He made the following intervention;
"Mr. President,
Distinguished colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen
Today’s debate is about the relationship between national parliaments and European assemblies. As president of a national assembly, my approach would be how the activities in the various European assemblies affect the work of my parliament.
My main message would be: We should streamline and co-ordinate the activities between European assemblies better. And we should improve the follow-up in national parliaments.
Today the numbers of inter-parliamentary assemblies have mushroomed. We see a web of pan-European institutions with parliamentary pillars. They offer a wide range of political, economic and military instruments for co-operation and integration. We also see numerous regional and sub-regional organisations. They all have different mandates and memberships.
But by and large these institutions share a common platform: They strive to create stable democracies and political pluralism. They stimulate social and economic progress. They solve problems in important areas such as environment, human rights, social affairs and security.
But we should always aim at improving the work of our European assemblies. We have to avoid duplication and over-lapping. The different assemblies should co-ordinate their activities. And they should avoid broadening their agendas to issues were other assemblies have their competences. I know co-ordination is taking place, but I believe more can be done.
The connection to the ministerial side is also important. Norway is the current chairman of the Council of Europe. One of its priorities is to seek to strengthen dialogue and practical co-operation between the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the EU. I believe the parliamentary side could benefit from such co-operation with the ministerial side.
Being a member of a European assembly is time-consuming and demanding for national parliamentarians. Often obligations at home have to come before participation in international meetings. I believe stream-lining and concentration of meetings and items are necessary in order to let as many members as possible participate. Even more than today assemblies should have this in mind when they plan their activities."
Let me briefly mention my last point: the follow-up of European assemblies’ decisions in national parliaments. We often see that issues discussed in European assemblies are relevant for debates at home. We have all different systems of reporting back the results. And we should always try to improve our reporting-structures in national parliaments. But the most important contribution should come from members of the national delegations. I believe their task as "ambassadors" for their assembly at home is the most important way of getting attention to the work of the assemblies.
Better links between the relevant standing committees of the national parliaments and the work of the parliamentary assemblies should also be considered in this context.
And let me conclude by again underlining the need for concentration and co-ordination of the activities of European assemblies and for improving the follow-up in our national parliaments. Thank you for your attention."