243 SESA 04 E N A T O   P a r l i a m e n t a r y   A s s e m b l y FIFTIETH ANNUAL SESSION MINUTES of the PLENARY SITTING Sala Grande, Palazzo del Cinema, Lido, Venice, Italy Tuesday 16  November 2004 International Secretariat December 2004

243 SESA 04 E 1 The  Session  was  opened  at  9.10  a.m.  on  Tuesday  16  November  2004,  with  the  Hon  Doug Bereuter (United States), President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, in the Chair. 1. Opening of the Sitting The  President  declared  the  50^th  Annual  Session  of  the  NATO  Parliamentary  Assembly  open  and welcomed guests and members. 2. Address by Mr Giancarlo Galan, President of the Veneto Region Mr Galan addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mr Galan. 3. Address by the Hon Doug Bereuter, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly The President addressed the Assembly. 4. Address by Mr Marcello Pera, Speaker of the Italian Senate Mr Pera addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mr Pera. 5. Address  by  Ambassador  Alessandro  Minuto  Rizzo,  Deputy  Secretary  General  of  NATO, followed by a question and answer period Ambassador Rizzo addressed the Assembly and answered questions from Mr Erdem (Turkey) and Mrs Kalantzakou (Greece). The President thanked Ambassador Rizzo. 6. Address  by  General  James  L.  Jones,  Supreme  Allied  Commander,  Europe  (SACEUR), followed by a question and answer period General   Jones   addressed   the   Assembly,   and   answered   questions   from   Mr Palombo   (Italy), Lord Clark  (United  Kingdom),  Mr  Kirsteins  (Latvia),  Mr Jagland (Norway),  Mr Møller    (Denmark), Mr Batu (Turkey) and Mr Papantoniou (Greece).

243 SESA 04 E 2 The President thanked General Jones. 7. Address by Mr Roberto Antonione, Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Mr Antonione addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mr Antonione. 8. Presentation  by  Mr  Peter  Schieder,  President  of  the  Parliamentary  Assembly  of  the Council of Europe Mr Schieder addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mr Schieder. 9. Address  by  Mrs  Elsa  Papadimitriou,  Vice-President  of  the  Assembly  of  the  Western European Union Mrs Papadimitriou addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mrs Papadimitriou. 10. Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the Assembly There  being  only  one  nomination for the  post  of President  of  the  Assembly,  Mr Pierre  Lellouche (France) was elected, by acclamation. Mr Lellouche addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mr Lellouche. The President announced that six candidates had been nominated for five positions of Vice-President:   Mr Banás  (Slovakia) Mr Erdem (Turkey) Mr Forcieri (Italy) Mr Koenders (Netherlands) Mr Lupoi (Romania) Mr Nolin (Canada) Being the only candidate for the Bureau from the delegations from North America, Mr Pierre Claude Nolin  (Canada)  was  elected  a  Vice-President  of  the  Assembly,  by  acclamation,  in  accordance with Article 4, paragraph 5 of the Rules of Procedure.

243 SESA 04 E 3 Concerning  the  four  remaining  positions  to  be  fulfilled,   the   President  recalled  that,  when  the Assembly  decided  to  create,  in  Bratislava,  in  May  2004,  a  fifth  vice-presidency,  the  position  was intended to facilitate representation from the new Member countries. Consequently, at its meeting on 15 November 2004, the Standing Committee confirmed that the new post of Vice-President should be for a candidate from a new Member country. Therefore, - There  being  three  nominations  for  three  positions,  Mr  Vahit  Erdem  (Turkey),  Mr  Giovanni Lorenzo Forcieri (Italy) and Mr Bert Koenders (Netherlands) were elected by acclamation; - There   being   two   nominations  for   the   remaining   post   of   Vice-President,   Mr   Jozef   Banás (Slovakia)  and  Mr  Mihail  Lupoi  (Romania),  the  Assembly  would  proceed  to  a  secret  ballot,  in accordance with Article 5, paragraph 3 of the Rules of Procedure. The  tellers  were  Mr  György  Juhász  (Slovakia),  Mr  A  ureliu  Leca  (Romania),  Mrs  Diana  Strofová (Slovakia) and Mr Marcu Tudor (Romania). Members of the Assembly voted by secret ballot. The President announced the ballot result: Mr Jozef Banás (Slovakia) was elected Vice -President of the Assembly. Mr Jozef Banás addressed the Assembly. The President thanked Mr Banás. 11. Presentation of the Report of the Secretary General of the Assembly on the Priorities and Activities of the Assembly [206 SC 04 E rev. 1] The  Secretary  General  of  the  Assembly  presented  his  report  on  the  Priorities  and  Activities  of  the Assembly and the Provisional Agenda for 2005. The President thanked the Secretary General. 12. Approval of the decision of the Standing Committee pursuant to Article 3, paragraph 1 of the  Rules  of  Procedure,  to  grant  Parliamentary  Observer  status  to  the  Parliament  of Kazakhstan The  President  submitted  the  decision  taken  by  the  Standing  Committee  to  the  final  approval  of  the Assembly. The decision was agreed to.

