Directorate for European and Bilateral Affairs

Directorate of European Affairs and Bilateral Issues

Head: Ms Anastasia Frangou

Tel: (+30) 2193733858, Fax: 210 3733459

e-mail: a.fragou@parliament.gr , ereo@parliament.gr

The Directorate of European Affairs and Bilateral Issues is charged with the Hellenic Parliament’s relationship building and development with European Union (EU) institutions and national Parliaments of EU member states, European regional conferences, initiatives, and partnerships, including relationship development and coordination at the level of Parliamentary Friendship Groups, bilateral issues monitoring and bilateral interparliamentary relations advancement and promotion.

The Directorate for European Affairs consists of the following departments and Office:

Department of EU

Head: Ms Despina Fola

tel.: (+30) 210 373 3538, – 3539, fax: (+30) 210 373 3548

e-mail: d.fola@parliament.gr , ereo@parliament.gr

The Department is charged with:

• Studying and monitoring the work and activities of the EU institutions and national parliaments of the EU member states, collecting data and information of institutional interest and on current affairs, in order to analyze, draft and present relevant contributions to the Committee on European Affairs and other committees.
• The administrative and scientific support of the work of the Committee on European Affairs and of the other committees and delegations of the Hellenic Parliament in the framework of interparliamentary cooperation within EU.
• Supporting the competent parliamentary committees in the scrutiny of draft legislative acts of EU institutions, including the monitoring of compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality
• Preparing the programme of official visits of the President of the Parliament or members of the Bureau of the Parliament to EU countries.

Activities:

• Ensuring the gathering and systematic classification of reports drawn up by MPs or staff members of delegations.
• Assisting the work of MPs and Greek MEPs in the European Parliament.
• Informing MPs participating in EU Institutions' missions on relevant issues and record keeping.
• Receiving and archiving regulatory documents, as well as consultation documents sent to the national parliaments by the by the institutions of the European Union.
• Creating, managing and updating a database of all texts sent by the EU institutions that allows MPs and Greek MEPs, as well as competent parliamentary services, to have easy and systematic access to them.
• The processing  and use of the aforementioned data in cooperation with the Department of European Studies of the Second Directorate of Scientific Studies of the Scientific Service of the Hellenic Parliament, in order to prepare the monitoring of the draft legislative acts of the European Union by the competent parliamentary committees.
• Linking with the IPEX website for the exchange of information between the national parliaments of the European Union on issues of their competence.
• Sending opinions adopted by the parliamentary committees on proposals for regulatory acts and consultation texts to the European Commission, IPEX, the Secretariat of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs (COSAC), the Hellenic government and to any other competent body of the European Union.

Department for European Regional Conferences

Head: Argyro Tragaki

Tel: 210 3733540, Fax: 210 3733459

e-mail: a.tragaki@parliament.gr

The Department is charged with:

Studying and monitoring the work and activities of European Regional Parliamentary Assemblies and Partnerships involving Hellenic Parliament membership, with the aim of promoting our country’s positions on international issues. The aforementioned Assemblies include: the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), the Parliamentary Assembly – Union for the Mediterranean (PAUFM), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC), the South East European Cooperation Process Parliamentary Assembly (SEECP PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie (APF), the Adriatic Ionian Initiative (AII), as well as other co-operation schemes and partnerships of European interest. 

Activities:

• Administrative and overall support to Hellenic Parliament delegations to the aforementioned Assemblies
• Study and documentation elaboration - in co-operation with the relevant Ministries - of international issues, for the optimal information of parliamentarians participating in missions
• Follow-up, monitoring, and systematic classification of reports and resolutions adopted by the aforementioned Regional Conferences and Partnerships, and their forwarding to competent Ministries
• Preparation of relevant informative material and documentation files for MPs
• Organisation ( planning, coordination and materialization) of conferences, meetings and visits to our countries at the level of chairpersons, plenaries or committees in the frame of the aforementioned Regional Conferences and Partnerships
• Preparation of relevant reports for the information of the President of the Hellenic Parliament
• Record keeping of Hellenic Parliament delegation activities in the frame of the aforementioned Assemblies; uploading relevant posts to Hellenic Parliament website

Department of Friendship Groups and Bilateral Issues

Head: Pinelopi Nikole

Tel: 210 3733422, Fax: 210 3733490

e-mail: p.nikole@parliament.gr

The Department is charged with:

Providing support to the Hellenic Parliament Friendship Groups, aimed at enhancing parliamentary diplomacy at the international bilateral level with other countries’ parliaments and promoting the country's positions on national and international issues. Moreover, managing bilateral contacts outside Friendship Group context , at the level of Presidents, Vice-Presidents and delegations of parliamentary committees.

Activities:

• Organization of contacts, visit exchange preparation and support at the level of Parliamentary Friendship Groups and other parliamentary delegations
• Planning and drafting relevant meeting and / or visit schedules
• Drafting meetings’ agenda and thematic units preparation and elaboration
• Providing administrative assistance and support to participating MPs/ preparation of relevant information folders
• Follow-up and monitoring of contacts / meetings, drafting of relevant reports
• Compilation of relevant press releases in collaboration with the head of the Greek delegation to be uploaded on the website of the Hellenic Parliament
• Keeping record of contacts in the Directorate's bilateral parliamentary relations archives

Hellenic Parliament Liaison Office with the European Parliament

Head: Efstathia Angelopoulou 

Tel: (+32) 2 284 45 64

e-mail: eleni.sianna@natparl.ep.europa.eu

The Liaison office is charged with the Hellenic Parliament’s systematic, on-field monitoring of European Parliament activities, as well as informing relevant HP departments on invitations to participate in European programs. Moreover manages cooperation and relations between the Hellenic Parliament and EU Parliaments’ liaison officers and the COSAC Secretariat. Its scope of activity includes the systematic monitoring and follow-up of European Parliament Committees work, its thematic-based association to HP Committees and their direct briefing, as well as briefing the HP relevant departments. The Office also informs the Hellenic Parliament on Greek MEPs parliamentary activities.

The Liaison Office maintains direct contact and receives systematic briefing by the Permanent Representation of Greece to the EU.

It is also charged with assisting Greek MPs participating in joint meetings with European Parliament committees.