Since the end of 2014, Dr. Dirk Peters (Research Department II) has been a member of the Jean-Monnet Network "Interparliamentary Cooperation in the EU's External Action - Parliamentary Scrutiny and Diplomacy in the EU and Beyond". PACO connects researchers from seven research institutions in Europe who deal with the role of parliaments in the EU's foreign relations and supports their cooperation in research, teaching and further training.
Two sides of parliamentary cooperation are focused: on the one hand the EU internal cooperation between national parliaments and the European Parliament in order to control European foreign policy, on the other hand "parliamentary diplomacy", e.g. the cooperation with parliaments outside of the EU.
In this context, Dirk Peters is particularly concerned with the role of parliaments in EU security and defense policy. A workshop in late 2014 was a prelude to the network's activities, bringing together PACO members and practitioners at the European Parliament in Brussels to discuss perspectives of parliamentary cooperation in the EU foreign relations.
The PACO network is funded for three years by the EU within the "Erasmus+" programme.
Photo: @GGS Leuven
PACO website: http://ghum.kuleuven.be/ggs/projects/paco-project