Prepared by Information and Documentation Office – European Information Unit Technical Editor Magdalena Maækowiak ISBN 83-86065-58-3 Administrative Office Publishing Unit Warsaw 2005 Edition: 200 copies Contents Joint statement adopted at the 6th Meeting of the Association of European Senates Warsaw - May 25th, 2004 ..................................7 Annex to the Joint Statement of the 6th Meeting of the Association of the European Senates.....................................................9 List of participants of the 6th Meeting of the Association of European Senates......11 Stenographic record Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................17 Christian PONCELET Speaker of the Senate of the French Republic ...............................19 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................23 Harald HIMMER Deputy Speaker of the Federal Council of the Republic of Austria ..............24 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................26 Armand DE DECKER Speaker of the Belgian Senate .............................................26 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................31 Petr PITHART Speaker of the Senate of the Czech Republic ................................31 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................34 Yvonne TIMMERMAN-BUCK Speaker of the First Chamber of the States-General of the Netherlands..........35 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................38 3 Lord GRENFELL Principal Deputy Chairman of the House of Lords............................38 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................39 Hans KAISER Chairman of the European Chamber of the Federal Council of the Federal Republic of Germany .......................................39 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................48 Jolanta DANIELAK Deputy Speaker of the Polish Senate .......................................49 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................49 Jolanta DANIELAK Deputy Speaker of the Polish Senate .......................................55 Dmitri MEZENTSEV Deputy Speaker of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation ................................................56 Jolanta DANIELAK Deputy Speaker of the Polish Senate .......................................62 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................62 Dan Mircea POPESCU Deputy Speaker of the Romanian Senate ...................................62 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................65 Janez SUŠNIK Speaker of the National Council of Slovenia .................................66 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................72 Fritz SCHIESSER Speaker of the Council of States of Switzerland ..............................72 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................74 Lamberto DINI Deputy Speaker of the Italian Senate.......................................75 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................77 Gennady NOVITSKY Speaker of the Council of the Republic of Belarus ............................77 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................80 4 Lord GRENFELL Principal Deputy Chairman of the House of Lords............................80 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................83 Petr PITHART Speaker of the Senate of the Czech Republic ................................84 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................84 Lamberto DINI Deputy Speaker of the Italian Senate.......................................85 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................85 Armand DE DECKER Speaker of the Belgian Senate .............................................86 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................87 Armand DE DECKER Speaker of the Belgian Senate .............................................87 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................88 Lord GRENFELL Principal Deputy Chairman of the House of Lords............................88 Armand DE DECKER Speaker of the Belgian Senate .............................................88 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................88 Armand DE DECKER Speaker of the Belgian Senate .............................................89 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................89 Lord GRENFELL Principal Deputy Chairman of the House of Lords............................89 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................89 Lamberto DINI Deputy Speaker of the Italian Senate.......................................90 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................90 Lamberto DINI Deputy Speaker of the Italian Senate.......................................90 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................90 5 Lamberto DINI Deputy Speaker of the Italian Senate.......................................90 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................90 Lamberto DINI Deputy Speaker of the Italian Senate.......................................91 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................91 Lamberto DINI Deputy Speaker of the Italian Senate.......................................91 Longin PASTUSIAK Speaker of the Polish Senate ..............................................91 JOINT STATEMENT ADOPTED AT THE 6TH MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN SENATES Warsaw - May 25th, 2004 The 6th Meeting of the Association of European Senates held in War- saw on the theme: The role played by upper chambers of national parliaments in the European Union and in the process of European integration. The heads of delegations from the upper chambers of European par- liaments present at the meeting welcomed with satisfaction the fact of the European enlargement by ten successive countries on May 1st, 2004, and expressed their conviction that the enlargement process would reinforce democratic values rooted in Europe’s history as well as trends toward in- tegration throughout the continent. The heads of delegations stated the following: l The trend toward a larger participation by national parliaments in the European Union decision-making process should be recognized as an important manifestation of the reinforcement of democratic values. On one hand, we are dealing today with europeization of national par- liaments and, on the other, with parliamentarization of European in- stitutions. l We believe that the Draft Treaty Establishing the Constitution for Europe provides national parliaments with an opportunity to play a more significant role in the European Union than hitherto. How- ever, to benefit from that opportunity, parliaments must demonstrate initiative and operational effectiveness. l We give high marks to the clause of the Draft Treaty giving equal rights to both chambers of national parliaments in the European Un- ion decision-making process. It equalizes their European pol- icy-making roles in those parliaments where both chambers do not play equal law-making or government-control roles. l We are of the opinion that upper chambers can be particularly useful in representing interests of local politics, namely municipalities, spe- cific regions and other territorial entities by articulating these inter- ests on the European forum. l We are convinced that the special role played by some upper cham- bers of national parliaments in representing interests of specific re- 7 gions and territorial entities in the European Union will further legitimize their control of compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality when writing European legislation. l We wish to underline the significance of the constitutional reference to the European role of EU member-state parliaments. Indeed, it stresses the weight of the tasks accomplished by parliaments and, at the same time, serves as a form of compensation for the loss of some national-parliament prerogatives to EU bodies. It contributes to the creation of a sense of assurance and stability, which in itself is valu- able to any legal order. l It ought to be stressed that, due to the absence of relevant constitu- tional provisions, there exists a warrant for a pro-Union interpretation of the constitution in the legislation, and especially in parliamentary regulations, which among other things requires that the parliament be maximally involved in European integration processes. l We postulate the need to reinforce the role played by national parlia- ments in the implementation of the European Security and Defense Policy, in a situation where the European Parliament has no suffi- cient competencies in this area. l We expect that a reinforced cooperation