Today, at the first meeting of the European Affairs Committee, its members elected Lolita Čigāne as the Chairperson of the Committee. 

Lolita Čigāne was elected to the Saeima from the Unity Party. 

In the previous two convocations of the Saeima, Lolita Čigāne was the Secretary of the Public Administration and Local Government Committee, a member of the Public Expenditure and Audit Committee, as well as a member of several subcommittees.  In the 11th Saeima Čigāne served on the European Affairs Committee, the Budget and Finance (Tax) Committee, the Mandate, Ethics and Submissions Committee; she also held the position of Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Finance. In the 10th Saeima she was the Deputy Head of the Latvian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; during the 11th Saeima she had been a permanent representative in the same delegation.  

Armands Krauze (Union of Greens and Farmers) was elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Committee, and Aleksandrs Kiršteins (National Alliance) was elected as the Secretary. 

The rest of the members of the European Affairs Committee will be Guntis Belēvičs (Union of Greens and Farmers), Sergejs Dolgopolovs (Concord), Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš (Unity), Nellija Kleinberga (Regional Alliance), Ivans Klementjevs (Concord), Rihards Kols (National Alliance), Atis Lejiņš (Unity), Regīna Ločmele-Luņova (Concord), Romāns Mežeckis (For Latvia from the Heart), Igors Pimenovs (Concord), Edgars Putra (Union of Greens and Farmers), Jūlija Stepaņenko (Concord), Kārlis Šadurskis (Unity) and Edvīns Šnore (National Alliance).

The European Affairs Committee approves Latvia’s national positions on matters considered at the Council of the European Union. 

The minister who represents Latvia at each relevant Council of Ministers is required to notify the Committee about the government’s positions regarding all important decisions pertaining to legislation and strategic matters. The minister receives the parliament’s mandate to represent Latvia’s position at the Council of Ministers only after the position has been coordinated with the European Affairs Committee. 

During the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the scope of responsibilities of the European Affairs Committee will be much broader because in addition to approving national positions, the Committee will also be in charge of approving mandates for the presidency and will take an active part in organising interparliamentary conferences. 

In accordance with The Rules of Procedure of the Saeima, there are 16 standing committees in the parliament.

The committees of the Saeima deal with legislation in a specific sector, exercise parliamentary scrutiny over the work of the executive branch and handle other tasks within the sphere their competence. On the basis of resolutions of the Saeima, the committees prepare issues for consideration at a plenary sitting, as well as examine draft laws, proposals and submissions. 

An MP may be a member of not more than two standing committees and three subcommittees at a time.

Saeima Press Service