A Permanent ad hoc Delegation for the relations with Iraq has been in place since February 2008 with the aim of establishing a regular dialogue between the European Parliament and the Iraqi Council of Representatives. The two inter-parliamentary meetings, held in September 2008 (Brussels) and April 2009 (Strasbourg), highly contributed to uphold continued cooperation, by creating the necessary framework for open debates on priority issues, such as: the situation of women in Iraq and Family Law provisions, security and regional issues, refugees and EU cooperation assistance. A great deal of interest is granted to enhancing cooperation in: education; health and environment; economy, investment & construction; oil, gas and energy; parliamentary development.
By the European Parliament decision of 6 May 2009, the status of the Delegation was upgraded to the Permanent Delegation for the relations with Iraq, with the constitutive meeting on 30 September 2009.
