Chamber of Deputies

The Italian Parliament actively participates in EU interparliamentary cooperation initiatives whose streamlining and strengthening it has always supported. Cooperation takes place mainly through meetings with representatives of national Parliaments and the European Parliament on topics of common interest. Some fora of cooperation have been institutionalised and now convene on a regular basis thanks both to provisions to this effect in the Treaties and to agreements between Parliaments.

The Conference of EU Speakers

The Conference of EU Speakers (made up of the Speakers and Presidents of Member State Parliaments and the President of the European Parliament) works to protect and promote the role of parliaments and supervises and coordinates interparliamentary cooperation in all its forms and all the tools thereof.

The Conference is hosted annually by the Speaker/President of the Parliament of the Member State that held the presidency of the EU in the second half of the previous year. It comes to decisions by consensus.

The Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of the Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC)

The Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of the Parliaments of the European Union meets every six months at the Parliament of the Member State that holds the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union. Made up of six-member delegations from the committees with responsibility for EU affairs of each national Parliament plus six representatives of the European Parliament, COSAC may submit any contribution it deems useful for the attention of EU institutions. In no case shall these submissions be binding on national parliaments or prejudicial to their policy position.

Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)

The Conference for parliamentary oversight of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) meets twice a year in the country holding the six-month presidency of the Council or at the European Parliament in Brussels. It is made up of six members from each national parliament (three for each House in the case of bicameral parliaments), sixteen members from the European Parliament, plus four observer members from each European State belonging to NATO. The Conference can adopt non-binding conclusions by consensus.

Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union

The Conference on Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union is organised in implementation of Article 13 of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (known as the Fiscal Compact), in order to strengthen cooperation between national Parliaments and the European Parliament and contribute to guaranteeing democratic transparency in the economic governance and budgetary policies of the EU. The Conference convenes twice yearly: at the European Parliament in Brussels in the first semester, and in the Parliament of the country holding the six-month presidency of the EU Council in the second. Each Parliament determines the composition and size of its delegation. The presiding Parliament may present non-binding conclusions.

The Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol's Activities

The Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol, which commenced its work in 2017, was established pursuant to Article 88(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Specifically, "The organisation and functioning of Europol shall be determined by regulations adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure. These regulations shall also lay down the procedures for scrutiny of Europol's activities by the European Parliament, together with national parliaments."

Consequently, Regulation (EU) 2016/794 introduced a parliamentary scrutiny mechanism that includes the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group. The Group exercises political monitoring of Europol's activities, particularly where they affect the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals.

Meetings of representatives of corresponding Committees of EU Parliaments

Meetings between representatives of the corresponding committees of national Parliaments are organised by the Parliament of the Member State holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, or by the European Parliament, or, in some cases, by other Parliaments.

Interparliamentary administrative cooperation

Cooperation among the parliamentary offices and administrations of EU Member States allows sustained information sharing between Parliaments on matters of common interest, be they in preparation for a single initiative or interparliamentary event or part of the process of producing useful general tools and services for parliamentary bodies. This cooperation takes place at regular intervals mainly through the network of liaison officers working for the relevant European affairs offices of their national Parliament, as well as through representatives of national Parliaments who are posted to European institutions.

Administrative cooperation also entails specific joint projects, among the most important of which is the Interparliamentary EU information exchange, IPEX, which aims to facilitate the electronic exchange among Parliaments of documents and data concerning their respective European-related activities.