The 42nd PABSEC General Assembly, Tbilisi, 17-19 December 2013

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) will hold its General Assembly on 17-19 December in Tbilisi and will be chaired by Mr. David Usupashvili, PABSEC President, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia.

Parliamentarians from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine will attend the meeting in Tbilisi. The President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Igor Corman, will attend the meeting as Special Guest. The Secretary General of the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat and the Secretary General of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank will also participate in the meeting. Among observers and guests will be the representatives of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic Speaking Countries and the Marmara Group Foundation.

The General Assembly will include a meeting of the Bureau, a meeting of the Standing Committee, the 41st Meeting of the PABSEC Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee, and four sittings of the Plenary Session of the Assembly.

The elections of the Committee’s Chairman will be held during the meeting of the Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee.

The Heads of the national PABSEC delegations will discuss “Prospects for Agricultural and Rural Development in the BSEC Region” as the main topic of the General Debate.

During the four sittings of the Plenary Session Assembly, the PABSEC members will conduct debates on the following Reports and Recommendations drafted by the PABSEC specialized Committees during their autumn meetings: “Global Climate Change: Causes, Effects and Possible Consequences for the BSEC Member States”, “Role of the PABSEC in Enhancement of Cooperation in the Black Sea Region: Challenges and Prospects” and “Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage - Challenge of Linking Cultural and Tourist Routes in the Countries of the Black Sea Region”. The Assembly will then adopt Recommendations on these subjects addressed to the Parliaments and Governments of the Member States and to the Organization of the BSEC.

The participants will be also informed on the activities of the Organization of the BSEC and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank.

The PABSEC members will adopt the Progress Report, the Budget for the Financial Year 2014 and will set up the Draft Budget and Auditing Commission.

On 17 December the Bureau of the Assembly and the Standing Committee will meet to discuss organization matters related to the General Assembly.

The Tbilisi General Assembly will become the final stage of marking the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the PABSEC. During the events in the framework of the General Assembly the Commemorative medals “20th Anniversary of the PABSEC” will be awarded to present and former members of the Assembly. 

On 19 December the PABSEC term Presidency will be taken over for the next six months by the Hellenic Parliament. The next General Assembly will be held in Athens on 12-14 May 2014.

The 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 main goal of the Assembly is to provide consistent legislative and political support to the BSEC, concentrating its efforts on subjects of utmost importance for multilateral economic cooperation.