# Inter-parliamentary institution

An inter-parliamentary institution (also known as Inter-parliamentary assembly) is an organization of more than one national legislatures (parliament, assembly, council and other types).
Most of the inter-parliamentary institutions are part of an intergovernmental organization. Such branches of intergovernmental organizations are typically established in order to provide for representation of citizens, rather than governments who are represented in other bodies within the organization. Most of the inter-parliamentary institutions have an assembly comprising members of the national legislatures (whose members are directly elected in most cases). Most of the inter-parliamentary institutions do not hold legislative power and have a consulting or informal cooperation-stimulating role.
When the intergovernmental organization chooses to operate through a hybrid system of not only intergovernmentalism, but also supranationalism an organization-level legislature is established (or a predecessor inter-parliamentary institution is granted legislative power) in the form of international parliament. Members of international parliaments could be assigned in the same way as members of inter-parliamentary institutions or in cases of more advanced supranationalism they could be directly elected.

## List of inter-parliamentary institutions

Since 1949, more than 40 parliamentary assemblies have been brought into being.
Inter-parliamentary institutions :
| Name | Sessions | Direct election | Legislative power | Related organization and notes |
| Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) | 1889 – | no | no | none |
| ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) | 1977 – | no | no | Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) |
| Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) | 1949 – | no | no | CoE |
| European Parliament | 1952 – | 1979 | 1970 | EU |
| Nordic Council | 1953 – | no | no | none |
| Benelux Parliament | 1955 – | no | no | Benelux Economic Union |
| Assembly of the Western European Union | 1955–2011 | no | no | WEU that dissolved and was effectively succeeded by the EU. |
| NATO Parliamentary Assembly | 1955 – | no | no | NATO |
| Latin American Parliament | 1964 – | no | no | none |
| African Parliamentary Union | 1976 – | no | no | none |
| Andean Parliament | 1979 – | no | no | CAN |
| British Irish Parliamentary Assembly | 1990 – | no | no | none |
| Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy | 1994 – | no | no | |
| Central American Parliament | 1991 – | no | no | SICA |
| Baltic Assembly | 1991 – | no | no | none |
| Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe | 1992 – | no | no | OSCE |
| Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States | 1992 – | no | no | CIS |
| Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States | 1999 – | no | no | OIC |
| Asian Parliamentary Assembly | 1999 – | no | no | none |
| ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly | 2000 – | no | no | none |
| East African Legislative Assembly | 2001 – | no | no | EAC |
| Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Eurasian Economic Community | 2002 – | no | no | EurAsEC |
| Arab Parliament | 2004 – | no | no | AL |
| Pan African Parliament | 2004 – | no | no | AU |
| Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) | 2005 - | no | no | none |
| Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly | 2006 – | no | no | none |
| Mercosur Parliament | 2007 – | 2014 | no | Mercosur |
| Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking Countries | 2008 – | no | no | Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States |
| Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM) | 2010 - | no | no | Union of the Mediterranean |
| Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly | 2019 – | no | no | France–Germany relations |
| Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians | | no | | CARICOM |
| Inter-Parliamentary Committee of the West African Economic and Monetary Union | | no | | UEMOA |
| Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States | | no | | ECOWAS |
| Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie | | no | no | OdLF |
| Euronest Parliamentary Assembly | 2011- | no | no | none |
| EU–UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly | 2020- | no | no | United Kingdom–European Union relations |
| South American Parliament | proposed | proposed | | UNASUR |
| United Nations Parliamentary Assembly | proposed | proposed | | UN |
| Parliamentary assembly of the World Trade Organization | proposed | proposed | | WTO |