Western European Union/Interparliamentary European Security and Defence Assembly

Following the transfer of WEU’s operational activities to the EU, the Assembly of Western European Union serves as the interparliamentary platform for the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), hence the adoption of the suffix "Interparliamentary European Security and Defence Assembly", by which the 230 parliamentarians from the 10 member countries of the WEU and their colleagues from a total of 27 parliaments with Associate or Observer status wished to signal the focus of their work. The parliamentary control of the ESDP has become increasingly important in recent years as the EU Member States are now involved in numerous missions around the world, from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Georgia, Moldova and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Gerd Höfer (SPD) heads the German delegation, which consists of 18 parliamentarians and their substitutes. His deputy is Eduard Lintner (CDU/CSU).