Parliaments, politics and relations with the citizens; national parliaments and the Council of Europe; promotion of fundamental values (democracy, human rights and constitutional law); the space of society in national political life and institutions. These are some of the points discussed in Strasbourg, in the premises of the Council of Europe, which host the European Conference of the Presidents of Parliament of the 47 member states on May 22 and 23. Organised by the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE, the Conference (a two-yearly event, the first one held in 1975) will discuss "good practices to enable society to affect politics and debates in the framework of parliamentary proceedings and will commit itself to strengthening relations between law-makers and the CoE and its values". The event should be attended by 300 people, including presidents or spokespersons of legislative assemblies. The meeting will be opened by the president of the CoE Assembly, Lluís Maria de Puig, followed by speeches addressing specific issues: including Katalin Szili (Hungarian Parliament), Per Westerberg (Swedish Assembly), Jozefina Topalli (Albanian People’s Assembly), Yvonne Timmerman-Buck (Dutch Senate).