243 SESA 04 E 4 13. Presentation  on  the  report  of  Mr  Lothar  Ibrügger,  Treasurer  of  the  Assembly  for  2003 [148 FIN  04  E  rev.  1].    Approval  of  the  Report,  the  Audited  Financial  Statements  for  2003 [177 FIN 04 E] the  Audited Provident Fund Financial Statement for 2003 [35 FIN 04 E] and Vote on the Draft Budget of the Assembly for 2005 [77 FIN 04 E] The   Treasurer   presented  his  Report,  the  Audited  Financial   Statements  for  2003,  the  Audited Provident Fund Financial Statements for 2003 and the Draft Budget of the Assembly for 2005. Mr van Gennip (Netherlands) spoke. The Report of the Treasurer [148 FIN 04 E rev. 1] was adopted. The   Audited   Financial   Statement   for   2003   [177   FIN   04   E]  was   adopted   and   the   Audited Provident Fund Financial Statements for 2003 [35 FIN 04 E] were adopted. The Draft Budget of the Assembly for 2005 [77 FIN 04 E] was agreed to. The President thanked the Treasurer. 14. Vote on the draft amendment to the Rules of Procedure [231 SESA 04 E] The  President  submitted  to  the  Assembly  for  final  approval  the  draft  amendment  to  the  Rules  of Procedure, adopted by the Standing Committee. The amendment was agreed to. 15. Presentation by Mr Bert Koenders, General Rapporteur of the Political Committee; debate and  Vote  on  the  draft  Resolution  on  Reinvigorating  the  Transatlantic  Security  Dialogue [192 PC 04 E rev. 1] Mr  Koenders  (Netherlands),  General  Rapporteur  of  the  Political  Committee,  presented  the  draft Resolution on Reinvigorating the Transatlantic Security Dialogue [192 PC 04 E rev. 1]. Mr Marino (Italy) and Mr Palombo (Italy) spoke. The General Rapporteur replied. Paragraphs 1 to 15 were agreed to. Sub-paragraphs 16.a. to 16.f. were agreed to.

243 SESA 04 E 5 Mr Nolin (Canada) moved Amendment No. 1, as follows: “At  the  end  of  paragraph  16.g.,  replace  the  words  “export  controls  ‘with  teeth’”, by  the  words “legally binding export controls;” The General Rapporteur supported the amendment. Amendment No. 1 was agreed to. Sub-paragraph 16.g., as amended, was agreed to. Sub-paragraphs 16.h. to 16.j. were agreed to. The  draft  resolution  on  Reinvigorating  the  Transatlantic  Security  Dialogue,  as  amended,  was agreed to. 16. Presentation  by  Mr  Pierre  Claude  Nolin,  Chairman  of  the  Science  and  Technology Committee;    debate    and    Vote    on    the    draft    Resolution    on    Confronting    Nuclear Proliferation [194 STC 04 E rev. 3] Mr   Nolin  (Canada),  Chairman  of  the  Science  and  Technology  Committee,  presented  the  draft Resolution on Confronting Nuclear Proliferation [194 STC 04 E rev. 3]. Mr Gapes (United Kingdom) spoke. Mr Nolin replied. Paragraphs 1 to 5 were agreed to. Mr Lellouche (France) moved Amendment No. 1, as follows: Leave out paragraph 6 and insert the following new paragraph: “Remaining concerned by the risks of proliferation presented by Iran’s nuclear programme and activities,   nonetheless   welcomes   Iran’s   recent   announcement   to   suspend   its   uranium enrichment  activities  and  calls  on  the  Iranian  Government  to  comply  permanently  with  the relevant IAEA provisions;” Mr Nolin supported the amendment. Amendment No. 1 was agreed to. Paragraphs 7 to 12 were agreed to. The draft Resolution on Confronting Nuclear Proliferation, as amended, was agreed to.

243 SESA 04 E 6 17. Presentation  by  Mr  Pierre  Lellouche,  General  Rapporteur  of  the  Defence  and  Security Committee; debate and Vote on the draft Resolution on NATO Operations in Afghanistan [193 DSC 04 E rev. 1]. Mr Lellouche (France), General Rapporteur of the Defence and Security Committee, presented the draft Resolution on NATO Operations in Afghanistan [193 DSC 04 E rev. 1]. The draft Resolution on NATO Operations in Afghanistan [193 DSC 04 E rev. 1] was adopted. 18. Presentation by  Mr  Jos  van Gennip, General Rapporteur of the Economics  and Security Committee; debate and Vote on the draft Resolution on Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development: The Challenge in Iraq and Afghanistan [202 EC 04 E rev. 1]. Mr  van  Gennip  (Netherlands),  General  Rapporteur  of  the  Economics  and  Security  Committee, presented  the  draft  Resolution  on  Post-conflict  Reconstruction  and  Development:  The  Challenge  in Iraq and Afghanistan [202 EC 04 E rev. 1]. Mr Cohen (United Kingdom), and Mr Clapham (United Kingdom) spoke. The General Rapporteur replied. The draft Resolution on Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development: The Challenge in Iraq and Afghanistan [202 EC 04 E rev. 1] was agreed to. 19. Presentation  by  Alice  Mahon,  Chairperson  of  the  Committee  on  the  Civil  Dimension  of Security;    debate    and    Vote    on    the    draft    resolution    on    Trafficking    in    Children [187 CC 04 E rev. 1]. Mrs  Alice  Mahon  (United  Kingdom),  Chairperson  of  the  Committee  on  the  Civil  Dimension  of Security, presented the draft Resolution on Trafficking in Children [187 CC 04 E rev. 1]. Mr Berzins (Latvia) spoke. The draft Resolution on Trafficking in Children [187 CC 04 E rev. 1] was agreed to. 20. Closure of the Session The President thanked the Italian hosts, local staff, security staff, the Secretariat, the United States House of Representatives staff, and his personal staff. The Session was closed at 2.30 p.m. --------------------------------