Day one of the Inter-parliamentary conference on the common foreign and security policy and the common security and defence policy started with the meeting of Troika Presidency and European Parliament, followed by the meeting of heads of delegations participating in the gathering moderated by Mr Nico Schrijver, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development Cooperation of the Senate, Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the meeting on margins on civic sphere of the common foreign and security policy, in the organisation of Ms Doris Wagner, representative of the German Bundestag.

A seminar titled “The arms trade and European Security: European governance and the role of Parliaments” was organised for participants of the gathering. The seminar discussed recent developments in EU governance of arms exports and their effect on member state policies. Moreover it discussed the opportunities of member states, and possibilities of parliaments in scrutinizing government policy in the subject field. On the basis of presentations and discussions, they jointly stated that arms exports may have significant implications on policies of member states and the European Union, and that significant attention should be devoted to this. On the occasion, a special accent was placed on redefining the role of parliaments in governing arms trade in Europe.

Working day of the Inter-parliamentary conference ended by the meeting of political groups.

Chairperson of the Committee on International Relations and Emigrants Mr Miodrag Vuković and member of the Security and Defence Committee Mr Luiđ Ljubo Škrelja are participating in the Inter-parliamentary conference on the common foreign and security policy and the common security and defence policy, being held in The Hague, from 6 to 8 April.

Inter-parliamentary conference, organised within Dutch presidency of the European Union Council, will be continued tomorrow.