Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State to Celebrate its 15th Anniversary

On April 29th, 1996 at the meeting in St. Petersburg the leaders of our countries’ parliaments, in accordance with the Treaty Establishing the Commonwealth of Russia and Belarus, signed an Agreement Establishing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Russia and Belarus. The first session of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Assembly was held in Smolensk on June 25th 1996, reports the press office of the Parliamentary Assembly.

On April 29^th, 1996 at the meeting in St. Petersburg the leaders of our countries’ parliaments, in accordance with the Treaty Establishing the Commonwealth of Russia and Belarus, signed an Agreement Establishing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Russia and Belarus. The first session of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Assembly was held in Smolensk on June 25^th 1996, reports the press office of the Parliamentary Assembly.

Signing of the Treaty Establishing the Union of Belarus and Russia took place on April 2^nd, 1997. On May 23, 1997 the governments approved the Charter of the Union of Belarus and Russia which defined the competence and functioning procedure of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, reorganized from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Assembly.

The Treaty Establishing the Union State was signed on December 8^th, 1999. In accordance with the Treaty Establishing the Union State, Union State Parliamentary Assembly serves as the Parliament of the Union State till the elections to the House of Representatives of the Union State Parliament.

Powers, membership, procedure of the Parliamentary Assembly are specified in the Regulations of the Union State Parliamentary Assembly, which were approved on June 13^th, 1997. New text of the Regulations was adopted on June 22^nd, 2006 (the latest amendments and additions were introduced by the Decree of the Parliamentary Assembly as of December 9^th, 2010).

The Parliamentary Assembly consists of deputations, formed respectively of the Council of the Republic and the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus as well as of the Federation Council and State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Parliamentary Deputations include an equal number of representatives: 36 from the parliaments of the member states.

Over the years deputations have formed the basis of union parliamentarism, set priorities and defined the guidelines for Russian-Belarusian integration. It is a common work of the Council of the Republic of Belarusian National Assembly, the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and deputies of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, State Duma of the Russian Federation. They have reached mutual understanding on many key issues and now work in close cooperation.