The Forty-Fourth General Assembly of Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) will be held in Athens on 8-9 December 2014 and will be chaired by Mr. Vangelis Meimarakis, PABSEC President, President of the Hellenic Parliament and the PABSEC Vice-Presidents.

Established in 1993, the Assembly promotes parliamentary cooperation in the Black Sea region, concentrating its efforts on subjects of utmost importance for multilateral cooperation. The Assembly has played an essential role in fostering parliamentary dialogue aimed at creating a common vision of cooperation and promoting democracy, the rule of law, pluralistic society and free market economy.

PABSEC brings together members of parliaments from the twelve Member States of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

The Athens Session will be attended by the parliamentary delegations from Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

The BSEC Organization will be represented by the BSEC Chairman-in-Office, Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic Mr. Evangelos Venizelos and the Secretary General of the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat. The President of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank and the Director of the InternationalCenter for Black Sea Studies will also attend the meeting.

 

The Plenary Session will discuss: “BSEC Region as an Integral Part of the Global Cooperation” as the main topic of the General Debate on 9 December 2014.

The Assembly will conduct debates on the following Reports and Recommendations drafted by the PABSEC Committees during their recent meetings: “The Role of Parliaments of the BSEC Member States in Enhancement and Regulation of International Passenger and Cargo Transportation in the BSEC Region”, “Role of Parliaments in Providing Legislative Support to the Development of Small Entrepreneurship in the BSEC Member States” and “Gender Equality in the BSEC Region: Achievements and Challenges” .

The Assembly will also adopt Recommendations on these subjects addressed to the Parliaments and Governments of the Member States and to the Organization of the BSEC.

The members of the Assembly will consider the Progress Report of the Parliamentary Assembly.

PABSEC Budget for 2015 financial year will be adopted at the Plenary Session.

Elections of the PABSEC Vice-President and the PABSEC Secretary General will be held on 9 December.

The Bureau of the Assembly and the Standing Committee will meet on 8 December 2014 to discuss organizational matters related to the Plenary Session and to consider current issues of the Assembly’s activities.

Extraordinary meeting of the PABSEC Legal and Political Affairs Committee will be organized in the framework of the General Assembly on 8 December. The Committee will consider the amendments to the PABSEC Rules of Procedure and the Staff Regulation of the PABSEC International Secretariat.

At the end of the Athens Session, the PABSEC term Presidency will be taken over for the next six months by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. The next General Assembly will be held in Chisinau on 15-17 June 2015.