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Speakers of CES parliaments create Eurasia integration workgroup

This decision was taken at a meeting of State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin

ST. PETERSBURG, May 17 (Itar-Tass) — Parliament speakers of the member states of the Customs Union and Common Economic Space (CES) have established a working group on issues of the parliamentary dimension of the Eurasian economic integration. This decision was taken at a meeting of State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin, head of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Andreichenko and chairman of the Majilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Nigmatulin.

Sergei Naryshkin told reporters that “the main task of the group will be forming the so-called roadmap for the parliamentary dimension of the Eurasian integration.” “We so far cannot predict how the parliamentary dimension will be developing: whether it will be first the Inter-Parliamentary Eurasian Assembly, which will grow into an independent parliamentary body of the Eurasian Economic Union, or will it be another form,” he said. “This group will be working out such proposals.” Members of the group, he said, will take into account the experience of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC).

According to the protocol on the consultations’ results received by Itar-Tass, the parties agreed “to establish a working group on issues of the parliamentary dimension of the Eurasian economic integration that will include parliamentarians and administrative staff, as well as experts.” It is planned that by July 1, 2012, the houses of the Parliaments of the member states of the Customs Union and Single Economic Space will send to the group their representatives. It is planned to call meetings of the representatives of the parliaments and experts at least once every two months to prepare issues for discussion by the working group.

The speakers have decided to attract parliamentarians of CIS member states and representatives of government agencies and international organisations for the participation in the group’s meetings as observers. The Russian Federal Assembly is entrusted with the task to settle organisational questions of the creation of the working group, to work out the draft regulations and draft procedure of its work. The group has been charged with the task by January 1, 2013 “to prepare proposals on the development of the parliamentary dimension of the Eurasian Economic Integration,” it is said in the protocol, signed by Sergei Naryshkin who chaired the meeting.

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