Press release, 24 May 2016
Photo of the Chamber of Deputies of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, pointed out, at the Conference of Speakers of the EU Parliaments in Luxembourg on 24 May 2016, that it was necessary to deepen inter-parliamentary cooperation and enhance the role of national Parliaments.
The Speaker of the Seimas noted that according to Article 12 of the Treaty on European Union, national Parliaments contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union; however, this provision could only be effectively implemented with the full engagement of national Parliaments in this process. To illustrate this, Mrs Graužinienė referred to the initiative to establish a Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group to monitor Europol’s activities.
The Speaker of the Seimas also supported the proposal by Norbert Lammert, President of the German Bundestag, to extend the European Parliament’s right of legislative initiative. In the opinion of the Speaker of the Seimas, these new powers could make the European Parliament more attractive to citizens, whose interests it represents, and would encourage a higher voter turnout at the elections to the European Parliament throughout the European Union.
Mrs Graužinienė urged the Speakers of the EU Parliaments to consider a wider context, i.e. not to forget fellow colleagues from Eastern Partnership countries, and asked the National Council of the Slovak Republic, as the next Presidency, to invite Speakers of Parliaments from Eastern Partnership countries to the next Conference of Speakers of the EU Parliaments.
The Conference of Speakers of the EU Parliaments was held in Luxembourg on 22–24 May 2016.
Rosvaldas Gorbačiovas, Senior Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6005, mob. +370698 42 071, e-mail: [email protected]
