The AII Parliamentary Dimension, in the form of a Conference of the Speakers of Parliaments, was established in 2001with the aim of encouraging mutual parliamentary cooperation concerning economy, maritime affairs, transport and communication, environment protection, science and culture, as well as to encourage the development of appropriate forms of trans-border cooperation in the matters of shared interest in the Adriatic and Ionian Region.
Following the endorsement of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Macro-Region, in October 2014, AII Parliaments have constantly expressed their wish to become more and more involved in regional cooperation in the Adriatic and Ionian Region. To this end, in the occasion of the Conference of Speakers of Neum (23.04.2015) under the chairmanship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, AII Parliaments and the AII Permanent Secretariat took steps in this direction by appointing a High Official from each National Parliament in charge of liaising with the national Senior Official and the AII PS on intergovernmental and EUSAIR issues.
The parliamentary dimension is an important link between macro-regional strategies and society as a whole, at the regional, national and European levels; it, thus, represents the principle of subsidiarity being parliaments the institution closest to the citizens.