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Mr. Alan Barrau, EP Delegation for Relations with National Parliaments
and Mr. Goran Svilanović, SP WT I Chair at the intepraliamentary colloquium
on education held in Brussels on 18-19 December 2006

The European Parliament Directorate for Relations with National Parliament has been organising interparliamentary colloquia for MPs and parliamentary staff of neighbouring countries since 2000 on a variety of issues agreed upon with the Parliaments concerned[1]. The colloquia aim at strengthening relations with candidate countries or potential candidate countries and currently targets Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia

Since one year the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe has been involved in the organization of these meetings, providing expertise and support. The most recent format foresees the organization of four events per year, two for the candidate countries and two for the potential candidates. Thus, on 24-25 April 2006 an interparliamentary colloquium on rule of law and an independent judiciary as a precondition to EU accession took place in Brussels. On that occasion participants emphasized the important role played by the civil society in promoting EU standards and the rule of law. In fact they agreed that strong ownership rights, fight against corruption and an independent judiciary are vital to economic growth and stability and to guarantee the respect of fundamental freedoms and rights. They concluded that given the amount of laws that will need to be harmonized with the acquis, the expertise and monitoring offered by the civil society is fundamental. The next interparliamentary colloquium, which took place in Brussels on 26-27 June 2006, was devoted to regional reconciliation and cooperation in the Western Balkans. On this occasion, activities of European institutions with national parliaments, the enlargement strategy towards Western Balkan countries and reconciliation were discussed. It has been argued that although the Western Balkans are not facing again the risk of an open conflict, still the risks represented by political instability, economic stagnation and punctual violence have to be tackled. In particular, in this context participants acknowledged the important role played by the civil society. It was auspicated that EU funding mechanisms would become more accessible for them, in order to promote efficient synergies with the governments and Parliaments from the region.[2] 

In this regard, MPs have also highlighted the fundamental role played by education in fostering reconciliation. The creation of joint history books by local experts, as e.g. fostered by the Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in South Eastern Europe[3], can play a fundamental role in promoting peace and understanding, as underlined also at the interparliamentary colloquium on education held in Brussels on 18-19 December 2006.

The next interparliamentary colloquium will take place in Brussels on 16-17 April 2007 and will focus on energy.

Related documents:

Interparliamentary colloquium with MEPs and MPs from candidate countries on “ the rule of law and an independent judiciary as a condition of EU accession: a European perspective” held in Brussels on 24-25 April 2006

Draft agenda

Speech by Commissioner France Frattini on “The rule of law and the independent judiciary as a condition for EU accession”

Speech by Commissioner Franco Frattini at the Bulgarian Parliament held on 24 January 2005

Speech by Commissioner Olli Rehn on “Bulgaria and Romania: preliminary assessment” delivered to the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee on 3 April 2006

Speech by Commissioner Olli Rehn on “Commission’s enlargement strategy” held at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 15 March 2006

European Parliament Committee for Foreign Affairs Report on the Commission’s 2005 enlargement strategy paper (2005/2206(INI)) by Elmar Brok, 3/2/2006

Press release of the event

Interparliamentary colloquium on “Regional reconciliation and co-operation in the Western Balkans: the European Union’s contribution” held in Brussels on 26-27 June 2006

Draft agenda

Report of the colloquium

Interparliamentary colloquium on “Education and Youth: a European Perspective” held in Brussels on 18-19 December 2006

Report of the colloquium

[1] A list of previous meetings and issues as well as reports of some of the colloquia can be found at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/webnp/cms/lang/en/pid/254

[2]In order to diffuse information about available funds and assess with the SEE Parliaments how do SEE countries manage and monitor them, an interparliamentary colloquium on structural funds took place in October 2006. On this concerns, MPs, especially the Bulgarian delegation, expressed their concern about the lack of technical capacity to properly manage and exploit available funds. 

[3] More on the South East European Joint History project, promoted by the Centre for Democracy and Reconciliation in South Eastern Europe can be found at www.see-jhp.org/hw_general_info.html