Mr Speaker
Madam Speaker
Dear Mr/Madam Speaker,
As you are aware, following a joint proposal put forward in May 2006, the Conference of Speakers of European Union Parliaments of 30 June 2006 decided in Copenhagen to arrange a second Joint Parliamentary Meeting on the Future of Europe. The first Meeting on this subject, co-organised by the Austrian Parliament and the European Parliament and held in Brussels on 8 and 9 May 2006, allowed the debate to be relaunched at parliamentary level. We thank you once again for your parliament's participation in this event.
We believe it is essential for European and national parliamentarians to be involved in the development of political and institutional strategies to enable the European Union to pursue its course and increase its effectiveness. We would therefore like to invite you to take part in the second Joint Parliamentary Meeting on the Future of Europe: From Reflection to Action, organised by the European Parliament in cooperation with the Parliament of Finland, to be held on Monday, 4 and Tuesday, 5 December 2006.
You will see from the programme enclosed that the first half-day will be set aside for an introductory plenary sitting followed by the allocation of work among three separate groups concerning the following topics: 'The future financing of the Union', 'Towards a European energy policy' and 'The European Union's role in conflict prevention'.
Mr José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Mr Matti Vanhanen, the Finnish Prime Minister and President-in-office of the Council of the European Union, have confirmed their participation in the general debate on the morning of Tuesday, 5 December, following the presentation of the three working-group reports, in which all delegates will be able to speak.[1]
Each Member State, along with Romania and Bulgaria, will be represented by a delegation of six parliamentarians. The applicant countries (Croatia, Turkey and FYROM) are invited to send two delegates. The European Parliament will be represented by a delegation of sixty Members, selected specifically for this Joint Parliamentary Meeting.
We would be very honoured if you would agree to attend and speak at the Joint Parliamentary Meeting on the Future of Europe.
We hope that you will be able to participate in this meeting between the European Parliament and the national parliaments.
Yours sincerely,
Josep BORRELL FONTELLESÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Paavo LIPPONEN
President of the                                                                                   Speaker of the
European Parliament                                                                                       Parliament of Finland
Annex: Programme
[1] Speaking time limited to two minutes; in the order of two contributions from representatives of national parliaments for one contribution from an MEP; specific requests outside of this order and notified in advance to the chair will be considered at the chair's discretion.