The Parliament of Catalonia is the only stateless nation with full membership of the entity

The First Deputy Chair of the Catalan Parliament, currently the acting Speaker, Alba Vergés has taken over the rotating presidency of the European Parliamentary Technology Assessment (EPTA). As part of the organization's annual summit held at the Bundestag in Berlin, Ms Vergés takes on the task "with honour and great responsibility."

In her speech before the EPTA council, Ms Vergés firmly defended "freedom of expression" and "democratic values," calling for the chamber to be a space for free debate and denouncing the trial of former members of the Parliamentary Bureau.

The Catalan Chamber has thus taken over from Germany to preside over this network of scientific and technological advisory bodies counseling legislators in 2023. Next year,the Catalan Parliament will host this annual summit, as well as the annual meeting of the directors of the network's offices.

EPTA is made up of advisory bodies from twenty-five parliaments, thirteen of which are full members, including those of Catalonia, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Parliament, and twelve others which are associates,including those of Portugal, Wallonia, the United States, Japan and the Council of Europe. Thus, the Parliament of Catalonia is the only full member of the network that is a nation without a State. In this regard, Ms Vergés highlighted the satisfaction of the Catalan chamber in sharing its work with other national or supranational chambers.

Ms Vergés took advantage of her stay in the capital of Germany to meet with the President of the Parliament of the Federal State of Berlin, Dennis Buchner, and with Elker Ferner, the Chair of UN Women Germany, the United Nations entity championing gender equality.