The European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) is a parliamentary network which was founded in 1977.

Aims

The Centre aims to facilitate the exchange of information, ideas, and experiences between the administrations of parliaments in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.
Sharing successful practical experiences helps to intensify existing cooperation between parliaments in all areas of parliamentary business, including administration, legislation, information, research, and documentation. The Centre collects and distributes studies which are produced by the parliamentary services. It also cooperates with other European networks, e.g. IPEX

Interparliamentary EU Information Exchange

, the InterParliamentary EU information eXchange, is a platform for the exchange of information between and among national Parliaments and the European Parliaments concerning issues related to the European Union, especially in light of the provisions of the...

 or TAIEX.

Members

A parliamentary assembly can only become a member of ECPRD if it is already a member of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments.
The Centre is composed of the following members (as at September 2009):

European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...

Assembly of the Western European Union

and the following parliamentary chambers of Member States of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 and the Council of Europe

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

:

Albania (Assembly of Albania

Assembly of Albania

The Parliament of Albania , formerly the People's Parliament is the unicameral parliament of the Republic of Albania.It has 140 members, elected for four-year terms. The electoral system is closed list proportional representation. There are 12 multi-member constituencies, corresponding to the...

 (Kuvendi i Shqipërisë))

Austria (National Council

National Council of Austria

The National Council is one of the two houses of the Austrian parliament. According to the constitution, the National Council and the complementary Federal Council are peers...

 (Nationalrat) and Federal Council

Federal Council of Austria

The Federal Council of Austria or Bundesrat is the second chamber of the Austrian parliament, representing the nine States of Austria on federal level. As part of a bicameral legislature alongside of the National Council of Austria , it can be compared with an upper house or a senate...

 (Bundesrat))

Azerbaijan (National Assembly

National Assembly of Azerbaijan

The National Assembly , also transliterated as Milli Majlis is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies and 25 were members elected by proportional...

 (Milli Məclis))

Belgium (Chamber of People's Representatives

Belgian Chamber of People's Representatives

The Belgian Chamber of Representatives is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate...

 (Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers / Chambre des Représentants / Abgeordnetenkammer) and Senate

Belgian Senate

The Belgian Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament.-History and future:...

 (Senaat / Sénat / Senat))

Bosnia and Herzegovina (House of Representatives

House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina , is one of the two chambers of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the other being the House of Peoples of Bosnia and HerzegovinaThe house of representatives of BiH consists of 42 members which are elected by...

 ('Представнички Дом / Predstavnički Dom) and House of Peoples

House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The House of Peoples of Bosnia And Herzegovina is one of the two chambers of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the other chamber being the House of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina....

 (Dom Naroda))

Bulgaria (National Assembly

National Assembly of Bulgaria

The National Assembly of Bulgaria is the unicameral parliament and body of the legislative of the Republic of Bulgaria.The National Assembly of Bulgaria was established in 1879 with the Constitution of Bulgaria.-Ordinary National Assembly:...

 (Народно събрание Narodno sabranie))

Croatia (Croatian Assembly (Hrvatski sabor))

Cyprus (House of Representatives

House of Representatives of Cyprus

The House of Representatives is the parliament of Cyprus. It has 59 members elected for a five year term, 56 members by proportional representation and 3 observer members representing the Maronite, Latin and Armenian minorities...

 (Βουλή των Αντιπροσώπων Vouli Antiprosópon / Temsilciler Meclisi))

Czech Republic (Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic

The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is situated in palaces in Malá Strana, Prague....

 (Poslanecká sněmovna) and Senate (Senát))

Denmark (Parliament

Folketing

The Folketing , is the national parliament of Denmark. The name literally means "People's thing"—that is, the people's governing assembly. It is located in Christiansborg Palace, on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen....

 (Folketing))

Estonia (Parliament

Riigikogu

The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu...

 (Riigikogu))

Finland (Parliament

Parliament of Finland

The Eduskunta , is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011.- Constitution :...

 (Eduskunta))

France (National Assembly

French National Assembly

The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....

 (Assemblée nationale) and Senate

French Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president.The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally enjoy less media coverage.-History:France's first...

 (Sénat))

Georgia (Parliament of Georgia

Parliament of Georgia

Parliament of Georgia is the supreme legislature of Georgia. It is unicameral and has 150 members, known as deputies, from which 75 members are proportional representatives and 75 are elected through single-member district plurality system, representing their constituencies...

 (საქართველოს პარლამენტი Sak'art'velos Parlamenti))

Germany (Federal Diet

Bundestag

The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...

 (Bundestag) and Federal Council

Bundesrat of Germany

The German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level...

 (Bundesrat))

Greece (Hellenic Parliament

Hellenic Parliament

The Hellenic Parliament , also the Parliament of the Hellenes, is the Parliament of Greece, located in the Parliament House , overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece....

