NordenBladet — At today’s plenary sitting, the Riigikogu formed the Estonian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski is the head of the delegation.
Eerik-Niiles Kross and Jaak Madison are members of the delegation, and Indrek Saar and Raivo Tamm are substitute members.
The explanatory memorandum to the Resolution notes that, according to Article 26 of the statute of the organisation, Estonia as a full member of the Council of Europe has the right to form a three-member delegation to the parliamentary assembly.
The number of the delegation members is proportional to the size of the population. Estonia also has the right to appoint up to three substitute members as necessary.
The membership of the delegation is such as to ensure equitable representation of the various political forces, and women and men, in the Riigikogu.
The substitute members of the delegation are entitled to participate in all sittings of the plenary and committees of the Assembly.
The Estonian delegation has three votes at votings.
Plenary session of the PACE meets four times a year – in January, April, June and September.
The most important documents are legally binding agreements and conventions, and recommendations to the governments of member countries in basic issues of society.
English and French are the official working languages of the Assembly.
82 members of the Riigikogu voted in favour of the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Estonian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe” (16 OE), submitted by the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Source: Parliament of Estonia