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 Warsaw 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 parliaments 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 integration throughout the continent.

The heads of delegations stated the following:

 

The heads of delegations from the upper chambers of European national parliaments have declared their will to continue cooperation on the development of the principles of operation of national-parliament upper chambers in the European Union and in the European integration process, commensurate to the challenges of the globalizing world in the 21st century.

At the conclusion of the Warsaw meeting, they confirmed the sequence of countries hosting successive Association meetings: Federal Republic of Germany, Switzerland. The 7th meeting will take place in Berlin on 8 - 10 September 2005. The successive meeting will take place in Bern in 2006.

 

Annex
to the Joint Statement
of the 6th Meeting of the Association of the European Senates

The Rules Governing the Association of the European Senates shall be amended as follows:

Article 1 (Composition), paragraph 1 shall read as follows:

"1. Members of the Association of the European Senates are:

The Federal Council of the Federal Republic of Germany

The Federal Council of the Republic of Austria

The Senate of the Kingdom of Belgium

The House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Senate of Spain

The Senate of the French Republic

The Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Italy

The First Chamber of the States General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

The Senate of the Republic of Poland

The Senate of the Parliament of Romania

The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

The National Council of the Republic of Slovenia

The Council of States of the Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation

The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

The House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".