EU's Foreign Minister confirms her support of a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Remarks of the EU's High Representative at an event in Rome

Speaking at an event in Rome, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, expressed her continued support for the proposal of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, UNPA.

Federica Mogherini speaking in Rome

Image: L. Puccini

"I have not changed my mind since I was a member of the Italian Parliament: a UN Parliamentary Assembly could be a very useful tool," Mrs. Mogherini said in Rome. She continued: "I don’t know how realistic it is to conceive its creation in the short run. But I think that a UNPA would help the UN to be more effective and help the system of global governance to create connections with an active and responsible citizenship. Indeed, a UN Parliamentary Assembly could strengthen the link between a system of global governance, which is remote by definition, and a citizenship that includes a global dimension."

As a member of the Italian Parliament Mrs. Mogherini endorsed the international appeal for a UNPA and authored a parliamentary motion on the subject. In a message on the occasion of the first Global Week of Action for a World Parliament in October 2014, Mrs. Mogherini stated that "the answer that is provided by the cooperation of nation-states is often no longer enough" to respond to "the globalization of economy and finance, the mounting imbalance in the distribution of wealth, or asymmetric threats to international security." She stressed that "There's an increased urgency that political institutions and instruments of participation and democracy also go through a process of globalization. That's why I support the establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly."

At the event in Rome, Mrs. Mogherini explained that "I’m a passionate advocate of parliamentary assemblies. I think that parliamentary diplomacy is one of the most powerful tools in the world. I believed it when I was a member of the Italian parliament, and I was even more convinced when I took on my successive responsibilities because I saw the need for a direct connection between citizen representation and the increasing need of international consensus. I experienced this at NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europea, and I see it every day at the European Parliament. Unfortunately, the international and global dimension of parliamentary assemblies are a huge tool whose enormous potential is often denied."

The topic of the event in Rome was EU relations with Latin-America. It was organized on 15 January 2016 by the Istituto Affari Internazionali

Top image: Istituto Affari Internazionali/Leonardo Puccini