ABOUT NATO PA

NATO PA is an inter-parliamentary organization that brings together legislators/delegates from the 29 NATO member countries. The organization provides an important forum for international parliamentary dialogue on security, political, economic and social issues. Bringing greater transparency to the NATO policies, the Assembly raises awareness and provides better understanding at the parliamentary of contemporary key issues and contributes to fostering common positions among members.

The idea to engage Alliance Parliamentarians in collective deliberations on the problems confronting the transatlantic partnership first emerged in the early 1950s and took shape with the creation of an annual conference of NATO parliamentarians in 1955. The name of the organization - North Atlantic Assembly – was changed on 1st June 1999 into NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

NATO PA has an essential role in raising awareness at parliamentary level on defense and security, providing a forum where legislators can meet regularly to discuss current issues, exchange opinions and understand different points of view. On the other hand, the presence of NATO officials to the main Parliamentary Assembly’s meetings fosters better understanding at the parliamentary level of the Alliance’s actions.

The Parliamentary Assembly is also an indicator of collective opinion of parliamentarians, which is necessary both for the Alliance and member state governments, as the public opinion’s support has always been essential for NATO, especially taking into consideration the types of operations in which the Alliance is engaged nowadays.

Through its activity, the Parliamentary Assembly contributes to the transparency of NATO policies: the debates, the reports, the PA’s activities in general help the public to better understand the Alliance’s agenda.

The Assembly’s activity has two major aspects. First is the transatlantic relation. The presence of the North American states is vital; without them, the Alliance would be completely different. The second aspect is the openness, translated through granting the status of associate member, observer or Mediterranean partner.

NATO PA is illustrative for the growing importance of the parliamentary organizations. The Washington Treaty does not include any clause regarding the creation of a parliamentarian body. The Assembly was created by legislators during the Cold War, when it was thought that the decision making cannot fall exclusively on governments. Ever since its creation, the Assembly strived for a functional relation with NATO, although at first the governmental side has been reserved on the legitimacy of the parliamentary dimension. Currently, the approach is completely different, the Alliance’s leadership acknowledging the benefit of a parliamentarian body for supporting the Alliance’s actions as well as for informing and raising awareness among the public.

The PA’s suggestions regarding foreign policy are sent to NATO Secretary General and are answered in detail. At the same time, the Secretary General puts forward the latest developments in NATO’s policies during the two annual plenary sessions and answers questions from legislators.

The Assembly’s membership

The Assembly is made up of 266 delegates from parliaments of the 29 NATO member states (Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States). In addition to NATO-country delegates, delegates from 12 associate countries (Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Finland, FYROM, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine), 4 Mediterranean associate countries (Algeria, Israel, Jordan, Morocco) as well as 8 parliamentary observer delegations (Australia, Republic of Korea, Egypt, Japan, Kazakhstan, Palestinian Legislative Council, the parliamentary Assembly of Kosovo, Tunisia as well as representatives of OSCE PA and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe). The European Parliament is represented by a permanent delegation.

Each parliament designates a permanent delegation with a set number of members, established by the standing orders; when possible; the delegation is based on the country's size and reflects the political composition of the parliament, therefore representing a broad spectrum of political opinion.

Assembly meetings

The Assembly’s activity is organized in various formats

• Plenary sessions, two per year, organized by rotation by the member and associated states;
• Committee meetings, some being held within plenary sessions, others at different dates, depending also on international developments;
• Subcommittees meetings, dedicated to current issues;
• Thematic seminaries;
• The Parliamentary Transatlantic Forum – organized annually to debate issues regarding the transatlantic relations.

ASSEMBLY STRUCTURE

The Assembly’s governing body is the Standing Committee and consists of one member from each member country. Each member delegation may also appoint an alternate member. The President, the Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer and the Chairpersons of the Assembly's Committees shall be members of the Standing Committee ex officio.

The Bureau of the Assembly meets both during sessions and outside them, to debate urgent or operational matters.

The Committees elaborate reports, recommendations and resolutions, which are put under debate, amendment and adoption of the Assembly’s Annual Sessions.

The Committees of the Assembly are the following:

• Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security
• Defense and Security Committee
• Economics and Security Committee
• Political Committee
• Science and Technology Committee

Other Assembly bodies include the Mediterranean and Middle East Special Group and the Ukraine-NATO Inter-parliamentary Council.

The NATO-Russia Parliamentary Committee was suspended in April 2014.

In the framework of the Assembly’s sessions are functioning three political groups: Conservative, Christian Democrats and Associates group, the Democrat and Liberal Alliance; the Socialists.

The Assembly’s budget is made up of member states’ contributions that add up to the NATO contribution.

The official languages of the Assembly: English and French NATO PA’s Headquarters is in Brussels (Place du Petit Sablon 3, 1000 Brussels).

Website: www.nato-pa.int