ORGANIZATION

Alpine Conference (Conference of the Contracting Parties)

Art. 5, 6 and 7 of the Alpine Convention

• RULES of Procedure of the Alpine Conference*

The Alpine Conference is the political decision-making body of the Alpine Convention and consists of the Ministers of the Alpine States. Meetings of the Conference are normally held every two years by the Member State holding the Presidency of the Convention (one state holds the presidency for two years). The United Nations, its specialized agencies, the Council of Europe and all European countries may attend the meetings as observers. The same applies to cross-border associations of Alpine territorial authorities. In addition, relevant non-governmental organizations may be also admitted as observers. Decisions are adopted on the basis of consensus.
Working Groups may be established if they are deemed necessary for the implementation of the Convention, in view of assessments based on scientific information. The Conference  adopt its Rules of Procedure and makes the necessary financial decisions.
The official languages of the Alpine Conference are French, German, Italian and Slovene, as it is also the case of the Working Groups and of the Permanent Committee.

Decisions of the Alpine Conference

• XIth Alpine Conference: Brdo pri Kranju 2011*
• Xth Alpine Conference: Evian 2009*
• IXth Alpine Conference: Alpbach 2006*
• VIII^th Alpine Conference: Garmisch-Partenkirchen 2004 (Find in DE, IT, SL, FR pages)

* un-official English translations provided by Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention

Table summarizing the periods of each Chair and of the Standing Committee:

Period	Presidency	Alpine Conference
2011-2012	Switzerland	Poschiavo
2009-2011	Slovenia	Brdo pri Kranju
2007-2008	France	Evian (March 2009)
2005-2006	Austria	Alpbach
2003-2004	Germany	Garmisch-Partenkirchen
2001-2002	Italy	Merano
1999-2000	Switzerland	Lucerne
1996-1998	Slovenia	Bled
1995-1996	Slovenia	Brdo
1991-1994	France	Chambery
1989-1991	Austria	Salzburg
1989	Germany	Berchtesgaden

Contact

Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications DETEC
Federal Office for Spatial Development ARE
Ms. Silvia Jost
Mühlestrasse 2, CH-3063 Ittigen
Postal address: CH-3003 Bern
Tel +41 (0)31 322 06 25
Fax +41 (0)31 322 78 69
silvia.jost@are.admin.ch
www.are.admin.ch