Media Accreditation

Media Accreditation and Access to Palazzo Madama

Accreditation applications should be sent to the Senate Press Office (fax +39-06.6706.2947, e-mail accrediti.stampa@senato.it). Requestes should include full personal data, proof of ID and indication of media organisation represented.

Entrance will be at Piazza Sant'Eustachio, starting at 8:30 a.m.

Men are required to wear jacket and tie.

........................................

Press Release

Palazzo Madama. The 12th Meeting of the European Senates will open tomorrow

Tonight's official dinner has been cancelled following the tragedy that struck Poland

The 12th meeting of the Association of European Senates will open tomorrow morning at 9.30 in the Sala Maccari at Palazzo Madama, hosted by Senate of the Republic on the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the Association.

The President of the Senate, Renato Schifani, and the Presidents of the Upper Chambers of Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the Council of State of Luxembourg, with observer status, will gather in Rome following the last meeting which was held in October at Gdansk in Poland.

At the 12th meeting, the 15 Presidents of the AES will debate the role played by the Upper Chambers in bicameral systems at the domestic, European and international levels. The work will be divided into two sections, the first of which will start at 9.30 a.m.

Opening the meeting, the President of the Senate, Renato Schifani, addressing the floor in the presence of the President of the Polish Senate, Bogdan Borusewicz, a member of AES, will recall the terrible tragedy that has struck Poland and will call for a one minute's silence in memory of the victims. The official dinner that was supposed to take place tonight at the Baths of Diocletian was cancelled as a sign of mourning.

The first session will be devoted to the theme 'The evolution of parliamentary diplomacy in the 21st century. The role of Senates', attended also by the Vice President of the European Commission, Antonio Tajani.

The second session is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. to debate the theme, 'The role of Senates between local governments and the European Union', making particular reference to the Lisbon Treaty. The President of the French Senate, Gerard Larcher, will deliver the keynote paper introducing the session. The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, will open the afternoon session. The President of the Italian Senate, Renato Schifani, will wind up the work of the 12th AES Meeting.

Senator Vannino Chiti, the Vice President of the Senate, will also be in attendance.

The former President of the French Senate, Christian Poncelet, the promoter of the Association of European Senates, which was instituted in Paris on 8 November 2000, will be present at the 12th meeting of AES and will deliver a message at the beginning of the Meeting commemorating the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the Association, whose membership comprises the Presidents of the 15 Upper Houses of the EU member states, and some non-EU countries including Russia, Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to develop relations between its members, promote bicameralism within the sphere of parliamentary democracy, and to strengthen a European identity and awareness.

After the second session, the President of the Italian Senate, Renato Schifani, the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, and the President of the Spanish Senate, Francisco Javier Rojo García, will hold a concluding press conference on the 12th Meeting of European Senates in the Sala Caduti di Nassirya, at around 5 p.m.

The deliberations of the 12th Meeting of European Senates will be broadcast on the Senate satellite channel (Sky platform channel 525 or Eutelsat Hot Bird satellite 2-13°East, Vertical Polarisation, Trasponder 52, Frequency 11.766 MHz, FEC 2/3, Symbol Rate 27.500, Video PID 8190, Audio PID 92) and by webcast accessible on the Senate website at www.senato.it

There will also be a special franked stamp issue commemorating the occasion offered by Poste Italiane.

Lastly, on www.senato.it it will be possible to access a special section dedicated to the 12th Meeting of European Senates.