A delegation is created with the aim of maintaining relations and exchange information with parliaments in non-EU countries. Meetings between both parliaments are held once or twice a year, alternately in the EU and in the non-EU country that is in the delegation.

There are four types of delegation:

• Joint parliamentary committees: They are created with the parliaments of States that have association agreements with the EU or of States that have initiated accession negotiations with the EU.
• Parliamentary Cooperation Committee: They are created with the objective of achieving a cooperation agreement between the European Union and a non-EU country. They mainly collaborate with the States involved in the European Neighborhood Policy and countries which have signed strategic partnership agreements with the EU. The number of members varies from one delegation to another, but the EU and the third-country always have an equal amount.
• Other interparliamentary delegation: They promote relations with countries outside of the European Union which are not candidate countries. These delegations develop their activities in cooperation with the AFET, DEVE and INTA committees.
• Delegations to multilateral parliamentary assemblies: These delegations maintain and foster relations between the European Parliament and the assemblies of other multilateral institutions.

Here you can find the complete list of delegations, classified by region, country and type.