A central part of the Assembly’s work is the Rose-Roth Programme of partnership and co-operation – initially with Central and Eastern European countries but subsequently throughout the Euro-Atlantic region. This programme seeks to assist partner countries, mainly in the Balkans and the South Caucasus, through a challenging transition process, which involves the implementation of difficult political and economic reforms.

In the context of its outreach activities, the Assembly created in 1995 a Mediterranean Special Group with the aim of opening a political dialogue with legislators from countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The programme gradually expanded and the Assembly has now established relations at various levels with the Parliaments of nine countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean: Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, as well as with the Palestinian Legislative Council. Preliminary contacts have recently been established with some countries of the Gulf.