EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DELEGATIONS AND ROLE

Inter-parliamentary delegations strictly speaking, are those delegations set up to promote inter-parliamentary contacts between the EP and the parliamentary bodies of third countries, or regions.

Each delegation holds an inter-parliamentary meeting once or twice a year, alternately in the Parliament and in the partner country. Besides, the EP delegations also meet in Brussels and Strasbourg in order to prepare the agenda for future visits. Each delegation has a Bureau, formed by a Chairman and two Vice-Chairmen, which plays a central role in organizing the agenda of those meetings. The level of activity of each delegation depends greatly on the role of the Bureau.

The Committee of Foreign Affairs of the EP (AFET) is responsible for preparing and monitoring all the activities related to this inter-parliamentary network. More technically, within the Secretariat of the EP, Direction B of the Directorate-General 3 (External Policies) is in charge of all IPDs. Although the task of the Secretariat is organisational in nature, it plays a very powerful role, given that through the establishment of the agenda it can sometimes have an indirect influence on the substance of these encounters.

Another important body in the organization of the delegations’ work is the Conference of Delegation Chairs. Its task is to prepare the calendar of future inter-parliamentary meetings and to draw up implementing rules for the functioning of delegations. Another task that is not explicitly stated in the rules of procedure is, jostling with the Budgets Committee for funds that enable an appropriate number of MEPs of a delegation to travel to a given country. It is precisely the Chairman of the delegation who has the responsibility to decide the number of MEPs that shall travel, with a high limit of 2/3 of the members of the delegation.

The task of EP delegations always implies a two-way process. On the one hand, the permanent contact through these various inter-parliamentary structures provides the EP with first-hand knowledge on the specific situation of each country. Both the quantity and quality of the information may be very high, since the dialogue during the encounters has an all-encompassing character, since the EP delegation does not only meet parliamentarians and officials, but also representatives of civil society, groups suffering from specific problems, economic groups, members of opposition parties, and others. Delegations represent “the eyes and ears of the EP” but they are also the EP’s "mouth", since they are used simultaneously as a “resonance box” or as a mouthpiece of the positions adopted within the AFET or the EP as a whole. Representing the EP and the EU as a whole is one of the delegations’ main functions. This role as the EP’s mouthpiece acquires special relevance in crisis situations in other countries, where these delegations often play the role of mediators and/or facilitators of dialogue. Therefore, the most accurate way to describe the general task of IPDs would be to consider them as transmission belts, that is a direct channel for the exchange of information, concerns and desires between the EP and third countries and, thus, for improving mutual understanding and deepening relations.

Apart from being an instrument for furthering mutual understanding, the know-how transmitted through inter-parliamentary contacts has demonstrated its potential to be used to influence both third countries and other EU institutions. Regarding the first use, the EP can press or influence third countries in very different domains. For example, one of the main concerns of delegations is improving human rights policies in other countries and delegations can raise this question during their visits in various forms.

Another important value that delegations try to promote is that of regionalism and multilateralism, especially in those areas where there is still a long way to go.

Therefore, it could be stated that the role of delegations is not merely that of providing a channel for parliamentary diplomacy, but also one of facilitating parliamentary control.

Finally, delegations have the indirect function of distributing responsibilities among MEPs. Especially those MEPs holding a chairmanship or vice-chairmanship in delegations feel responsible themselves for the adequate functioning of the delegation or even as advocates of third countries and thus are supposed to mobilize quickly when events so require.

This said the political impact of delegations is generally considered very low based on the outcomes of such meetings, because, more often than not, they are only an interchange of commonplaces or cheap talk.

The activity of MEPs in the delegations is, at best, their third or fourth priority in comparison with their other tasks as parliamentarians. While there are MEPs who are really experts and have a great interest in the target country or region of the delegation in which they take part, for others, it is only a way to fulfil an obligation and to engage in "political tourism."

The economic cost of maintaining the system of IPDs is another matter of concern for parliamentarians and other officials working in EU institutions, but especially for the wider public. The fact that virtually every MEP is in at least one delegation has aroused harsh criticisms and has perpetuated the cliché of considering the Parliament “the biggest agency of political tourism.”

But despite all these problems, delegations constitute one of the most valuable instruments of foreign action that the EP has. Even when it is sometimes difficult to see their true effectiveness, delegations constitute an original form of parliamentary diplomacy that should be improved and furthered.

The way delegations are composed is essentially the same as that of EP Committees. Political Groups have to present their list of candidacies to the Conference of Presidents. In order to make the appointments within the group, MEPs manifest their preferences according to the existing delegations. The primary decisions are normally taken inside the different national delegations within the Political Group When there is competition for being a member, or holding a chairmanship or vice-chairmanship, the group votes between the nominated colleagues, normally in response to criteria of expertise in the area of the delegation, seniority and prestige of the various MEPs concurring, as well as responding to internal equilibriums among the different national delegations of the Group. Once the candidatures have been presented, the Conference of Presidents submits a proposal to the Parliament that should, as much as possible, reflect the overall composition of the Parliament.

When analysing the delegations’ composition, it can be seen that the balance between political forces and countries is maintained as far as the number of chairmanships and vice-chairmanships is concerned, as well as regarding the political pluralism within the membership of each delegation.

However, when looking at the nationality of the MEPs of each delegation, a concentration of MEPs of some countries in specific delegations becomes apparent 

Conclusion

The European Parliament’s interparliamentary delegations - together with the Foreign Affairs, Development, and International Trade Committees - constitute a specific instrument in the external affairs activities of the European Union. Their main task is to maintain and develop the Parliament’s international contacts by providing specific expertise in the form of practical knowledge and political understanding of situations, and of individuals, in the countries and regions for which they are responsible. Over the past years the role of interparliamentary delegations has become increasingly important, effectively becoming a form of parliamentary diplomacy.