On Friday, 17 October, the European Affairs Committee approved the topics that will be addressed during the parliamentary meetings of Latvia’s first Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It is expected to hold six parliamentary meetings during the Presidency.

“Parliamentary meetings of the Presidency are an opportunity to highlight certain priorities of the Latvian Presidency and, on a parliamentary level, to address issues that are significant for Europe and that affect all Europeans,” said Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee, characterising the purpose of parliamentary meetings; she also emphasised that these meetings scheduled for the first half of 2015 will be attended by approximately 1,000 participants from all 28 EU member states.

The Chairperson indicated that one of the most important parliamentary meetings will be the Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC), as well as the Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC. “Currently all of Europe and the world are focusing on developments in Ukraine and thus also on the Eastern Partnership. The Meeting of the Chairpersons of COSAC will be held shortly before the Eastern Partner Summit in Riga. Therefore, this Meeting will be an opportunity for parliamentarians from all EU member states to address the future challenges of the European Neighbourhood Policy,” indicated Kalniņa-Lukaševica.

Furthermore, the Meeting will consider priorities of Latvian Presidency and EU’s future after the election of the new European Commission. This Meeting will be held in Riga on 1–2 February 2015.
During the LIII COSAC on 31 May–2 June, EU parliamentarians will discuss the Energy Policy for Europe, the future of parliamentary scrutiny over EU affairs, as well as strategy Europe 2020 and the EU as a global player.

The Interparliamentary Conference under Article 13 of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union will address facilitation of economic convergence, strengthening the social dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union, the European Semester, the Stability and Growth Pact, as well as the Fiscal Compact. This Conference will be held in Brussels on 4–5 February.

At the Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy scheduled for 4–6 March, the EU parliamentarians will talk about the future of the Eastern Partnership, as well as evaluation and revision of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Furthermore, this Conference will assess the EU’s response to increasing instability, risks and challenges in the southern Mediterranean and the Middle East, as well as the hybrid war as a new challenge for Europe and its transatlantic relations.

The agenda of the Meeting of the Chairpersons of the Committees on Employment and Social Affairs will contain issues such as increased inclusion of the most vulnerable social groups in the labour market, social entrepreneurship and the Youth Guarantees. This Meeting will be held in Riga on 22-23 February.

However, during the Meeting of the Chairpersons of the Committees on the Economic and Digital Affairs scheduled for 19–20 April, European parliamentarians will address such as big data, cloud computing, security and privacy in digital space, as well as education and employment in digital economics. Implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe will also be discussed at the Meeting.

The European Affairs Committee approved the topics to be addressed during the parliamentary meetings on the grounds of the Agreement of the Political Parties, Unions of Political Parties and Unaffiliated Members of Parliament of the 11th Saeima of the Republic of Latvia on the Preparation and Implementation of Latvia’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the decision adopted on 19 My 2014 by the Steering Committee for Planning the

Parliamentary Dimension of the Latvian Presidency.

The parliamentary dimension is an integral part of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

A presentation on the themes of parliamentary meetings scheduled for the Latvian Presidency is available at: http://ej.uz/59sv.

Saeima Press Service