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Tbilisi, Georgia 25Th Annual Session T Report REPORT OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 25th Annual Session Tbilisi, Georgia 25th Annual Session t Report REPORT ON THE 25th ANNUAL SESSION OF THE OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY CONTENTS Summary ................................................................................................ 1 Tbilisi Declaration ......................................................................... 2 Inaugural Plenary Session ........................................................... 4 Standing Committee ........................................................................ 8 General Committee on Political Affairs and Security ... 12 General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment ................................................ 14 General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions ............................................................ 16 Second Plenary Session .................................................................. 18 Closing Plenary Session ................................................................. 19 Officers of the Assembly ................................................................ 22 General Committee Officers ........................................................ 25 Prepared by the OSCE PA International Secretariat 2 25th Annual Session t Report Summary Hosted by the Georgian Parliament, the OSCE PA’s 25h Annual Session took place 1-5 July 2016. ringing together some 250 members of The General Committee on Political Affairs Bparliament from 53 OSCE participating and Security elected Roger Wicker (United States and two Partners for Co-operation, the States) as Chair, Guglielmo Picchi (Italy) as 25th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Vice-Chair, and Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden) Assembly took place 1-5 July 2016 in Tbilisi. as Rapporteur. The Session was held under the theme “25 The General Committee on Economic Summary ................................................................................................ 1 Years of Parliamentary Co-operation: Building Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment Tbilisi Declaration ......................................................................... 2 Trust Through Dialogue,” commemorating the elected Nilza Sena (Portugal) as Chair, Artur quarter-century anniversary of the Assembly’s Gerasymov (Ukraine) as Vice-Chair, and Inaugural Plenary Session ........................................................... 4 work. Marietta Tidei (Italy) as Rapporteur. Standing Committee ........................................................................ 8 Featuring several days of parliamentary The General Committee on Democracy, General Committee on Political Affairs and Security ... 12 debate in committee and plenary meetings, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, the Session culminated in the adoption by elected Ignacio Sanchez Amor (Spain) as Chair, Technology and Environment ................................................ 14 majority vote of the 2016 Tbilisi Declaration, Ivana Dobesova (Czech Republic) as Vice- General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and which contains the Assembly’s wide-ranging Chair, and Kyriakos Kyriakou-Hadjiyanni Humanitarian Questions ............................................................ 16 pronouncements and policy recommendations (Cyprus) as Rapporteur. Second Plenary Session .................................................................. 18 for the OSCE and its participating States in The Standing Committee met on 1 July to Closing Plenary Session ................................................................. 19 the fields of political affairs, economics, the allocate supplementary items to the general environment and human rights. committees, and heard reports from the Officers of the Assembly ................................................................ 22 The Session featured speeches by Georgian Treasurer, German parliamentarian Doris General Committee Officers ........................................................ 25 officials including Speaker of Parliament David Barnett, who focused on the OSCE PA’s Usupashvili, President Giorgi Margvelashvili, present financial situation, and Secretary and Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, as General Roberto Montella, who described his well as OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva priorities of strengthening the International (Finland) and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Secretariat and enhancing co-operation with and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter partners. Special Representatives, leaders Steinmeier. of election observation missions, and chairs In addition to adopting the Tbilisi of ad hoc committees also reported to the Declaration, the Assembly elected its new Standing Committee on their ongoing work leadership, with Austrian parliamentarian and upcoming activities. Christine Muttonen elected President, and Several meetings were held on the margins Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene (Lithuania), of the Annual Session, including events Azay Guliyev (Azerbaijan), Isabel Santos focused on the progress of reforms in Georgia, (Portugal) and Victor Dobre (Romania) elected gender equality, nuclear disarmament, human Vice-Presidents. trafficking, mediation, and migration. 2 1 25th Annual Session t Report Tbilisi Declaration t the close of each Annual Session, the AAssembly adopts a Declaration with recommendations in the fields of political affairs, security, economics, environment and human rights. Representing the collective voice of the OSCE parliamentarians, the Declaration helps shape OSCE and national policy. It is complemented by a number of supplementary items relating to OSCE Voting on the Tbilisi Declaration. commitments and values. he Assembly adopted the 2016 Tbilisi Declaration urges all parties to fully implement TDeclaration on 5 July, addressing key issues the Package of Measures for the Implementation in the fields of political affairs and security, of the Minsk Agreements, and “underlines economics, the environment, human rights, and respect for the principles of the inviolability humanitarian concerns. Following its adoption, of frontiers and territorial integrity, peaceful the Declaration was sent to parliaments and settlement of disputes, equal rights, and self- to the foreign ministers of OSCE countries, determination of peoples as stated in the serving as policy guidance to governments and Helsinki Final Act.” the international community. Regarding climate change, the Declaration Among the issues covered in the Declaration calls upon parliamentarians to promote political are terrorism, the dialogue in order to crisis in and around “The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly achieve the goals set Ukraine, protracted reaffirms the undiminished validity and by the Paris Climate conflicts in Georgia, historic role of the guiding principles Agreement adopted countering corruption, and common values of the Helsinki in 2015, and to ensure energy, climate change, Final Act signed in 1975.” that the Agreement’s migration, and the targets are met “with the rights of refugees. 2016 OSCE PA Tbilisi Declaration greatest sense of urgency Stressing the theme by implementing robust of trust-building, the policies and regulations Declaration “reaffirms the undiminished on greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating validity and historic role of the guiding the transition to a low-carbon economy.” principles and common values of the Helsinki On migration, the Declaration stresses the Final Act signed in 1975, including the importance of prioritizing the rights of those commitments on politico-military, economic, displaced by conflicts, and urges governments environmental, human rights, and humanitarian to stop imposing legal and physical barriers to issues.” It regrets however the trend of gridlock the movement of people fleeing violence, as in the OSCE and urges OSCE countries to well as to actively work toward an inclusive enhance the level of co-operation in addressing approach to migrants and refugees. common challenges. The Assembly also approved 15 resolutions On terrorism, the Declaration calls upon to supplement the Declaration, addressing governments to strengthen co-operation and issues such as fundamental freedoms in the develop measures aimed at blocking the funding Crimean peninsula, prevention of child sexual of terrorist organizations. It further urges the exploitation, confidence-building measures OSCE to help governments counter violent in the Baltic Sea region, and ensuring that extremism through pragmatic assistance and members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly promotion of best practices. affected by international travel bans are able to On the crisis in and around Ukraine, the attend OSCE events. 2 25th Annual Session t Report 2 3 25th Annual Session t Report Inaugural Plenary Session President Ilkka Kanerva chairs the 25th Annual Session’s opening plenary on 1 July . eorgian officials including President well as for the wider region. GGiorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister “Sovereignty of certain countries are vio- Giorgi Kvirikashvili, and Speaker of Parlia- lated,” he said. The lack of respect for terri- ment David Usupashvili addressed the open- torial integrity, he said, further complicates ing plenary of the Annual Session on 1 July. various problems that require international co- Also speaking during the plenary were OSCE operation, including terrorism and drug traf- PA President Ilkka Kanerva, and OSCE Chair- ficking. person-in-Office and German Foreign Minis-
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