External
relations of the Assembly
xiii.Agreement
on strengthening co-operation between the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe and the Conference of European Regional
Legislative Assemblies (23 June 2008)
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe,
The Conference of European Regional
Legislative Assemblies (CALRE),
Referring to the Final Declaration
of the Conference of National Parliaments and Regional Assemblies
on “Representative democracy, European affairs and active citizenship”
(Strasbourg, 12 September 2007);
Considering that the Conference of
European Regional Legislative Assemblies and the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe are united in a joint effort to promote
democracy, human rights and the rule of law and to strengthen the
institutional role of regional parliaments in Europe;
1. have decided to:
— step up their
co-operation and develop their contacts on issues of shared interest;
— take account
of the activities of the other institution when carrying out their
own activities;
— identify measures
likely to increase complementarity between their activities;
2. with a view to
achieving these objectives:
— the Presidents
of the two institutions shall meet whenever necessary;
— the Parliamentary
Assembly committees and the CALRE working groups will be encouraged
to:
— co-operate more
closely so as to co-ordinate their activities and avoid duplication of
work;
— identify issues
which might serve as a basis for joint activities, for example,
by holding joint hearings;
— exchange information
concerning their work programme and other documents of shared interest
so that account can be taken of these in the documents and future
activities of the two institutions;
— the Conference
of European Regional Legislative Assemblies and the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe shall invite one another to send
representatives to conferences, seminars and other events of shared
interest;
— high-level meetings
between the secretariats shall be held at regular intervals.
