Czech Republic will preside over the Council of the EU for the second time in history, from 1 July until 31 December 2022. The first Czech Presidency was held in the first half of 2009, before the effect of the Treaty of Lisbon which significantly enhanced the involvement of national parliaments in the discussion of European issues.
Each presidency of a Member State in the EU Council has its parliamentary dimension that reflects the role of EU national parliaments and the European Parliament (EP) in the European decision-making process. The purpose of the parliamentary dimension of presidency is to ensure a substantive contribution of national parliaments to the European-level debate on the current EU issues and to strengthen the role of national parliaments in the EU legislative process in line with provisions of the primary EU law.
Along with the deepening involvement of EU national parliaments in the EU legislative process and discussion of European issues, and with the growing powers of the EP, there is a development of specialised inter-parliamentary forums dealing with key topics of the European policy that has an impact on the parliamentary activity of Member States and the EP. Such inter-parliamentary conferences are chaired by the parliaments of the countries which currently preside over the EU Council, in some cases jointly with the EP, and which are also responsible for compiling the agenda, preparing the conclusions and contributions adopted by some inter-parliamentary conferences and for their organisation. The formats and methods of organising the majority of such inter-parliamentary forums have already been defined and are part of the 6-month presidency calendar.
The parliamentary dimension of the Czech presidency is ensured by the Parliament of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the EP. At the political level, the content of the presidency events is shared equally by both chambers of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. At the administrative level, the organisation and technical arrangements of the events and expert support are agreed on by the offices of both Parliament chambers.
As part of the parliamentary dimension of the Czech presidency, the Parliament of the Czech Republic will organise and chair five inter-parliamentary conferences that will be held in the Czech Republic. The Parliament of the Czech Republic jointly with the European Parliament will also chair two inter-parliamentary meetings that will take place in Brussels.