Parliamentary assemblies

Some 100 members of the Riksdag currently take part in the Riksdag's delegations to six parliamentary assemblies.

Their work involves participating in the regular meetings - sessions - of these assemblies, where topical issues are discussed and resolutions adopted.

The delegation to the Nordic Council

The Nordic Council is a body for cooperation among the parliaments and governments of the Nordic countries. The Council works in the same way as a national parliament – but at the Nordic level.

The Nordic Council was founded in 1952. It has 87 elected members from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands, Åland and Greenland, as well as representatives of the governments of these countries/territories.

Most matters that are considered concern domestic policy. They may, for example, concern border barriers, such as rules that impede those wishing to live in one Nordic country and work in another. The Nordic Council also works with foreign and security policy issues, primarily in relation to the Baltic and Arctic regions.

Takes initiatives and gives recommendations

The Council takes initiatives and gives recommendations on various issues to one or more of the Nordic governments. Many of its recommendations lead to concrete measures such as legislative amendments or new legislation in the member states or territories. Checks are carried out to ensure that the recommendations are implemented as intended.

Activities of the Nordic Council are led and coordinated by the Presidium. The Presidium and committees prepare matters to be dealt with by the members at Council sessions. There are five committees in the Nordic Council:

• The Culture, Education and Training Committee
• The Citizens' and Consumer Rights Committee
• The Environment and Natural Resources Committee
• The Welfare Committee
• The Business and Industry Committee

As a rule, the Council holds two larger meetings - sessions - per year. If necessary, it can also convene for extraordinary sessions or conferences on topical issues for Nordic cooperation. Between sessions, the Presidium is the supreme decision-making body.

There are five party groups in the Nordic Council:

• the Social Democratic Group
• the Centre Groupthe Conservative Group
• the Left-wing Socialist Green Group
• Nordic Freedom

The party political distribution in the national parliaments is reflected in the composition of the Nordic Council.

The Swedish delegation

For each electoral period, the Riksdag elects 20 ordinary members and 20 deputy members to the Nordic Council. The delegation chooses a chair, deputy chair and a working committee. Ahead of sessions, the Government appoints the ministers who are to participate. These are also part of the delegation, but are not entitled to vote. Every year the delegation submits a report to the Riksdag on its activities.

The Nordic Council website

The delegation to the Council of Europe

The Council of Europe works to create a set of common fundamental principles based on human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Sweden was one of the founders of the Council of Europe and its parliamentary assembly over 60 years ago.

The Council of Europe was established in 1949 and has 47 member states today. Only countries with a democratic form of government are granted membership.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) works with virtually all matters dealt with by the national parliaments, with the exception of defence issues. Democracy and human rights are the core areas dealt with by the Council of Europe but topical political issues are gaining increasing attention. With its 211 conventions, which the member states are obliged to follow, the Council of Europe plays an important role in setting standards for European policies today. One of the best known conventions is the European Convention on Human Rights.

Election monitoring

An important task for the parliamentarians is to examine how well the member states honour their commitments. Election monitoring is an important part of this examination. During monitoring missions, which are organised together with the OSCE, parliamentarians visit polling stations on election day in order to observe whether citizens in the country are given adequate opportunities to vote. Election monitoring promotes democratic development and the Swedish delegation to the Council of Europe has participated in several missions in recent years.

Election monitoring

Adopts resolutions and issues statements

The PACE meets four times a year in Strasbourg where the organisation also has its headquarters. During these sessions the Assembly debates various reports, adopts recommendations addressed to the Committee of Ministers as well as resolutions, and makes statements on topical issues.

The PACE has nine specialised committees and one standing committee, which meet between sessions. The committees are:

• The Standing Committee
• The Monitoring Committee (the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe)
• The Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy
• The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
• The Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
• The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced PersonsThe Committee on Culture, Science, Education and MediaThe Committee on Equality and Non-DiscriminationThe Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and InstitutionsThe Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights

Five political groups

There are five political groups in the PACE:

• The Socialist Group (SOC)
• The European Democrat Group (EDG)
• The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)
• The European Democrat Group (EDG)
• The Group of the Unified European Left (UEL)

The Swedish delegation

The Swedish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is elected by the Riksdag for a full electoral period, that is for a four-year period. The delegation has six members, including a chair and deputy chair, and six deputy members. Every year the delegation submits a report to the Riksdag on its activities.

