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Brussels: For the first time the European Parliament will be
represented at the UN General Assembly opening next Tuesday in New York. On
Wednesday 26 September, its Vice-President Othmar Karas will represent it at a
high-level meeting on the rule of law. From 24 to 27 September, he will also
represent Parliament in the EU delegation, along with the European Commission
and Council, thus giving it a parliamentary, democratic dimension.
Vice President Karas will focus on access to justice, the
rule of law and the essential role that parliaments play in it at Wednesday's
meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), on the occasion of the
high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the rule of law.
The IPU brings together representatives of 163 parliaments.
Parliament's inclusion in the official EU delegation
"shows the honest commitment of European Heads of State and Government to
further democratisation and parliamentarisation of the European Union",
said Vice-President Karas, who is responsible for relations with international
institutions.
"If we are serious about making the EU not just a
project of governments, but of citizens, then the European Parliament, which is
the citizens' chamber, must be involved in all EU decisions. In the EU and
elsewhere, we see that traditional international law is reaching its limits. In
an ever more interlinked world, more and more transnational decisions are
necessary. This growing number of decisions cannot be taken without democratic
legitimisation", he added
The official EU delegation will also include European
Council President Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,
Baroness Catherine Ashton.