 (Βουλή των Ελλήνων Vouli ton Ellinon))

Hungary (National Assembly

National Assembly of Hungary

The National Assembly or Diet is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 386 members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is based on a complex system involving both area and list election; parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter list members...

 (Országgyűlés))

Iceland (Assembly of All

Althing

The Alþingi, anglicised variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliament of Iceland. The Althingi is the oldest parliamentary institution in the world still extant...

 (Alþingi))

Ireland (Dáil Éireann (Chamber of Deputies of Ireland) and Senate of Ireland

Seanad Éireann

Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...

 (Seanad Éireann))

Italy (Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) and Senate of the Republic

Italian Senate

The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...

 (Senato della Repubblica))

Latvia (Parliament

Saeima

Saeima is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular vote. Elections are scheduled to be held once every four years,...

 (Saeima))

Liechtenstein (Diet

Landtag of Liechtenstein

The Diet is the parliament or legislature of Liechtenstein. It has 25 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation in two multi-seat constituencies....

 (Landtag))

Lithuania (Parliament

Seimas

The Seimas is the unicameral Lithuanian parliament. It has 141 members that are elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in individual constituencies , and the other half are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation...

 (Seimas))

Luxembourg (Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg

The Chamber of Deputies , abbreviated to the Chamber, is the unicameral national legislature of Luxembourg. 'Krautmaart' is sometimes used as a metonym for the Chamber, after the square on which the Hôtel de la Chambre is located....

 (Châmber vun Députéirten))

Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of (Assembly

Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia

The Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, the Assembly , has 123 members, elected for a four year term, by proportional representation from 6 electoral districts, each contributing 20 MPs.- Result :...

 (Собрание Sobranie))

Malta (House of Representatives

House of Representatives of Malta

The House of Representatives is the unicameral legislature of Malta and a component of the Parliament of Malta.The House is composed of an odd number of members elected for a five year term...

 (Il-Kamra tar-Rappreżentanti))

Moldova (Parliament

Parliament of the Republic of Moldova

The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova is a unicameral assembly with 101 seats. Its members are elected by popular vote every 4 years. The parliament then elects a president, who functions as the head of state...

 (Parlamentul))

Monaco (National Council

National Council of Monaco

The National Council is the parliament of the Principality of Monaco. Its 24 members are elected from lists by universal suffrage for five-year terms, and though it may act independently of the Prince, he may dissolve it at any time, provided that new elections be held within three months.The...

 (Conseil National))

Montenegro (Assembly

Parliament of Montenegro

The Parliament of Montenegro is the unicameral legislature of Montenegro. The Parliament currently has 81 members, each elected for a four-year term. The current Speaker of the Parliament is Ranko Krivokapić, while the deputy speakers are Željko Šturanović and Rifat Rastoder...

 (Skupština / Скупштина))

Netherlands (House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer, Second Chamber) and Senate (Eerste Kamer, First Chamber))

Norway (Great Assembly (Storting))

Poland (Sejm (Diet) (Sejm) and Senate (Senat))

Portugal (Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República))

Romania (Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Romania

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 315 seats, to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms...

 (Camera Deputaţilor) and Senate

Senate of Romania

The Senate of Romania is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 137 seats , to which members are elected by direct popular vote, using Mixed member proportional representation in 42 electoral districts , to serve four-year terms.-Former location:After the Romanian...

 (Senat))

Russia (State Duma

State Duma

The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...

 (Государственная Дума Gosudarstvennaya Duma) and Federation Council

Federation Council of Russia

Federation Council of Russia ) is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , according to the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation...

 (Совет Федерации Soviet Federatsii))

San Marino (Grand and General Council

Grand and General Council

The Grand and General Council is the parliament of San Marino. The council has 60 members elected for a five-year term.The electoral law was based on proportional representation from 1945 to 2007. Since then, it is based on the electoral system of Italian municipalities...

 (Consiglio Grande e Generale))

Serbia (National Assembly (Народна скупштина / Narodna Skupština))

Slovakia (National Council

National Council of the Slovak Republic

The National Council of the Slovak Republic , abbreviated to NR SR, is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral, and consists of 150 MPs, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation every four years....

 (Národná rada))

Slovenia (National Assembly

National Assembly (Slovenia)

The National Assembly is the general representative body of the Slovenian nation. According to the Constitution of Slovenia and the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, it is the major part of the distinctively incompletely bicameral legislative branch of the Republic of Slovenia. It is unicameral...

 (Državni zbor) and National Council

National Council (Slovenia)

The National Council is according to the Constitution of Slovenia the representative of social, economic, professional and local interest groups in Slovenia and has a legislative function working as a corrective mechanism of the National Assembly, although it does not itself pass acts. It may be...

 (Državni svet))

Spain (Congress of Deputies

Spanish Congress of Deputies

The Spanish Congress of Deputies is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. It has 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation in constituencies matching the Spanish provinces using the D'Hondt method. Deputies serve four-year terms...

