Press release – 22 October 2020

VIRTUAL ROUNDTABLE – RESPONDING TO COVID-19 – A GLOBAL DISCUSSION

On 22 October 2020, for the first time Former Parliamentarians from across the world will get together for a virtual Roundtable. The Former Members Association of European Parliament, the US Association of Former Members of Congress and the Former Members of New Zealand Parliament will talk about the topic “Responding to COVID-19 – A Global Discussion”. The moderator of this event will be Rafael Bernal, a journalist based in Washington DC working for The Hill.

Former legislators from across the globe are invited to listen to an assessment of where their part of the world stands in fighting the pandemic, with an opportunity to exchange best practices and share thoughts on the tough road ahead.

When?

Thursday, October 22, 2020 | 16:00 | Washington D.C. (UTC-5)

Thursday, October 22, 2020 | 21:00 | United Kingdom (UTC)

Thursday, October 22, 2020 | 22:00 | Brussels (UTC+1)

About Former Members Association of European Parliament:

The European Parliament Former Members Association (FMA) brings together more than 800 former MEPs from all EU countries and across the whole political spectrum. It avails of their experience and expertise to strengthen parliamentary democracy and serve European unity.

Presented by Lord Richard Balfe, Former Member of European Parliament (1979-2004). He worked for the Conservative Party leader in the UK, David Cameron, from 2007 to 2013. In 2013, he became a Member of the UK House of Lords, the upper chamber of the legislature. During his time at the European Parliament, he served as a Quaestor. Among other things, he was member of the following committees and delegations: Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy, Subcommittee on Security and Disarmament, Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries and the Gulf States.

He helped to establish the Former Members Association where he has served as Committee member since its creation.

About Former Members of Congress:

The Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC) is a bipartisan, non-profit, voluntary alliance of former United States Senators and Representatives, standing for America’s Constitutional system. FMC works to strengthen the Congress in the conduct of its Constitutional responsibility through promoting a collaborative approach to policy making. FMC seeks to deepen the understanding of our democratic system, domestically and internationally, and to engage the citizenry through civic education about Congress and public service.

Presented by The Honorable Charles Boustany, he served on the influential House Committee on Ways and Means, where he was Chairman of the Subcommittees on Tax Policy, Oversight, and Human Resources. As a Way and Means Committee member, Dr. Boustany established himself as an expert and leader on tax, trade, health care, and entitlement policy. Dr. Boustany is a leader in trade assistance and enforcement issues and has led seminars on the conduct of legislative oversight for members of parliament from emerging democracies.

About the Association of Former Members of the Parliament of New Zealand:

Presented by The Honourable Peter Dunne. He held Executive office as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary between 1987 and 1990, and as a Minister in successive Labour- and National-led Governments in 1990, 1996, 2005 to 2013 and 2014 to 2017. He was leader of the centrist UnitedFuture Party from 1996 to 2017, and, at the time he stood down from Parliament was the Father of the House, and one of New Zealand’s longest-ever serving Members of Parliament. Since leaving Parliament, Mr Dunne has remained active in community affairs, chairing a number of organisations, including the Association of Former Members of Parliament of New Zealand.

Moderator Rafael Bernal

The Washington DC based journalist works for The Hill. Bernal specifically writes for the Hill newspaper’s Latino section, where he covers Hispanic politics. He does not only write about US topics, he also has a broad experience on European affairs.