The activity of the Senate within the framework of International bilateral and
multilateral relations has considerably increased in the past years. This
increase is partly due to the active participation of the Parliament and, more
specifically, of the Senate in the increasing number of activities organized in
the context of the European Union, which include the attendance to the
Conference of Presidents, technical meetings called by the European Parliament,
and the joint meetings of sectorial commissions
called in the framework of the rotating presidency of the European Union. The
Chamber has also strengthened the interparliamentary
relations, both of a bilateral nature, consisting of the exchange of
delegations, basically with the Upper Chambers or Senates of other countries,
and those of a multilateral nature, through the participation in Parliamentary
Conferences and Assemblies.
The interparliamentary
relations of the Senate can be classified into the following categories:
1.
International
Conferences
2.
Friendship Groups
3.
Permanent delegations
of the Parliament in the International Parliamentary Assemblies
4.
Cooperation treaties
5.
Official travels of
parliamentary delegations
6.
Visits of parliamentary
delegations
7.
Study visits and stays
to exchange experiences
An important aspect of the interparliamentary
relations is the regular operation of Conferences and Meetings of Presidents of
Parliamentary Chambers.
The President of the Senate takes
part in the works and sessions of the following Conferences:
- The Conference of Presidents of European Parliamentary Assemblies: assembles the Parliaments of the member countries of the European Council every two years (the latest took place in Strasbourg in May 2000, in Zagreb in May 2002, in Strasbourg again in May 2004, in Tallinn in May 2006, in Strasbourg in May 2008, in Nicosia in June 2010). The next Conference is scheduled to be held in Strasbourg (June 2012).
-
The Conference of Presidents of
Parliaments of the member states of the European Union and the European
Parliament,
meets every year (since 1999). This Conference has held its sessions in Rome
(September 2000), Stockholm (November 2001), Madrid (June 2002), Athens (May
2003), The Hague (July 2004), Budapest (May 2005), Copenhagen (June 2006),
Bratislava (May 2007), Lisbon (June 2008), Paris (February 2009), Stockholm (May
2010) and Brussels (April 2011).
-
The Upper Parliamentary Chambers of France, the
The Association of European Senates promoted by the President of the Senate of the French Republic, held its constitutive session in Paris on 8 November 2000, thus attending the common wish to analyze in depth the reflection of the role and duties of the Upper Chambers, stated in the Final Declaration of the Meeting of Senates and Second Chambers of the World, held in Paris on 14 March 2000. Since then, the Association has held twelve working meetings: Paris (6 June 2001), Brussels (13 November 2001), Ljubljana (28 June 2002), Madrid (28 February 2003), Prague (7 October 2003), Berlin (2 September 2005), Berne (21 April 2006), Prague (29 September 2006), Bucharest (12 October 2007), Vienna (17 to 19 April 2008), The Hague (16 to 18 April 2009), Rome (15 to 17 April 2010) and Madrid (16 to 10 June 2011). The next meeting is scheduled to be held in Paris (15 to 17 March 2012). Also, the Association of European Senates has held three extraordinary sessions: the first one to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Senate of the Czech Republic (28 and 29 September 2006), the second one on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (13 to 15 November 2008) and the third one on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Poland Senate (22 to 24 October 2009).
-
The Conference of Presidents of Euro-Mediterranean Parliaments
answers the need, expressed in the Barcelona Declaration (adopted in November
1995 on the occasion of the Euro-Mediterranean Conference), to encourage the
dialogue between the Parliaments of these countries.
This Conference, which was promoted by the Presidents
of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and the Congress of Deputies of Spain, held
its first meeting in Palma de Mallorca in March 1999. During the 7th
and 8th Legislatures it has met in
- The Ibero-American
Parliamentary Forum (Foro Parlamentario Iberoamericano)
was set up on the initiative of the Cortes Generales
of
Five Forums have been held to date: the First Ibero-American Parliamentary Forum was held in Bilbao (30 September - 1 October 2005), the 2nd Forum in Montevideo (25 and 26 September 2006), the 3rd Forum in Chile (from 11 to 13 September 2007), the 4th Forum in El Salvador (from 10 to 15 September 2008), the 5th Forum in Lisbon (23 and 24 November 2009), the 6th in Buenos Aires (10 to 14 November 2010) and the 7th Forum in Asunción (24 and 25 October 2011). The 8th is scheduled to be held in Cadiz, Spain (in 2012) and the 9th in Panama (in 2013).
The Senate usually participates in
other international conferences or parliamentary forums through the delegations
designated by the Board of the Chamber.
-
The World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments brings together
all Presidents and Speakers of Assemblies under the auspices of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Two meetings have now been held in
-
The Euro-Mediterranean Forum of Parliamentary Women is a result
of the Declaration adopted at the Meeting of Presidents of Euro-Mediterranean
Parliaments, held in Palma de Mallorca in March 1999, and has been meeting with
regularity. After the meeting held in
-
The Senate has also been present at the Meetings of Parliamentarians with the World Bank, the meetings of the Interparliamentary Commission on Human Rights of the
Latin-American Parliament on the International Criminal Court, the meetings of
the Monitoring Committee of the European Conference for action against
financial crimes/offences, or the Advisory Assembly of Parliamentarians for the
International Criminal Court or the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption
(GOPAC).
The Bureau of the Senate, in its meeting held on 11st.
November 2008 agreed the creation of four Friendship Groups, as well as
the member of the Bureau that will chair them and the number of their members.
