The Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association has the
honour to present its report on the Meetings of the Standing Committee and the
Secretaries of Delegation, held in Memphis, U.S.A. March 27-28, 2010. Canada
was represented by Mr. Leon Benoit, M.P., Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, Senator
Jane Cordy and Mr. James Latimer, Association Secretary.
SECRETARIES OF DELEGATION MEETING
The Secretaries of Delegation met on Saturday, March 27th,
and the meeting was chaired by Ms. Melissa Adamson, Secretary of the American
Delegation. Topics discussed were as follows:
·Overview of the programme of the meetings in Memphis
·Consideration of the Draft Agenda of the Standing Committee
meeting
·Discussion regarding preparation of the Spring Session in Riga,
Latvia, from 28 May to 1 June 2010
oDraft Programme
oProgramme for Accompanying Persons
oGeneral Information
·Discussion regarding preparation of the 56th Annual
Session in Warsaw, Poland from 12 to 16 November 2010
oDraft Programme
·Discussion regarding preparation of future sessions and meetings
oStanding Committee meeting in the Azores, Portugal, 1 to 3 April
2011
oSpring Session in Varna, Bulgaria, 27 – 31 May 2011
oAnnual Session in Bucharest, Romania, 7-11 October 2011
oMeetings in 2012 and 2013
·Discussion regarding the liaison between Delegations and the
International Secretariat
·Other business.
STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING
The Standing Committee met later that day, Saturday,
March 27th, 2010 and continued on Sunday, March 28th.
The meeting was chaired by John Tanner, President of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly and Representative from the United States.
The draftagenda was adopted.
The summary of the Standing Committee meeting in
Edinburgh was adopted.
UPDATE ON ACTIVITIES
IN 2010
The Secretary General,
David Hobbs,discussed the proposed changes to the calendar and asked
for comment. The Committee agreed that:
·If insufficient places were available on the forthcoming visit to
Afghanistan, Standing Committee participants would be selected by lot
·The Economics and Security Committee should move ahead with its
proposed visit to Ethiopia; and
·Separate visits for the Defence and Security and Civil Dimension
of Security Committees to the Balkan region should be organized rather than the
originally planned joint visit. However, the officers of the relevant
Sub-Committee would be invited to participate in both visits.
THE ASSEMBLY’S PARTICIPATION IN THE INTERNATIONAL
ELECTION MONITORING MISSION IN UKRAINE FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ON 17
JANUARY AND 7 FEBRUARY 2010
After some discussion, it was agreed that the NATO PA
will continue to participate in election observation missions when invited by
countries of particular importance to NATO and when the Standing Committee
decides that such participation is warranted. Election monitoring will remain
an exceptional and not a routine activity.
RELATIONS WITH NON-MEMBER PARLIAMENTS AND SUMMARY OF
THE STATUS OF NON-MEMBER DELEGATIONS
The Secretary General explained that two parliamentary
assemblies had expressed interest in establishing contacts with the NATO PA.
The Committee decided that the Secretary General should explore relations with
both the Turkic Parliamentary Assembly and the Conference of Parliamentarians
of the Arctic Region.
PARTICIPATION OF THE DELEGATION OF THE RUSSIAN
FEDERATION IN ASSEMBLY ACTIVITIES
The Secretary General recounted how the Standing
Committee had previously voted to restrict the activities of the Russian
delegation to the NATO PA because of the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008.
The question before the Standing Committee was if recent changes in the
international environment and the actions of the Russian Federation warranted a
relaxation or elimination of those restrictions.
After a lengthy discussion, the Committee decided to
vote on whether or not to take action now on the issue. The Committee decided
in favour of doing so. Following that vote, the Committee decided to readmit
Russian parliamentarians to Rose-Roth Seminars but to leave the remaining
restrictions in place.
RELATIONS WITH BELARUS
The Committee considered the Assembly’s relationship
with the parliament of Belarus. Belarus had Associate Member status until 1997
when it was suspended because of the undemocratic nature of the regime. The
question before the Committee was if the modest changes in the behaviour of the
regime warranted a change in the Assembly’s policy.
The Committee agreed that the Political Committee should
invite a speaker to discuss the political situation in Belarus at its meeting
in Warsaw and then produce a report on Belarus in 2011.
THE ASSEMBLY’S CONSIDERATION OF SECURITY AND GENDER
The Assembly has held side-events at recent sessions to
discuss the role of women in combat environments and other issues related to
security and gender. At the Annual Session in Edinburgh, the issue was given a
place of prominence in the plenary. The question before the Standing Committee
was how the Assembly should continue to address this issue in the future.
It was agreed that there should be a resolution produced
by the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security commemorating the 10th
anniversary of the passage of UNSC resolution 1325, which calls on member
states to factor women’s issues into the consideration of military deployments
and to ensure the protection of women in combat environments. As much of the
effect of this resolution depends on its implementation by the member states,
the resolution should call on member states to effectively implement the
provisions of UNSC resolution 1325.
CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE WORKING GROUP ON ASSEMBLY REFORM
The Treasurer and Chair of the Working Group, Pierre
Claude Nolin, Senator (Canada) introduced the latest report of the Working
Group. After discussion, the Committee decided to refer certain issues back to
the Working Group for further study before the Standing Committee could take a
decision.
It was agreed that the Parliamentary Transatlantic Forum
be limited to members only with no exceptions.
GUIDES FOR ASSEMBLY MEMBERS
The Standing Committee appreciated the work so far on
the guidelines for Assembly officers and directed the International Secretariat
to continue developing them.
COMMENTS OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF NATO AND
CHAIRMAN OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL ON THE POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ADOPTED IN
2009 BY THE NATO PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY
The Secretary General called the attention of the
Committee to the comments of the Secretary General of NATO on the policy
recommendations of the NATO PA.
FINANCE
The Secretary General presented matters arising from the
2009 budget. The Treasurer made comments, and discussion arose. The Standing
Committee adopted the financial documents.
FUTURE SESSIONS AND MEETINGS
Vaira Paegle(Latvia) outlined the programme for
the Riga Session.
Marek Opiola(Poland) discussed the upcoming
session in Warsaw.
MISCELLANEOUS
The Secretary General led
a discussion regarding the format of the February meetings in Brussels.
The Secretary General asked the Committee if the staff
could be credited by name for the mission reports that they write. The
Committee agreed with this proposal.
Other matters were discussed, and where certain
decisions could not be taken, the matters were referred back to the Working
Group for further consideration.
CONSIDERATION OF THE ASSEMBLY’S CONTRIBUTION TO A NEW
STRATEGIC CONCEPT
Sven Mikser (Estonia) Special Rapporteur for the
Assembly Contribution to the New Strategic Concept outlined the main points in
the document. He noted that he was scheduled to present the final version to
the Secretary General of NATO on 13 April. After consideration of the draft
and after subsequent amendments, the document, as amended was adopted.
Respectfully submitted,
Mr. Leon Benoit, M.P.
Chair
Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association (NATO PA)