• The Council of Europe website
• The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe website

The OSCE delegation

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), is an organisation for security policy dialogue and cooperation in Europe. It works to prevent conflicts and protect human rights. An important task for the parliamentary assembly is to monitor parliamentary elections in different countries.

The OSCE was established in 1975, and the Parliamentary Assembly was formed in 1991. The Assembly consists of parliamentarians from 56 participating states. In addition to countries in Europe, Russia, countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as the USA and Canada are also members. Each country is represented in relation to its size.

Central to the OSCE's activities are conflict-prevention measures, protection of national minorities and human rights, support to democracy-building, arms control and confidence- and security-building measures.

Adopts resolutions

The OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly debates topical issues and adopts resolutions designed to increase security and cooperation in Europe. Resolutions are not legally binding for the participating countries, but can influence their foreign policy.

The Parliamentary Assembly has three annual meetings: a winter meeting, an annual session and an autumn meeting. Every other year a special meeting is also held, focusing on economic issues. Work takes place in plenary sessions and in three committees.

Ahead of the annual session, the committees prepare a report and a draft resolution on the chosen topic of the session. Members can also present proposals of their own. The three committees are:

• The General Committee on Political Affairs and Security
• The General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment
• The General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions

An ambassador cooperates with government representatives and with the Parliamentary Assembly. This facilitates ongoing cooperation between the various bodies and between participating countries, even though the Parliamentary Assembly has so few meetings during the year.

The Parliamentary Assembly can also appoint special working groups for different subject areas or countries. At present there are three such working groups - for Moldova, Belarus and for relations between the OSCE institutions.

Special representatives can be appointed by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly to promote dialogue and to gain better knowledge of a specific issue. Today there are special representatives for Afghanistan, Central Asia, Mediterranean affairs, migration, the south Caucasus, south-east Europe, gender issues, human trafficking and the OSCE budget.

Monitors elections

In order to promote democratic development, the Parliamentary Assembly monitors parliamentary elections and, in certain cases, presidential elections, in various countries. The monitoring missions are often carried out in new democracies in the former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe, in Central Asia, as well as in the USA. These are sometimes carried out in collaboration with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament.

The Swedish OSCE delegation participates actively in the monitoring of elections. Whenever possible, members of the Riksdag who have received training also take part in the Swedish OSCE delegation during elections. They then visit polling stations on election day in order to observe compliance with election laws.

Election monitoring

The Swedish delegation

The Riksdag delegation to the OSCE is chosen by the Riksdag for an entire electoral period, that is for four years. The delegation comprises eight members, from whom a chair and deputy chair are chosen for the full electoral period. Every year the delegation submits a report to the Riksdag on its activities.

• The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe website
• The OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly website

The IPU delegation

The Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) is a global organisation for the parliaments of independent states. It was established over one hundred years ago to promote peace and international cooperation. The organisation currently comprises members from 179 national parliaments.

The IPU was established in 1889 and the number of members has more than doubled in the last thirty years. The organisation serves to foster contacts between parliamentarians in all countries and to encourage the development of parliamentary institutions. Helping to build democratic functions, work procedures and functioning parliaments represents an increasing share of the IPU's activities.

The IPU also pursues extensive development cooperation activities in matters relating to representative democracy, human rights and, in particular, gender equality and the participation of women in politics. It defends human rights among parliamentarians and promotes international security and sustainable development.

Over the years, the IPU has developed closer relations with the UN and it has had observer status in the General Assembly since 2002.

Non-binding resolutions

The IPU does not take any decisions that are binding for the member states or their parliaments. Its activities focus on presenting concrete proposals and adopting resolutions in the main topics debated at each assembly.

The organisation has four standing committees that work with the following issues:

• Peace and International Security (First Committee)
• Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade (Second Committee)
• Democracy and Human Rights (Third Committee)
• The UN (Fourth Committee)

The Swedish delegation

The Swedish delegation is appointed by the Speaker of the Riksdag in consultation with the parliamentary party group leaders. It consists of five people: a chair, a deputy chair and three other members. Additional delegates with a specialist knowledge of the subject areas being dealt with are able to attend the spring sessions. This makes it easier to link and integrate discussions at the conferences into the work of the Riksdag committees.