-
Friendship Group of the Spanish Senate with the Senate of the
-
Friendship Group of the Spanish Senate with the Chamber of Councillors of the
-
Friendship Group of the Spanish Senate with the Chamber of Councillors of the
-
Friendship Group of the Spanish Senate with the Council of the Nation of the
Democratic and Popular
On 17th. February 2009 was the constitution
of the Friendship Groups of the Senate before mentioned.
-
Friendship Group of the Senate of
-
Friendship group of the Senate of
A
meeting of this friendship group was held in
In
the 9th Legislature the Secretary Second of the Board of the Senate
was appointed President of this Friendship Group.
-
Friendship group of the Senate of
-
Friendship group of the Senate of Spain with the Council of the Nation of the
Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria. It was created during the 9th
Legislature and the Secretary Forth of the Board of the Senate was
appointed President of this Friendship Group.
In addition to the Friendship Groups of the Senate, the Upper Chamber has been participating since its constitution in the 6th Legislature, in the Friendship Groups of the Parliament, made up of members of the Senate and of the Congress of Deputies.
As a result of the dissolution of the Parliament the 27th September 2011, the activities of the Parliamentary Friendship Groups is suspended until the new legislature is convened, at which time new members may be designated.
PERMANENT DELEGATIONS OF
THE PARLIAMENTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLIES
The Bureau of the Senate, in its meeting held on 20 September 2011, agreed to authorize, during the dissolution period and until the new legislature is convened, the attendance to the plenary sessions of the International Parliamentary Assemblies of the components of the spanish delegations which are still parliamentarians as members of the Standing Committees of the Chambers.
These kinds of delegations represent
the Parliament, and, therefore, are made up of Deputies and Senators.
- Delegation at
the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council
Links: Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council
European Council
-
Delegation at the Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU. The Bureaus of the Congress of Deputies and of the
Senate, in its joint meeting held on 15 December 2008 agreed to adjourn the
activities of the Spanish delegation at this Assembly.
- Delegation at
the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Composition of the
delegation
Links: Parliamentary Assembly of the NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Delegation at
the Inter-Parliamentary
Links: Inter-Parliamentary Union
-
Delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization on Security and
Cooperation in
-
Delegation at the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA):
At this Assembly,
made up of 240 members, the delegation of the Parliament is formed by three
parliamentarians (two deputies and one Senator). It adopts its decisions, which
are not binding, by consensus. The I meeting of the
Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly was held in
All the travels made by
parliamentary delegations either lead by the President of the Senate, by a
member of the Board, or corresponding to travels of Commissions, must be
previously authorized by the Board of the Senate, which establishes its
composition, respecting the usual criteria of assuring the representation of
all the parliamentary groups.
— The most important travels are the ones
lead by the President of the Senate or, where applicable, by one of the
members of the Board of the Chamber, related to invitations of foreign Senates
in the framework of bilateral relations.
Exceptionally, the President of the Senate travels in
representation of the
— Also, the travels of delegations
of members of Commissions of the Senate, either on their own initiative, or
invited by a foreign Chamber or by the European Parliament, are becoming more
and more frequent.
During the 7th
and the 8th Legislatures biannual meetings of the Commissions
organized on the occasion of the rotatory
presidencies of the European Union, have been consolidated as ordinary channels
to exchange experiences between Commissions of the Parliaments of the Member
States of the European Union.
There are also other
kinds of periodical International meetings in which delegations of
Commissions participate. This is the case of the Interparliamentary
Conference EUREKA and of the Annual Conferences of the European Parliamentary
Technology Assessment (EPTA), attended by a delegation of the Commission of
Science and Technology; of the Meetings of Presidents of Parliamentary
Commissions on Budgets of the OECD countries, attended by the President of the
Commission on Budgets and the European Conferences of members of national
Parliaments on Information and Communication Technologies (EPRI, European
Parliament Research Initiative), attended by a delegation of the Commission of
the Information and Knowledge Society.
Among the parliamentary delegations
of different levels received by the Senate there are:
— Visits from Presidents of foreign
Assemblies. In this
category a distinction must be made between the official visits of Presidents
of Parliaments or Lower Chambers, which are received at the request of the
Congress of Deputies and have an important protocol component, and the official
visits of Presidents of Upper Chambers in reply to an invitation sent by the President
of the Senate. In the latter case, the Management of Interparliamentary
Relations coordinates a 2 or 3 days program, which includes interviews with
members of the Chamber, of the Congress of Deputies, of the Government, and,
occasionally, of the civil society.
— Visits of foreign parliamentary
delegations and commissions. In the framework of increasing exchanges between Commissions, a large
number of delegations of foreign parliamentary commissions are interested in
knowing the opinions and experiences on the organization of our Upper Chamber,
the territorial organization of
The Senate takes part in the
organization of study visits with foreign Parliaments (as is the case of the
TACIS project -a program of Technical Assistance to the Community of
Independent States- with Russia, or the twin program PHARE with Poland), as well
as with other institutions, both European (the Committee of Regions, the Group
for Electronic Exchange of Information between European Chambers (IPEX – Interparliamentary EU Information Exchange),
the Technical Assistance Information Unit (TAIEX), the European Centre
for Research and Parliamentary Documentation (CERDP – Centre Européen de Recherche et
Documentation Parlementaires), and national (Center for Political and Constitutional Studies, Course for
Parliamentary Legal Advisors, Judges, etc.)