therefore the hope that the Chambers of the national Parliaments of the European Union Member States shall examine proposed legislation to ascertain compliance with the principle of subsidiarity and in the framework of the "political dialogue" established with the European institutions on the basis of the Barroso procedure as already initiated;

- Observe that some Senate Presidents have underlined that the denunciation of the WEU Treaty will imply the dissolution of the WEU Parliamentary Assembly, which is the only institutionalised forum where members of national Parliaments have regular and structured meetings to debate European defence issues, and believe that it would be appropriate to immediately start discussing the ways which will allow national Parliaments to continue to jointly address European defence issues, to exchange information on debates at a national level, and to interact with relevant policy-makers.

- Stress the influence that close interparliamentary cooperation between the European Parliament, the national Parliaments and the regional Legislative Assemblies can bring to bear on the development of the democratic life of the European Union, contributing to the "parliamentarisation" of European decision-making processes;

- Emphasise that the differentiation of Parliamentary Assemblies, within the framework of equal bicameralism, could be further enhanced by their relations with the European Union. Consequently, the Upper Chambers, which are generally more closely associated with local communities, can contribute to further strengthen the link between the European dimension and regional and local dimensions, with a view to fully implementing the principle of subsidiarity;

- Deem it important, lastly, in compliance with the general principle that parliamentary activity must be transparent, and considering the integration of national Parliaments into the EU decision-making circuit, for parliamentarians attending European meetings to adopt the practice of reporting back to their own parliamentary committees to brief them on the outcomes of these meetings.

The Heads of Delegation

- Welcome the offer by the Spanish Senate to host the 13th meeting of the Association of European Senates, which will therefore be held in Madrid in 2011; and

- Recall, moreover, that in 2015, for the bicentenary of its institution, the Senate of the Netherlands has offered to host the Association's annual meeting.