 (Congreso de los Diputados) and Senate

Spanish Senate

The Senate of Spain is the upper house of Spain's parliament, the . It is made up of 264 members: 208 elected by popular vote, and 56 appointed by the regional legislatures. All senators serve four-year terms, though regional legislatures may recall their appointees at any time.The last election...

 (Senado))

Sweden (Diet

Parliament of Sweden

The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...

 (Riksdag))

Switzerland (National Council

National Council of Switzerland

The National Council of Switzerland is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland. With 200 seats, it is the larger of the two houses....

 (Nationalrat, Conseil National, Consiglio Nazionale) and Council of States

Swiss Council of States

The Council of States of Switzerland is the smaller chamber of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, and is considered the Assembly's upper house. There are 46 Councillors....

 (Ständerat, Conseil des Etats, Consiglio degli Stati))

Turkey (Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Grand National Assembly of Turkey

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey , usually referred to simply as the Meclis , is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Constitution. It was founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920 in the midst of the Turkish War of Independence...

 (Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi))

Ukraine (Supreme Council

Verkhovna Rada

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...

 (Верховна Рада Verkhovna Rada))

United Kingdom (House of Commons and House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

)

Besides this, the Centre is available for states which enjoy observer status in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe:

Canada (House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

/Chambre des communes and Senate

Canadian Senate

The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...

/Sénat)

Israel (Assembly

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

 (כנסת Knesset))

Mexico (Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of Mexico

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Congress of the Union, Mexico's bicameral legislature. The structure and responsibilities of both chambers of Congress are defined in Articles 50 to 70 of the current constitution.-Composition:The Chamber of Deputies is composed of one federal...

 (Cámara de Diputados) and Chamber of Senators

Senate of Mexico

The Senate of the Republic, constitutionally Chamber of Senators of the Honorable Congress of the Union After a series of reforms during the 1990s, it is now made up of 128 senators:...

 (Cámara de Senadores))

United States (Observer of the ECPRD)

Activities

Since 1977 the ECPRD has developed into one of the most important platforms of inter-European parliamentary cooperation. Every two years an official report on the activities of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments is presented. The publications of the ECPRD are published on the homepage of the Centre. The Centre's web presence serves as a communication platform for the administrations of the parliaments. If a parliament submits an enquiry to at least four European parliaments, both the enquiry and a template response are sent to the secretariat in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 and forwarded to the parliamentary assemblies. In the majority of cases all 27 EU-parliaments, or all participating parliaments, are polled. Even though the working languages of the ECPRD are English, French and German in practice most of the enquiries and responses are conducted in English.

Often there is very limited time available to produce responses to the enquiries. All enquiries and responses since the year 2000 are saved in the ECPRD database, even those which arrive after the time limit has expired. Topics which, from experience, can become relevant again are therefore available in the database at any time.

Year	Enquiries	Responses
2000	10
2001	32	508
2002	58	847
2003	96	1 537
2004	137	2 294
2005	160	2 894
2006	174	3 359
2007	214	5 387
2008	174	5 143
2009	223	5 246

The topics of enquiry are numerous, e.g. parliamentary rights of verification, financing political parties, or the use of the European flag in the European parliaments. Other topics have included the regulation of the protection of minors and questions regarding the committees on human rights.

Once a year the ECPRD hosts a Conference of Correspondents to enable networking and direct multinational cooperation. Both the Centre and the Conference of Correspondents are managed by two co-directors and co-secretaries appointed by the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

History

In June 1977 the European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation was founded in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 by the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments as a hub of parliamentary cooperation. The conference entrusted the presidents of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Emilio Colombo

Emilio Colombo

Emilio Colombo is an Italian politician who was Prime Minister of Italy from 1970 to 1972. In addition to having held top positions in Italian governments, he was also active in European politics.-Biography:...

and Karl Czernetz respectively, to take measures to set up the Centre. Klaus Pöhle, the first co-director of the Center, served the longest term to date between 1977 and 1994.

The development of the Centre was structured into three stages:

1978 - 1989: This stage was characterised by the development of standards for the information provided by national parliaments. In addition, working structures were developed; a correspondent was appointed in each national parliament; and working groups for the various fields of activities of parliamentary administration were developed.

1990 - 1996: During this stage the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe were subsumed into the work of the Centre; Electronic Data Processing was intensified in the national parliaments; parliamentary homepages were created.

1997 - 2009: This period saw an unprecedented growth in reciprocal enquiries, reflecting increased cooperation between national parliaments. A comprehensive seminar program was provided for the members of staff of the national parliaments. In May 2006 new statutes were accepted by the secretaries general at the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments in Tallinn.

Four areas within the Centre's remit, each overseen by one correspondent, are of special importance for inter-parliamentary exchange:

• Parliamentary practice and parliamentary procedures
• Information and communication technology
• Libraries, research services and archives
• Economic research.

Although the Centre's homepage has been fundamentally revised, access will remain restricted to members of the ECPRD.