The Assembly is made up of five committees which cover the principal areas of security (the Defence Committee, the Political Committee, the Committee for Civilian Security, the Science and Technology Committee and the Committee for Economic Affairs and Security). Each committee comprises one or more sub-committees. On the basis of an annual work schedule, the committees and sub-committees organize several meetings each year in a member or associate member country. At these meetings presentations are given by high-ranking government and parliamentary representatives as well as renowned scientists and experts. The result of this work is reviewed during the plenary sessions of the Assembly, which are held twice a year, in spring and in autumn. The committees and sub-committees draw up reports which are then reviewed in the form of projects at the spring plenary session and subsequently revised and updated for discussion, modification and approval at the annual meeting. The latter is also an opportunity for the committees to draw up policy recommendations (resolutions) which are voted on at the plenary session and, if approved, are then submitted to the NATO Council and/or the governments of the member states. The plenary sessions are also an opportunity to review certain current issues through the participation of government representatives or experts (drawn from academic or scientific circles, NGOs or from the press).

Apart from these five committees, the NATO-PA also includes the following committees or working groups: the Mediterranean and Middle East Special Group, the Ukraine-NATO Inter-Parliamentary Council and the Georgia-NATO Inter-Parliamentary Council. The Standing NATO-Russia Parliamentary Committee was discontinued in April 2014.

The Standing committee is the Assembly’s governing body. It comprises the Assembly Central Office (the President, the five Vice-Presidents and the Treasurer), the heads of the delegations from the member states and the chairmen of the committees. The standing committee meets during the plenary sessions and holds a third meeting each year, too. The Central Office issues general guidelines, coordinates the committees’ work, draws up the agenda for the plenary sessions and supervises the Assembly’s financial affairs. The Secretary-General of the NATO-PA supervises the international secretariat and implements the policies decided upon by the standing committee.

When it was founded in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) did not comprise any parliamentary organ. Within a short time, however, it became apparent that it was necessary to have a parliamentary body which would work alongside NATO. As early as the beginning of the 1950s, the idea of setting up an Assembly comprising parliamentarians from member states was proposed. This Assembly was to be a forum for discussing the problems with which NATO might be faced. It was only in 1955 that the first annual conference of NATO parliamentarians took place, but it was soon to become an institution and in 1966 it became the North Atlantic Assembly (NAA). In November 1967, when the North Atlantic Council (NAC) recommended that informal relations be established between the two bodies, the foundations were laid for cooperation between NATO and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. As a consequence, after consulting the NAC, the Secretary-General of NATO now replies to all the recommendations and resolutions adopted during the plenary sessions. He also attends the plenary sessions of the NATO-PA. Conversely, the President of the NATO-PA reports to the heads of state and heads of governments of NATO member countries when they hold summit meetings.

Following the historical events which occurred at the end of the Cold War, the Assembly extended its mandate in 1991 by granting associate member status to Central and Eastern European countries and later to most of the countries which have joined the Partnership for Peace.

The two assemblies first took up contact at the beginning of the 1990s. In 1990, two American parliamentarians, Charlie Rose (a member of the House of Representatives, who at the time was President of the NAA) and Senator Bill Roth, launched the programme of seminars and conferences which has been named after them. They were aimed at consolidating cooperation between the parliaments of Central and Eastern Europe. The circle was subsequently opened up to include neutral countries and others which are members of the Partnership for Peace.

And so, since 1993, the NAA has invited representatives from our parliament, on an ad hoc basis, to send delegations to certain events it organises, mainly seminars. Whenever possible and when the themes to be dealt with have been of interest, the offices have sent the chairmen of the Committees on Security Policy. It was at the annual meeting of the NAA which was held in Paris in 1996 that the Swiss parliament was first invited to attend a plenary session as an observer. In March 1997, in collaboration with the NAA, the Swiss parliament organised a seminar in Geneva which focused on the subject of neutrality in Europe, its purpose and its future. Since then, the federal parliament has regularly been represented at the NATO-PA’s sessions as well as at most of the seminars organised by the NAA or the NATO-PA. On each occasion, the Swiss parliament has been represented by its presidents or members of the Committees on Security Policy.

On 31 May 1999 Switzerland was accorded the status of associate member of the NATO-PA. This was brought about through an initiative launched by the chairmen of the Committees on Security Policy, former National Councillor Jean-Pierre Bonny and former State Councillor Eric Rochat, which was accepted by the offices of the federal parliament at the beginning of February 1999. In March 2000, the Swiss parliament organised a second seminar together with the NATO-PA, this time in Montreux. The theme was the participation of military personnel in civilian and humanitarian missions.

Switzerland was initially represented in the NATO-PA by two parliamentarians. Under the new Parliament Act of 2003 and associated legislation (notably, the Parliamentary Delegations Ordinance of 3 October 2003, PDO, now no longer in force), the NATO-PA delegation became a permanent Swiss parliamentary delegation. Since then, 5 parliamentarians have represented Switzerland at the NATO-PA sessions.

Associate member

As an associate member the Swiss delegation may take part in almost all the activities of the committees and sub-committees and attend all the seminars, including those surrounding Mediterranean issues, as well as the plenary sessions. At the latter, associate members may put forward resolutions and submit amendments to resolutions. Their delegates may be appointed as special associate reporters for a committee so that their points of view are taken into account in the Assembly’s reports. They may not vote on reports or resolutions, however, nor elect executive officers of the NATO-PA. They do not contribute funds to the NATO-PA budget. As a neutral country, Switzerland cannot and does not wish to become a full member of the Assembly.