EU Parliament Speakers to meet in Lithuanian parliament

Vilnius, April 7 (AZERTAC). On Monday, for the first time in the history of the country, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania will begin the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments. It is the final and one of the largest parliamentary dimension events of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which is conducted by the national Parliament of the Member State holding the Presidency in the second semester of the year and organized by this Member State following the completion of its Presidency in the first semester of the next year.

Fifty foreign delegations are expected to arrive to the conference of the highest political level. A total of 300 members of parliamentary delegations and guests from EU national Parliaments, the European Parliament, candidate and Eastern Partnership countries are expected to take part in the international event.

On Monday, the Conference will begin with welcome addresses by Loreta Grauziniene, Speaker of the Seimas, and Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission (video message from Brussels).

In Session I, the Speakers of European Union Parliaments will discuss the role of parliaments in tackling the consequences of the economic and financial crisis. Speeches will be delivered by Algirdas Butkevicius, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, Mogens Lykketoft, Speaker of the Folketing of the Kingdom of Denmark, the speech of Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament will be given by Miguel Angel Martinez, Vice-President of the European Parliament.

The title of Session II is Five years after coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon: lessons of subsidiarity checks in parliaments. This subject will be addressed by Milan Stech, Chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic; Pietro Grasso, President of the Senate of the Italian Republic; Anouchka van Miltenburg, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; and Timothy Boswell, Chairman of the European Union Select Committee of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.

Loreta Grauziniene, Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and Solvita Aboltina, Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, will cover interparliamentary cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries in Session III. This part of the Conference will also feature speeches by Igor Corman, President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova; Oqtay Asadov, Chairman of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan; David Usupashvili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia; and Stanislav Shushkevich, former Speaker of the Supreme Council of Belarus.

Interparliamentary cooperation in the area of freedom, security and justice will be discussed in Session IV on April 8. Speeches will be made by Evangelos-Vasileios Meimarakis, Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament; Ewa Kopacz, Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland; Laura Boldrini, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic; and Per Westerberg, Speaker of the Riksdag of the Kingdom of Sweden.

The Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments is expected to conclude with the adoption of the Presidency Conclusions. At the initiative of Barbara Prammer, President of the National Council of the Republic of Austria, commemoration of the International Roma Day and adoption of a declaration will also feature on the agenda of the Conference.

Nigar Huseynova

Vilnius