Stability Pact: Cetinje Parliamentary Forum

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The Cetinje Parliamentary Forum is an initiative undertaken by the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro and the Parliament of Montenegro since 2004 to encourage and promote Parliamentary dialogue and cooperation between the Countries of the region. Initially funded by the Parliament of Montenegro, OSCE and the Government of the United Kingdom, through time it has developed as an important pillar of sustainable regional Parliamentary cooperation, especially at the Committees level. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, FYR of Macedonia, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia are participating countries, while Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Slovenia and United Kingdom attend as observers.

The Cetinje Parliamentary Forum offers the possibility to share experiences and best practices and to rationalize Parliamentary work, especially in relation to the implementation of EU standards into national legislation and in other issues of common regional interest.

The aims of the initiative are:

To promote regional cooperation in the fields of regional states' interest in keeping up with the principles applicable in the process of EU building as a path towards the realization of a policy of peace, cooperation and development in the region;
To provide a forum for the exchange of experiences and best practices in fields of common interest such as defence and security, environment, judicial reform processes
To strengthen the fight against organized crime, terrorism, trafficking, and drugs smuggling in order to promote regional security
To foster the economic development of the region
To promote economic cooperation through joint projects in infrastructure and environmental protection
To advance cooperation in social, cultural and educational fields and in all the other domains that are important to the citizens of the region
To cooperate and support a joint approach in dealing with all other topics that are of interest for the region
To examine questions and interpellations posed by Parliaments from third countries and international institutions and organizations

Work method

The Thessaloniki Summit (2003) Conclusions[1]indicated regional cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans as the best way towards Euro-Atlantic integration and opened for the countries of the region the opportunity to implement in a number of fields the European perspective.

To this end, and in order to promote a closer and more focussed dialogue, the Cetinje Parliamentary Forum organizes meetings, which gather together representatives of Parliaments at different levels:

i.Presidents of Parliaments and/or Vice-Presidents
ii.Presidents/chairmen of Parliamentary Committees
iii.Members of Parliaments
iv.Secretaries of Parliaments
v.Secretaries of Parliamentary Committees and expert associates

Meetings are multilateral and lead to the adoption of conventions, declarations, conclusions, recommendations for resolutions, statements about joint activities, and statements on policies towards other institutions. In parallel, bilateral meetings between participating delegations are held in order to discuss more sensitive pending issues. In fact it has been seen that bilateral agreements may generate experiences, which will be beneficial also for a more multilateral cooperation. Moreover, Parliamentary bilateral cooperation encourages also the governments to conclude further bilateral agreements and identify common interests to be represented in front of other international actors. The increase of networking and democracy-building activities initiated by Parliamentarians opens up new ways of confronting common problems. Indeed Parliamentary democracy gives Parliamentarians the freedom to make tougher demands in their international contacts than governments’ representative are often able to do.

The Cetinje Parliamentary Forum promotes an inclusive approach, fostering dialogue and cooperation with government representatives and civil society as well as with international institutions and organizations.

The Forum hosts also the meeting of the Parliamentary dimension of the Adriatic-Ionian initiative.

Past activities

So far the Forum have organized six meetings, two for the Presidents of the Parliaments and four for the Presidents of the Parliaments and specific Committees.

The first and founding meeting took place on 8 and 9 February 2004 and gathered together Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the Parliaments of participant countries.

On this occasion regional cooperation was recognised as the foundation of the overall cooperation between the countries of the region and as a precondition for a full integration of the region in the EU. Affirming tolerance and understanding of differences as values that make it possible to regard the special features of any ethnicity, religious or any other affiliation as the region's wealth, participants in the Forum also voiced their intention to have the region become the point for meeting of civilizations and co-existence based on cooperation and solidarity. Determination was also expressed to build the reconciliation process on the basis of affirmation of democratic institutions as the guarantors of democratic values, which had secured prosperity and stability to EU countries.

The future structure of the meetings, namely the strong focus on the Committee level was defined and agreed upon. This framework in fact favoured a more direct contact and a more targeted exchange of experiences and best practices, benefiting a coordinated effort in advancing foreseen activities and joint projects with the aim of facilitating a common solution to existing problems.

When Presidents and Vice-Presidents met again on 29-31 May 2005, they reiterated the importance of the establishment of a regular inter-Parliamentary communication, through bilateral and multilateral exchanges. The proposed Rules of Procedure and a Plan of Information System, currently under discussion, will pave the way for a much more institutionalised form of coordination of regional Parliamentary cooperation activities.

The second meeting took place on 13 and 14 September 2004 and gathered together the Presidents and members of the Committee for Foreign Affairs. On this occasion, in their joint statement, participants pledged for the establishment of greater Parliamentary cooperation and Parliamentary diplomacy in the region as a contribution to democratisation in the region. In fact through Parliamentary diplomacy, better bilateral relations could be established. Moreover, through regular contacts and exchange of experiences, Committees for Foreign Affairs (and for European Affairs) could work more steadily towards the achievement of common goals, first of all integration in the EU.

Committees for Defence and Security met on 28-30 November 2004 to discuss about security-related questions in the region and Parliamentary control of armed forces and security forces. Participants concluded that in a democracy, representatives of the people hold the supreme power and no sector of the state should be excluded from their control. A state without Parliamentary control of its security sector, especially the military, should, at best, be deemed an unfinished democracy or a democracy in the making. Moreover, they agreed that regional cooperation is essential to find common solutions to cross-border problems such as the fight against organized crime, the fight against terrorism, illegal migration and other threats to regional security.

At the fourth meeting of the Cetinje Parliamentary Forum, held on 27 February- 1 March 2005, regional economic issues were discussed. Participants highlighted that in order to achieve macroeconomic stability and economic development, joint standards and policies need to be identified. To this end, intense bilateral cooperation fosters the exchange of experiences and best practices between MPs and Parliamentary staff dealing with economic issues and brings to the advancement of economic relations. The signature of 31 bilateral free trade agreements between the countries of the region was already regarded as a first step in this direction.

Committees for Education and Culture and Committees dealing with environmental issues met on 17-19 April 2005 to discuss policies and experiences in education, training, culture and youth policies. Participants concluded that fostering and building human capital in the region is a fundamental challenge to stop the brain drain and foster development.

Future activities

The Forum has been forced to slow down its activities due to an evolving political situation that led to the referendum that ratified the independence of Montenegro. Following the new status, the Assembly of Serbia and Montenegro, one of the two organizers, ceased to exist.

The activities are starting again in 2007. Three meetings are foreseen:

a)The 7^th Cetinje Parliamentary Forum (scheduled in Summer 2007) will gather the Presidents of the Parliaments and members of relevant Committees and experts dealing with regional cooperation at times of natural disaster. Moreover the fourth meeting of the Western Balkans COSAP will be held in parallel.

b)The 8^th Cetinje Parliamentary Forum (also scheduled in Summer 2007) will focus on the ratification process of the Central European Free Trade Agreement

c)Presidents of the Parliaments and members of the Committees for Agriculture will gather to discuss issues related to the challenges posed by agricultural issues and European integration at the 9^th Cetinje Parliamentary Forum to be held in Autumn 2007.

Related documents:

The joint statements of the Cetinje Parliamentary Forum meetings are available on the website of the Assembly of Montenegro at the following address:

http://www.skupstina.cg.yu/

[1]Council of the European Union (2003), “Thessaloniki European Council 19 and 20 June 2003- Presidency Conclusions”, Brussels, 1 October 2003.