Delegation of the National Council at the meeting of the Association of European Senates in Bern

The delegation of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia, led by the President of the National Council, Mr Mitja Bervar, attended the 17th meeting of the Association of European Senates, held from 19 to 21 October 2016 in Bern, Switzerland.

In addition to the National Council's President, the delegation consisted of the Vice-President of the National Council, Mr Branko Šumenjak, the Secretary General of the National Council, Mr Marjan Maučec, the Secretary of the Commission for International Relations and European Affairs, Ms Lilijana Žurman, and the Head of the Office of the President of the National Council, Ms Ariana Debeljak. During the visit, the delegation was accompanied by the Slovenian Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr Franc Mikša.

The main topics of the meeting were the fight against terrorism in Europe and the role of second chambers in the decision-making processes of national parliaments.

Switzerland believes that the fight against terrorism is important in order to ensure the security of society. Preventive measures by the international community and, in this context, the extent of parliaments’ roles in the fight against international terrorism are also important. In view of the recent events in France, the President of the French senate spoke about France’s experiences.

In his address, the President of the National Council outlined the composition, powers and activities of the second chamber of Slovenian Parliament, stressing that, as a result of its relatively weak powers guaranteed by the Constitution, the National Council has in practice forged strong ties with citizens and civil society, thereby comprising a bridge between civil society and day-to-day politics. It has turned out that, in a representative democracy, a bicameral parliamentary system may be a solution to reducing the democratic deficit, which is one of the main criticisms voiced by citizens when it comes to their attitude to national representative bodies and to the European Union. In this regard, Mr Bervar proposed that, in view of initiatives and requests for changes in the European Union that would help overcome existing doubts and carve the right path into the future, consideration should also be given to the notion of a bicameral European parliament This vision could also be interesting in the context of efforts to improve communication between national parliaments and the European Parliament. Mr Bervar added that we should be aware that in future the strength of the European Union will be reflected in the ability of each and every European citizen to identify with the European Union and its decisions.

At the margins of the meeting, the President of the National Council held a number of bilateral meetings. He met the President of the Council of States of Switzerland, Raphaël Comte, the Vice-President of the Senate of Romania, Ioan Chelaru, the President of the Senate of Italy, Pietro Grasso, the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko, and the President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Spain, Pio Garcia-Escudero. The talks demonstrated that bilateral cooperation between countries is excellent, and inter-parliamentary cooperation will be further strengthened in the coming year, when the National Council will host the 18th meeting of the Association of European Senates.

On Wednesday, 19 October, prior to attending the meeting in Bern, the delegation of the National Council visited Zürich, where National Council President Mitja Bervar attended the conference 'The trend of increasing tourist exchanges between Slovenia and Switzerland', held at the headquarters of the Swiss Tourism Federation, where he also addressed the participants. He emphasised, among other things, that Slovenia is internationally considered a safe country and a green tourist destination in terms of both global indices and the perception of residents and actual and potential tourists. This is also confirmed by the fact that Slovenia has become the world's first country to acquire the flattering title of 'Green Destination' on the basis of the global sustainable tourism criteria.

In Bern, the delegation of the National Council also met the staff of the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Switzerland and was given a tour of Banič Plastische Chirurgie AG clinic.