Presidium coordinates the work of bodies of the Baltic Assembly during sessions and between them. Presidium has the following competences:
- to draw up the strategy and principal directions for the development of Baltic Assembly activities;
- to coordinate the cooperation with the Prime Ministers and sectoral cooperation ministers who make up the Baltic Council of Ministers;
- during the Session for solving conceptual issues and considering all draft documents, to convene the Consultative Council which shall comprise: the Presidium of the Baltic Assembly and the chairperson and vice chairperson of the standing committees of the Baltic Assembly. The work of the Consultative Council shall be chaired by the President and two Vice Presidents of the Baltic Assembly;
- to set tasks and priorities for the Baltic Assembly activities;
- to maintain relations of the Baltic Assembly with other international organisations;
- to register the members of the Presidium, standing committees, ad hoc committees and interests groups;
- to approve changes in the composition of the Presidium and standing committees in the period between sessions;
- to hold a competition to select a candidate for the Secretary General of the Baltic Assembly and to present the selected candidate to the Session for approval;
- to convene an extraordinary Session of the Baltic Assembly;
- to present a draft agenda of the Session;
- to appoint responsible standing committees for considering the submitted documents and topical issues;
- to draw up a draft budget in conjunction with the BA Secretariat and to consider the draft report on the implementation of the budget to be presented at the Session by the Budget and Audit Committee;
- to bring the documents adopted at sessions of the Baltic Assembly to the attention of the national parliaments;
- to organise a meeting with the speakers of the national parliaments during the Session of the Baltic Assembly;
- in the period between sessions, to make decisions and release statements on behalf of the Baltic Assembly regarding topical/conceptual issues if there is a consensus among the national delegations; and
- resolve other issues which are within its competence.
Presidium of the Baltic Assembly consists of the chairperson and his/her deputy of each national delegation appointed by the parliament of the respective state.
The work of the Presidium is chaired by the President and two Vice Presidents of the Baltic Assembly. At the end of each Session of the Baltic Assembly, the chairperson of the national delegation of the next presiding state becomes President of the Baltic Assembly for the next calendar year. The incoming President shall perform his/her functions from 1 January. The chairpersons of the other two national delegations become Vice Presidents of the Baltic Assembly. In the absence of the President of the Baltic Assembly, his/her duties must be carried out by the Vice President from the next presiding country. When the latter is not available, the duties of the President of the Baltic Assembly must be carried out by the other Vice President.
The Presidium of the Baltic Assembly shall have the power to act if its meeting is attended by one member of the Presidium from each BA member state, including the President of the Baltic Assembly. Presidium adopts decisions by consensus. In the event of failure to reach a consensus, the President of the Baltic Assembly may make a proposal to put the issue on the agenda of the Session. In this case, the Session should adopt a decision by consensus of the national delegations.
Presidium of the Baltic Assembly in 2021
President:
- Andrius Kupčinskas, Lithuania
Vice Presidents:
- Jānis Vucāns, Latvia
- Aadu Must, Estonia
Members:
- Linas Jonauskas, Lithuania
- Inese Voika, Latvia
- Johannes Kert, Estonia