The Role of the Assembly

Founded in 1955. The NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative inter-parliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance.

Bringing together members of parliaments throughout the Atlantic Alliance, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly has provided for half a century an essential link between  NATO and the parliaments of the NATO nations, helping to build parliamentary and public consensus in support of Alliance policies.

At the same time, it has facilitated parliamentary awareness and understanding of key security issues and provided greater transparency of NATO policies.  Crucially, it has also helped to maintain and strengthen the transatlantic relationship which underpins the Alliance.

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Financing

The Assembly is directly funded by member parliaments and governments, and is financially and administratively separate from NATO itself. Each country’s contribution is based on the NATO Civil Budget formula.

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How the Assembly works

The NATO PA is made up of 248 delegates from the 26 NATO member countries; 59 from the 13 associate member countries; and a delegation from the European Parliament.  Delegations from a wide range of countries, including those in the southern Mediterranean region, also participate as parliamentary observers.

The Assembly’s governing body is the Standing Committee which is composed of the Head of each member delegation, the President, the Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer and the Secretary General.

The International Secretariat under the Secretary General, Simon Lunn, is responsible for all administration and the bulk of research and analysis that supports the Assembly’s Committees, Sub-Committees and other groups.

The Committees are: Civil Dimension of Security; Defence and Security; Economics and Security; Political; Science and Technology. They are charged with examining all major contemporary issues in their fields. Other Assembly bodies include the Mediterranean Special Group to enhance parliamentary dialogue and understanding with nations of the Southern Mediterranean region, the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council and the NATO-Russia Parliamentary Committee where the leaders of the member delegations and those of the Russian Federal Assembly meet in an “at 27” format.

The Committees and Sub-Committees all produce reports which are discussed in draft form at the Assembly’s Spring Session.  The reports are then revised and up-dated for discussion, amendment and adoption at the Assembly’s Annual Session.

At the Annual Session, the Committees also produce policy recommendations - resolutions - which are voted on by the full Assembly and forwarded to the North Atlantic Council and/or to member governments.

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The Rose-Roth Programme

A central part of the Assembly’s work is the Rose-Roth programme of partnership and co-operation - initially with CEE countries but subsequently throughout the Euro-Atlantic region. This programme seeks to assist the countries of CEE through a challenging transition process, which involves the implementation of difficult political and economic reforms.

The Rose-Roth programme involves a series of seminars focused on regional and topical security issues and training programmes for parliamentary staff. The aim is to enhance parliamentary awareness, build contacts and provide experience and expertise.  Particular attention is paid to promoting the principle of the democratic control of armed forces and to the development of effective parliamentary oversight of defence and the military.

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The New Parliamentarians Programme

In 2000, the Assembly launched its “New Parliamentarians Programme”. This provides parliamentarians, who are new to parliament or to international functions within their parliament, with grounding in the role and rationale for today’s NATO.  The first orientation course involving 42 parliamentarians from 26 nations took place at NATO headquarters in July 2000.

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The Transatlantic Parliamentary Forum

With concerns growing about a developing transatlantic ‘drift’ in attitudes and policies, the Assembly’s Standing Committee in 2001 decided to organize a “Transatlantic Parliamentary Forum” to help determine the nature of transatlantic divergences, and perhaps develop ideas for redressing them.

The first Forum was held in Washington, DC in December 2001 in co-operation with the Atlantic Council of the United States and the National Defense University.  Three further meetings have been held, and the Forum is now an annual Assembly event.

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The Mediterranean Special Group

In the context of its outreach activities, the Assembly created in 1995 a Mediterranean Special Group with the aim of opening a political dialogue with legislators from the countries of the Maghreb and the Middle East. The programme gradually expanded and the Assembly has now established relations at various levels with the parliaments of nine countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean: Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, as well as with the Palestinian Legislative Council. Preliminary contacts have recently been established with some countries of the Persian Gulf.

The yearly activities of the Group include a visit to one of the Mediterranean partners, and two Mediterranean seminars, one of which is held in Naples, in co-operation with the Italian Parliament. These meetings seek to enhance parliamentary awareness of the problems of the region, promote a political dialogue between parliamentarians, and ultimately provide experience and expertise to legislators from Maghreb and Middle East countries.

Sessions

Two sessions are held each year - in the Spring and Autumn (‘Annual’) - in different countries.

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Membership of the Assembly

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Associate Delegations

Three Mediterranean Associate Delegations

Morocco (5 delegates), Algeria (5 delegates)**, Mauritania (3 delegates)**

The European Parliament is entitled to send 10 delegates to Assembly Sessions and can participate in most Committee and Sub-Committee activities

Eight Parliamentary Observer Nations are entitled to send three delegates to Assembly Sessions. Parliamentary Observer nations are Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Serbia and Montenegro, and Tunisia.

Parliamentary Assemblies such as the OSCE PA and the WEU Assembly also send delegations.

*          Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name

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Committees, Sub-Committees and Working Groups

Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security (CDS)

Sub-Committee on Democratic Governance

Defence and Security Committee (DSC)

Sub-Committee on Future Security and Defence Capabilities

Sub-Committee on Transatlantic Defence and Security Co‑operation

Economics and Security Committee (ESC)

Sub-Committee on East-West Economic Co-operation and Convergence

Sub-Committee on Transatlantic Economic Relations

Political Committee (PC)

Sub-Committee on NATO Partnerships

Sub-Committee on Transatlantic Relations

Science and Technology Committee (STC)

Sub-Committee on the Proliferation of Military Technology

Mediterranean Special Group  (GSM)

NATO-Russia Parliamentary Committee (SCRF)

Ukraine-NATO Inter-parliamentary Council (UNIC)

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Officers of the Assembly

President

Mr Pierre LELLOUCHE (France)

Vice-Presidents

Mr Jozef BANAS (Slovakia)

Mr Vahit ERDEM (Turkey)

Mr Giovanni Lorenzo FORCIERI (Italy)

Mr Bert KOENDERS (Netherlands)

Mr Pierre Claude NOLIN (Canada)

Treasurer

Mr. Lothar Ibrügger (Germany)

Secretary General

Mr. Simon Lunn (United Kingdom) 

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NATO Parliamentary Assembly

International Secretariat

3 Place du Petit Sablon

B -1000 Brussels

Tél. (322) 513 2865

Fax: (322) 514 1847

E-mail: secretariat@nato-pa.int

Web-site: www.nato-pa.int