Inter-parliamentary dialogue

According to Article 95 of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), the Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC) is the main institutional inter-parliamentary cooperation mechanism between Russia and the EU. It includes members of the Russian Federal Assembly and of the European Parliament and is co-chaired by Andrey Klimov, Deputy Head of the International Affairs Committee of the State Duma (the «United Russia» faction), and Knut Fleckenstein (Germany, «The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats» group).

The main forms of PCC activities are sessions of the Committee, Bureau meetings (includes Co-chairs and their deputies from Russia and EU), reinforced Bureau meetings (with participation of PCC members who are not members of the Bureau) and bilateral visits of Working Groups.

In conformity with the PCA, «the PCC shall meet at intervals which it shall itself determine» (as a rule once a year), under the joint presidency of heads of both delegations. Representatives of the EU Council and the European Commission may be invited by the Head of the European Parliament Delegation to the Russia-EU PCC to take part in its meetings. As a rule, the PCC meetings issue joint statements.

The latest 13th PCC meeting took place on 15-16 December 2010 in Strasbourg. The agenda included discussion on the outcome of the Russia-EU Summit held on 7 December 2010 in Brussels, implementation of the “Partnership for Modernisation”, results of inter-parliamentary contacts in 2010. Vladimir Lukin, Russian Ombudsman, took part in the meeting which adopted a joint statement describing work progress in 2010 and outlining areas of further cooperation.

Meetings of three Working Groups in 2011 were devoted to the following topics: «Russian and EU policy towards other European countries, Russia-EU cooperation in the Baltic and Black Sea regions, Russian and EU approaches towards Northern Africa» (Brussels, March); «Rural development, science, research and protection of environment» (Astrakhan, April); «International cooperation in sport in the context of preparations for the Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi, youth policy, cultural dimension of mutual cooperation» (Sochi, May).

The next PCC meeting is scheduled for 1-2 September 2011 in Warsaw.

Cooperation between factions of the State Duma and political groups of the European Parliament is an important addition to PCC activities. A Memorandum of Understanding between the «Just Russia» party faction in the State Duma and the political group «Party of the European socialists» (PES) in the European Parliament was signed in April 2008, establishing the basis for activities of a permanent joint Working group. This cooperation has been further developed with «The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats» (PASD), successor to the PES group in the European Parliament. The visit of a «Just Russia» delegation to Brussels took place in March 2010. A tripartite WG meeting with the participation of members of the «Just Russia» party faction in the State Duma, of the Democratic Party in the US Senate and of PASD was held in Washington D.C. in June 2010.

Cooperation is developing between the «United Russia» faction in the State Duma and the political group «European People's Party» in the European Parliament. The first meeting of the Contact Group on cooperation was held in Strasbourg in December 2010, where the projects of further interaction were outlined.

Contacts between relevant committees of the European Parliament and of the Federal Assembly, in particular, Committees on Climate Changes and on Environment, on Social Problems and on Economic and Monetary Affairs are expanding.

Mr. Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, visited Moscow in June 2010. He was received by the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, and met the Speakers of both Chambers of the Russian Federal Assembly, as well as Minister of Energy, Sergey Shmatko.

2011-06-27 - Meeting of the «European Club» in Hamburg

2011-06-24 - Bureau of the Russia-EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committee meets in Hamburg

2011-03-24 - Meeting of the «European Club» in Brussels

2011-03-24 - Meeting of the Working Group of the Russia-EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committee

2010-12-20 - 13th Session of the Russia-EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committee

2010-10-05 - Meeting of the Working Group of Russia-EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in Brussels

2010-06-01 - Meeting of the Working Group of the Russia-EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC) in Perm