Picture of the President of the Senate

President Jean-Pierre Bel’s Welcome Speech
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I wish you a warm welcome to the website of the French Senate for this fourteenth meeting of the Association of European Senates to be held at the Luxembourg Palace, in Paris, from 15th to 17th March 2012.

As has been the case since the creation of our Association, and recently in Madrid, I would like this meeting to be a platform for debate and suggestions on a current theme of our parliamentary and institutional life.

The Paris meeting will be held at a critical time for our countries, affected by a serious crisis which deeply worries our fellow citizens while demanding from political institutions at large, and particularly from Parliaments, an increased need for responsiveness and anticipation.

Cooperation between Parliaments, promoting the bicameral system, reinforcing the European identity as a whole: these three objectives will be largely discussed by our Association in Paris in 2012, as they have been for twelve years in each of our meetings.

I am therefore looking forward to this event which will allow us to exchange on parliamentary experiences and to formulate institutional proposals aiming at meeting the current political expectations.

Read the invitation letter (PDF - 59 Ko) sent by the President of the French Senate to his European counterparts

Discover the topic of the meeting and the roundtables