Pristatymas

Article 122 of the EU-Albania Stabilisation and Association Agreement

STABILISATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT
between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part

ARTICLE 122

A Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee is hereby established. It shall be a forum for Members of the Albanian Parliament and the European Parliament to meet and exchange views. It shall meet at intervals that it shall itself determine.

The Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee shall consist of Members of the European Parliament, on the one hand, and of Members of the Parliament of Albania, on the other.

The Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee shall establish its Rules of Procedure.

The Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee shall be chaired in turn by the European Parliament and the Parliament of Albania, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in its Rules of Procedure.

D-AL: The Delegation to the EU-Albania SAPC

The European Parliament's relations with the Kuvendi, Albania's parliament, are channelled through its Delegation to the EU-Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, abbreviated as D-AL.

As the name of the Delegation indicates, a specific forum - a "Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee" (SAPC) - has been established to bring together elected representatives from the European and Albanian legislatures.

The 14-member D-AL delegation, created in 2014, represents half of this Committee.

Members and Chair

In addition to its 14 full members, the European Parliament's Albania delegation counts a number of substitute members.

Albania's delegation to the Parliamentary Committee also includes 14 members, providing a balanced counterpart to the European Parliament's group.

The Chair of the European Parliament's delegation is MEP Monica Macovei, a Romanian member of the Group of European Conservatives and Reformists in the European Parliament. She is supported by two Vice-Chairs: MEPs Elly Schlein and Ivan Jakovčić.

As Chair of the delegation, Ms Macovei is also Co-Chair of the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee.

Delegation work

The delegation meets on its own occasionally in Brussels or Strasbourg.

These meetings address administrative matters, such as the election of Chair or Vice-Chairs and the preparations for the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee sessions.

The meetings also examine matters of substance, such as the political and economic situation in Albania and the bilateral relationship.

Members of the delegation regularly invite outside experts to make presentations or exchange views on relevant topics. Albania's Ambassador to the EU and staff from the EU Commission's Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Directorate-General have, for example, recently contributed to D-AL delegation meetings.

Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee meetings

The lion's share of the delegation's work is invested in the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee.

The committee meets once or twice a year, either in Albania or within the European Parliament, in Brussels or Strasbourg. Each event normally continues for two half-days and includes representatives of the government of Albania, the European Commission and the EU, and rotating presidency, who are guests of the parliamentarians.

An agenda of each meeting usually focuses on 4-6 topics important to bilateral relations. The first topic concerns bilateral relations and preparations for Albania's EU accession negotiations. The Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations may participate, as may Albania's Minister for European Integration or other high-ranking EU and Albanian officials.

Subsequent topics of discussion are introduced by a "first speaker" - usually a member of parliament. The first speaker's introduction is followed by an exchange of views with all the committee members.

At the end of its sessions, the committee generally adopts a set of recommendations. These must be approved by a simple majority of the members of each delegation who are also present at the meeting. Committee meeting often concludes with a press conference of the Co-Chairs.

The committee sessions are public. Minutes of the committee meetings are adopted at the following meeting, and audio recordings of the meetings are available on request. Some meetings may be webstreamed on the web page of the European Parliament or of the Kuvendi.

Travelling

When travelling to Albania for meetings of the Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, the European Parliament's delegation tries to organise additional discussions with Ambassadors from the EU, NGOs and representatives of the Albanian administration. These provide useful and informed - though also sometimes divergent - views of the local situation.

MEPs also participate in field visits to projects financed from EU sources, so they can scrutinise how the EU funds are used abroad.