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ISSUE N°14
JULY 2004
 
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white cube Editorial
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The World of Parliaments
Technical cooperation update

The following is a rundown of the Union's recent work to strengthen parliamentary capacities worldwide.

Kosovo: Enhancing the transparency of the Assembly
Under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/IPU project of assistance to the Assembly of Kosovo, a memorandum of understanding was signed in April 2004 with the Assembly and the National and University Library of Kosovo for the establishment of the Parliamentary Governance Information Centre. This Centre will provide the population with access to the public areas of the new electronic document management system of the Assembly, and thus enhance parliamentary transparency and accountability.

Equatorial Guinea
On 25 April 2004, the people of Equatorial Guinea elected 100 members of parliament to the Camara de los Representantes del Pueblo (CRP). Following this election, the IPU is now set to pursue its European Union-funded programme of assistance. Activities to be organised in the near future include an orientation seminar for the newly elected members focussing on their role and the working methods of parliament. The major subject areas will be constitutional law, parliamentary law, international law, democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

Sharing the experiences of other parliaments with Albanian parliamentarians
In March 2004, the UNDP/IPU project of assistance to the National Assembly of Albania organised two study visits for members of the Albanian parliament to the parliaments of Belgium and Hungary. The visits familiarized the members with the overall functioning of these parliaments and how they are structured, with particular emphasis on the oversight role of parliaments, including instruments such as investigations and inquiries.

Strengthening the capacity of parliaments in post-conflict management
Over the past several years, the IPU has worked to support parliaments operating in post-conflict situations. Recently, in the context of its cooperation with UNDP, both organisations have begun thinking about ways and means of ensuring more efficient delivery of technical assistance to such parliaments. On 24 March, the IPU hosted a meeting organised jointly with UNDP on Enhancing the role of parliaments in conflict/post-conflict settings. Participants addressed the role of parliaments in conflict situations, and how they could be best structured and assisted in performing this role. This meeting was followed up by the IPU's participation in a conference convened in Bergen, Norway in May 2004 by the UNDP Oslo Governance Centre and the Chr. Michelsen Institute. It focussed on strengthening democratic governance in post-conflict situations, and explored challenges and issues to be addressed in programming democratic governance initiatives in post-conflict situations. The findings of the March 2004 meeting were presented on that occasion.

Parliaments and environmental management
In February 2004, the IPU and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) signed a memorandum of understanding. Under this agreement, the two organisations will carry out joint initiatives to strengthen the capacities of parliaments worldwide, especially in the area of environmental management. Both institutions consider that capacity-building holds the key to ensuring broader and more substantive participation by legislators. A needs assessment has been launched via a questionnaire, which has been sent to several parliaments. The responses will be analysed with a view to designing programmes that are commensurate with the parliaments' priorities and interests. These programmes are expected to be initiated in the second half of 2004.

Expansion of the European Union:
challenges facing the parliaments of the new member States

This is the follow-up to the comments we received from the parliaments of the new member States of the European Union (see also The World of Parliaments, N°13).

Latvia's new status will involve new requirements and means of functioning for the Latvian parliament

For Mrs. Sandra Paura, Head of the Saeima Inter-Parliamentary Relations Bureau, "the enlargement of the European Union (EU) will bring with it new requirements and means of functioning for the Latvian parliament. Latvia will have to fulfill the commitments agreed during the accession negotiations and that are set out in the accession treaty. We must be ready to formulate and actively defend our national positions, and the Saeima has its role to play."

In European affairs, Mrs. Paura says that coordination between the Government and the parliament as well the coordination of the legislative agenda within the Saeima is crucial. "In 1998, the role of the Saeima’s participation in European affairs was set out in the parliamentary rules of procedure. In Chapter VII (Participation of the Saeima in EU Affairs), article 185 states that the Saeima shall participate in EU affairs through the European Affairs Committee (EAC), unless the Saeima has ruled otherwise."

The provisions establish that "the EAC shall be composed of at least one member from each faction in the Saeima. The EAC shall examine the official positions of the Republic of Latvia, prepared in accordance with the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers, and shall rule on them before they are communicated to the European Union institutions." According to Mrs Paura, the legislative oversight process began "with the examination of our accession negotiation positions, and later resulted in a mandate allowing the Government to act through the meeting of the Council of Ministers. In practical terms, this means that each position of the Government was and is debated in the EAC, and the EAC provides a mandate."

"That is what we call parliamentary control over the Government in this process. There is a need to involve the sectoral committees in the debate over EU issues, too (including the government positions prior to Council meetings). On the international stage, it is important for Latvia to strengthen cooperation between the national parliaments within the EU, developing effective mechanisms for such cooperation. Cooperation with the European Parliament (EP) is important for Latvia, too. The office of the Saeima in the EP was established as early as 2001, starting with one permanent representative, and now there are two representatives of the Saeima in the EP. We assume that the need for closer cooperation will be even greater after enlargement. For Latvia, it will be crucial in terms of defending our national interests to have as much effective cooperation and information exchange as possible between the Saeima, the Government, the permanent representation to the EU and Latvian parliamentarians. We believe that the EP will be the best place to defend our interests."

(To be continued in The World of Parliaments N°15)

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