Fifty foreign delegations are expected to arrive to the conference of the highest political level. A total of 300 members of parliamentary delegations and guests from EU national Parliaments, the European Parliament, candidate and Eastern Partnership countries are expected to take part in the international event.
The Conference is due to start on 7 April 2014 with welcome addresses by Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission (video message from Brussels).
In Session I, the Speakers of European Union Parliaments will discuss the role of parliaments in tackling the consequences of the economic and financial crisis. Speeches will be delivered by Algirdas Butkevičius, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania; Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament (video conference); and Mogens Lykketoft, Speaker of the Folketing of the Kingdom of Denmark.
The title of Session II is Five years after coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon: lessons of subsidiarity checks in parliaments. This subject will be addressed by Milan Štěch, Chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic; Pietro Grasso, President of the Senate of the Italian Republic; Anouchka van Miltenburg, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; and Timothy Boswell, Chairman of the European Union Select Committee of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.
Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, will cover interparliamentary cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries in Session III. This part of the Conference will also feature speeches by Oleksandr Turchynov, acting President of Ukraine, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Igor Corman, President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova; David Usupashvili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia; Hovik Abrahamyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia; Oqtay Asadov, Chairman of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan; and Stanislav Shushkevich, former Speaker of the Supreme Council of Belarus.
Interparliamentary cooperation in the area of freedom, security and justice will be discussed in Session IV on 8 April 2014. Speeches will be made by Evangelos-Vasileios Meimarakis, Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament; Ewa Kopacz, Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland; Laura Boldrini, President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic; and Per Westerberg, Speaker of the Riksdag of the Kingdom of Sweden.
The Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments is expected to conclude with the adoption of the Presidency Conclusions. At the initiative of Barbara Prammer, President of the National Council of the Republic of Austria, commemoration of the International Roma Day and adoption of a declaration will also feature on the agenda of the Conference.