Every year the delegation submits a report on its activities to the Riksdag Board. It is then considered by the Committee on Foreign Affairs and debated in the Chamber.

The Inter-parliamentary Union website

The NATO delegation

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly is a forum for members of parliament from the NATO member countries and associated members. The Assembly works with defence and security policy issues in a broad perspective. The Riksdag has been an associated member since 2003.

NATO is a defence policy alliance between the USA, Canada and several countries in Europe. The organisation was founded in 1951.

Parliamentary cooperation has been developed successively since 1955. Activities in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly started in their current form in 1967-1968. The purpose of the activities is to promote understanding among the parliaments of the NATO alliance for the security challenges facing the cooperation.

The Assembly follows NATO's agenda and its activities are shaped by NATO's political priorities and goals.

The website of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly

Participates in debates but does not vote

The Assembly gathers a large number of parliamentarians from member countries, associated countries, partner countries and observers.

The Swedish delegation was an observer to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly until 2003, when it acquired status as an associated member. As such, it can participate in debates and most other activities that are organised but does not have the right to vote, and does not pay a fee to the Assembly. Other associated members include Finland and Switzerland.

As a result of political developments in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly has expanded since 1991. Today, it includes parliamentarians from a large number of new democracies with both member and associated member status.

The Assembly meets at two annual meetings, known as sessions, in the spring and the autumn. The activities then take place partly at plenary meetings and partly in five committees.

The five committees are:

• the Defence and Security Committee
• the Economics and Security Committee
• the Political Committee
• the Science and Technology Committee
• the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security

The committees present reports and proposals for resolutions on various subjects within their areas of activity. The reports and resolutions are debated during the spring session and are then adopted at the autumn session.

Exchange of knowledge in security policy matters

During the year, each committee also organises visits and seminars in various places in the member countries. Each year, Rose-Roth seminars are arranged with the purpose of exchange of knowledge and dialogue on topical security policy issues. These seminars are organised primarily in countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Swedish delegation

The Swedish Delegation is appointed by the Speaker, in consultation with the party group leaders in the Riksdag. The delegation consists of five ordinary members, including one chair and one deputy chair, plus five deputy members. Each year, the delegation presents an annual report to the Speaker.

The PA-UfM delegation (formerly EMPA)

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM), is a meeting place for parliamentarians from the EU member states and the Mediterranean countries. The Assembly aims to create a common area of peace, stability and shared prosperity around the Mediterranean.

The Assembly has 280 members from the EU member states and the European Parliament as well as the partner countries Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. Since 2009, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Mauritania, Monaco and Montenegro have also participated.

The work of the Assembly aims to contribute to greater understanding and cooperation between the participating countries. The objective is to create a common area around the Mediterranean where there is peace and stability, shared prosperity and strengthened cooperation in social and cultural issues, based on fundamental principles such as respect for human rights and democracy.

Cooperation arose from the Barcelona Process, which is a partnership at government level between the EU and the Mediterranean countries initiated in 1995. Eventually, this cooperation developed into the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP or Euro-Med). A consultative parliamentary assembly, the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA), was established in 2004. Four years later cooperation at government level intensified and became the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). Its parliamentary assembly is known as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM).

Consultative Assembly

The Assembly is consultative and meets once a year at a session where it adopts non-binding resolutions. Much of the Assembly's work takes place in the five committees which are organised around the following themes:

• political dialogue and security policy
• economic and financial cooperation
• energy and environment
• cultural and social exchange
• women's rights

The Swedish delegation

The Swedish Parliament is a member of the PA-UfM, but will not be nominating a delegation during the current term of office and will therefore not be participating in the work of the PA-UfM.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean website

The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC)

The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) is a forum for political dialogue between parliamentarians, that is, members of national parliaments in the Baltic Sea region. The purpose of this parliamentary cooperation is to highlight and push issues of importance for the Baltic Sea region and to support various initiatives that promote environmentally and socially sustainable development.

The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference takes place once a year and gathers parliamentarians from eleven national parliaments, eleven regional parliaments and five interparliamentary organisations around the Baltic Sea. The first Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference was held in Helsinki in 1991.

Adopts resolutions

At the annual conference, the parliamentarians deal with specific policy areas that are important to the region. These include, for example, the environment, energy, the labour market and health and welfare. During the conferences, the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) also presents its work and its priorities. The CBSS is a body for cooperation between the governments in the Baltic Sea region.

