REGULATIONS REGULATIONS OF THE BALTIC ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA, REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA, AND REPUBLIC OF LATVIA Main Provisions The Baltic Assembly shall be a body for cooperation among the p

arliaments of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Estonia, and the Republic of Latvia. The Baltic Assembly shall be a consultative and coordinating institution set up to discuss common issues and joint projects. The Baltic Assembly may express its policy in the form of addresses, proposals, or recommendations to the parliaments and governments of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Estonia, and the Republic of Latvia, as well as to international and regional organizations. The working bodies of the Assembly shall be its session, the Presidium, committees and the Secretariat of the Baltic Assembly. The official languages of the Assembly shall be Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian. The working language of the Baltic Assembly shall be agreed on by consensus among the delegations. The Session of the Baltic Assembly The Baltic Assembly shall be made up of sixty parliamentarians of the Baltic states- twenty delegates from the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Estonia, and the Republic of Latvia each. The parliaments represented in the Baltic Assembly shall each establish their procedure for making up the delegations. The Baltic Assembly shall be deemed legitimate when no less than two-thirds of each of the delegations to the Baltic Assembly take part in its work. The sessions of the Baltic Assembly shall be convened twice a year. Special sessions may be convened at the request of one of the states, in which case the time and the venue of the session shall be established by the Presidium of the Baltic Assembly. Members of the governments of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia dealing with the issues of Baltic cooperation and, upon necessity, other members of the governments shall be invited to attend the sessions of the Baltic Assembly. Representatives of the parliaments and administrative units of other states may be invited to the sessions of the Baltic Assembly with the status of guests and observers. The session of the Baltic Assembly shall appoint the Presidium, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Baltic Assembly, the committees of the Baltic Assembly, their members and the Secretariat upon their nomination by the Baltic Assembly. Upon the nomination by the Presidium of the Baltic Assembly the session shall elect the Secretary of the Baltic Assembly. Records shall be made of the Assembly sessions. The records of the session shall be signed by the Chairman of the Presidium and his (her) deputies. The records shall be in the working languages of the Assembly. Initiation and Resolution of Issues The right to submit draft documents for discussion during the sessions of the Baltic Assembly shall be vested in the committees, party groups, and the delegations of the Baltic Assembly. Drafts may be also submitted by the presidents of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, and by their respective governments; the latter shall submit their drafts via the members of respective governments who deal with issues of Baltic cooperation. The policies of the Baltic Assembly and its working bodies shall be adopted by voting. Members of the Baltic Assembly shall vote individually; however, upon request by one of the delegations, all issues, with the exception of procedural questions, shall be resolved by consensus among the delegations. Decisions, which do not require consensus shall be deemed, adopted by a majority vote. Cooperation agreements with other international and regional organizations shall be adopted only by consensus of the members of the Baltic Assembly. The Presidium Assisted by the Secretary, the Presidium of the Baltic Assembly shall coordinate the work of all the Baltic Assembly bodies in between the sessions, shall prepare sessions of the Baltic Assembly, and shall supervise the implementation of resolutions adopted by the Baltic Assembly. The Presidium of the Baltic Assembly shall maintain ties with international organizations, as well as the parliaments and governments of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and other states. The Presidium of the Baltic Assembly shall be made up of two members from each national delegation: the chairman and the deputy chairman of the delegation, appointed by the national parliaments. During the sessions of the Baltic Assembly the Presidium shall appoint from its members a chairman and two deputy chairmen. The Chairman of the Presidium shall be a member of the delegation whose country is to host the next session of the Baltic Assembly. The deputy chairmen shall be from each of the other two states. The Presidium shall meet no less than four times a year. The Presidium of the Baltic Assembly shall submit a report on its activities to each session of the Baltic Assembly for the evaluation thereby. Records shall be made of the meetings of the Presidium of the Baltic Assembly and distributed to all members of the Baltic Assembly during all sessions. The records shall be signed by the Chairman of the Presidium and his (her) deputies during the same or the next meeting of the Presidium. The records shall be prepared by the secretariat of the country that hosted the Presidium meeting. The Committees of the Baltic Assembly The Baltic Assembly shall set up the following standing committees: 1) Legal, 2) Social and economic affairs, 3) Environment and energy, 4) Communications, 5) Education, science, and culture, 6) Security and foreign affairs. The Baltic Assembly may decide to set up other standing and ad hoc committees, including a budget and audit committee to control the expenditures of the Baltic Assembly. The Baltic Assembly shall set the main guidelines for the work of the committees. The committees of the Baltic Assembly shall meet no less than four times a year. At the end of the session, each committee shall elect its chairman and inform the session thereof. A committee shall be usually chaired by a member of the committee from the country that will host the next session of the Baltic Assembly. The chairman of a committee shall coordinate the work of the committee. Documents adopted by a committee take the shape of addresses which may be directly passed on to the Baltic Assembly as well as to the parliaments of the member-states of the Baltic Assembly. Each delegation shall nominate its members to the committees. Other members of the Baltic Assembly, representatives of the governments and experts may be invited to the meetings of a committee. The Secretariat The Secretariat shall ensure the regular activities of the Baltic Assembly. The Secretariat of the Baltic Assembly shall consist of the Secretary of the Baltic Assembly based in Ryga and secretaries of the Baltic Assembly delegations from the parliaments of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Estonia, and the Republic of Latvia. The candidacy of the Secretary of the Baltic Assembly shall be nominated by the Presidium of the Baltic Assembly and submitted for approval by the session of the Baltic Assembly. The Secretary of the Baltic Assembly shall be elected for a term of three years with the right to be reelected for a second term. The activities of the Secretary of the Baltic Assembly shall be equally financed by the three parliaments. The working premises of the Secretary of the Baltic Assembly shall be provided by the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. The sessions of the Baltic Assembly alone shall decide the issues of increasing the Baltic Assembly expenditures, divided into three equal parts, as well as issues of establishing additional staff positions. The Secretary shall draw up annual expenditure estimates which are subject to approval by the Baltic Assembly. Cooperation Among Party Groups Members of the Baltic Assembly may unite into regular or ad hoc groups which will be treated on equal terms with the committees during the discussion of drafts submitted to the Baltic Assembly. A party group may consist of no less than four members from two states. Party groups shall be registered by the Secretariat of the Baltic Assembly. Final provisions The regulations of the Baltic Assembly may be altered at a session of the Baltic Assembly only. The activities of the Baltic Assembly shall be terminated only upon a respective decision by the parliaments of the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Estonia, and the Republic of Latvia. Baltic Assembly Presidium Baltic Assembly Presidium Baltic Assembly Presidium Chairman Deputy Chairman Deputy Chairman Ulo NUGIS Gunars MEIEROVICS Egidijus BIČKAUSKAS Republic of Estonia Republic of Latvia Republic of Lithuania Tallinn, October 31, 1993