Re-engaging in parliamentary dialogue with the United States
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting
on behalf of the Assembly, on 12 November 2010 (see Doc. 12420, report
of the Political Affairs Committee, rapporteur: Mr Lindblad).
- Thesaurus
1. The Parliamentary Assembly reaffirms
the importance of the partnership between Europe and the United States,
based on shared values, interests and responsibilities. In the aftermath
of the Second World War, this partnership played a key role in post-war
reconstruction and made it possible for European nations to develop into
stable and prosperous democracies. In this new millennium, it continues
to be of utmost importance for international stability and security
and democratic development in Europe and worldwide.
2. Referring to its
Resolution
1421 (2005) on relations between Europe and the United
States, the Assembly notes with satisfaction that the negative trend
in transatlantic relations now seems to be reversed. It welcomes
the renewed commitment to multilateralism and respect of international
law declared by the United States Administration under President
Barack Obama, which has created new possibilities for co-operation between
Europe and the United States to tackle the many challenges of the
modern world.
3. Parliamentarians from both sides of the Atlantic should actively
contribute to shaping and strengthening this co-operation. Parliamentary
dialogue is a necessary element of a genuine partnership and an
important channel of political communication which provides opportunities
to openly discuss concerns, interests and differences, and to jointly
anticipate and address new challenges.
4. In this connection, the Assembly regrets that its readiness
to engage in a series of comprehensive dialogues with the United
States Congress, as expressed in
Resolution 1421 (2005), has come
to nothing, and that there has been virtually no contact with the
Congress for many years.
5. The Assembly notes that members of the United States Congress
participate in transatlantic parliamentary exchanges in various
forms, including in the framework of the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, the Transatlantic
Legislators’ Dialogue with the European Parliament and the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly and its Parliamentary
Transatlantic Forum, as well as on a bilateral level.
6. However, it believes that establishing working relations between
the United States Congress and the Assembly, which is the leading
European parliamentary forum on democracy, human rights and the
rule of law, would contribute to the protection and promotion of
these common values, thus enhancing international stability and
security. The existing differences on some issues, including the
abolition of the death penalty, should not prevent dialogue between
European and American parliamentarians. On the contrary, they make
it even more necessary. The Assembly hopes that contacts between
European and American lawmakers will not be further complicated
by the new restrictions on foreign travel for members of the Congress
enacted in May 2010.
7. The Assembly is therefore eager to renew efforts to revive,
in a pragmatic way, parliamentary dialogue with the United States
Congress. With this aim in mind, the Assembly:
7.1 recalls that representatives
of the United States Congress have the right to take part, as fully fledged
participants, in the annual debates on the activities of the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development, and encourages the Congress
to use this opportunity for parliamentary scrutiny of this organisation;
7.2 resolves to regularly inform the United States Congress
of its activities, in particular its resolutions on issues which
may be of interest or are related to the United States, and encourages
the Congress to also share relevant information with it;
7.3 encourages its relevant committees, in particular its
Political Affairs Committee, to establish an exchange of information
and, where possible, working relations with counterparts in the
United States Congress, including contacts between rapporteurs,
possible joint discussions via videoconferences and, when appropriate
and feasible, participation in hearings;
7.4 intends to make more effective use of the participation
of its representatives in meetings organised by the OSCE and NATO
parliamentary assemblies by making substantial contributions to these
meetings reflecting its activities and positions, and through contacts
and dialogue between its representatives and United States congressmen
in the framework of the regular activities of these assemblies;
7.5 invites its Bureau to explore the possibilities for the
Assembly to be associated with the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue.