The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference cannot take any decisions that are binding for the member states. Instead, the parliamentarians adopt resolutions, joint decisions containing political recommendations to the governments in the cooperating member states.

Work throughout the year

The Standing Committee is the permanent political body of the Conference. Its primary task is to prepare the annual conference and to follow up resolutions.

Work is also conducted in working groups, where the members prepare reports and political recommendations in various policy areas. There are also specially appointed rapporteurs, with the task of monitoring various policy areas.

The Swedish delegation

The Speaker appoints the Swedish delegation after consulting the party group leaders in the Riksdag. The delegation consists of five members, including a chair and a deputy chair. Each year, the delegation gives an account of its activities as part of the Nordic Council's annual report.

The BSPC website

Sweden holds the presidency between August 2020 and August 2021

The presidency of the BSPC rotates between the member states. Sweden will take over the presidency in August 2020 until August 2021. During this period, the Chair of the Swedish delegation Pyry Niemi (Social Democratic Party) will be the President of the BSPC. Next year the conference will be held in Stockholm.

The theme of the Swedish Presidency is "Sustainable democracy - how to face a changing world", and its focus will be various aspects of democracy, civic engagement, trust and political participation. During the year, there will be a spotlight on:

• Reliable neighbourly relations, intensive cooperation, inclusive participation and trust in the democratic system with a special focus on young people and the role of civil society.
• Democracy in a changing media landscape 
• Adaptation to a new demography and challenges to the welfare model
• Climate change and biological diversity.

The Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (CPAR)

The Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (CPAR) is a forum for political dialogue between parliamentarians, that is, member of national parliaments, in the Arctic region. The purpose of this cooperation is to promote matters of importance for the Arctic region and its population. The focus is on the conditions for addressing the challenges and utilising the opportunities in a changed Arctic.
The CPAR is the parliamentary equivalent to the Arctic Council and participates in the Council's work as an observer.

The Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region takes place every other year and gathers parliamentarians from the eight national parliaments in the Arctic states and the European Parliament. Representatives of indigenous peoples are also included as permanent participants. Observers from parliaments and organisations with an interest in developments in the Arctic region also participate in the conference. The first conference was held in Reykjavik in 1993.

Adopts resolutions

At the conference, the parliamentarians deal with specific policy areas of importance to the region. Special importance is attached to climate change, economic developments and a sustainable use of natural resources, the living conditions of the population and civil security.
During the conference, government representatives give an account of work in the Arctic Council. The conference closes with the parliamentarians adopting a resolution – a joint decision – containing recommendations to the governments of the Arctic states, the Arctic Council and – where relevant – the EU institutions.

Work throughout the year

The Standing Committee is the permanent political body of the CPAR. The Committee's primary task is to prepare the annual conference and to follow up resolutions. Ahead of each conference, the Committee appoints rapporteurs for the various themes of the coming conference.

The Swedish delegation

The Speaker appoints the Swedish delegation after consulting the party group leaders in the Riksdag. The delegation consists of five members, including one chair and one deputy chair. Every year, the delegation gives an account of its activities as part of the Nordic Council's annual report.

The CPAR website

Parliamentary Barents cooperation

Parliamentary Barents cooperation has the purpose of highlighting and promoting issues of common interest to countries and regions in the Barents region. This includes northern Finland, northern Sweden, northern Norway and north-western Russia.

Barents cooperation was initiated in 1993 and is based on the Kirkenes Declaration. The purpose was to secure peace, stability and progress in the region. On the governmental side, cooperation is led by the foreign ministers in the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC). Cooperation also takes place between the regions in the Barents area, and is led by the Barents Regional Committee (BRC).

Parliamentary conference every other year

The parliamentary cooperation has the nature of a network and therefore has no statutes or permanent bodies. Examples of recurring topics are the environment, climate, infrastructure, international contacts, the conditions of indigenous peoples, innovations and economic development in the region.
Every other year, a Barents Parliamentary Conference is held, during which parliamentarians, representatives of counties and regions in the Barents region participate. Indigenous peoples' organisations and other relevant organisations are also represented.

Party groups nominate members

Five members of the Riksdag normally participate in the conferences. Ahead of each conference, the party groups nominate members, after which the Speaker determines the composition of the delegations. During the conference, a resolution is adopted, with political recommendations to the governments in the region.