Members of the parliaments of EU Member States and the European Parliament met in Dublin Castle yesterday and today, 24 and 25 March, to discuss how the EU Member States can play a more coordinated role to assist conflict prevention in trouble spots in Africa and the Middle East. The Conference was also updated on the European Council on Defence 2013.

The Interparliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) was opened by the Ceann Comhairle, Sean Barrett TD and was jointly chaired by Pat Breen TD, Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and by David Stanton TD, Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. Delegations from the parliaments of EU candidate countries and European NATO countries which are not in the EU were also in attendance as observers.