The video conference of Chairperson of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov with the Representatives of the European Parliament took place within the framework of the continuation of the dialogue between the European Parliament and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the implementation of the institutional reform of the Ukrainian Parliament.
The meeting with former European Parliament President Pat Cox and European Parliament Rapporteur on Ukraine Michael Gahler is in preparation for the next round of Jean Monnet Dialogues.
Opening the discussion, former President of the European Parliament (2002-2004) Pat Cox focused on the ongoing reforms in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the continuation of a productive dialogue with the European Parliament. He noted that it is necessary to clarify the issues for the next meeting in the fall in Brussels. “When conditions allow, we would like to continue cooperation in person and invite to Brussels in the fall of 2021 to continue the dialogue,” said Pat Cox and added that, despite the pandemic, European politicians have been closely following all developments in Ukraine and are looking forward to reforms in the Verkhovna Rada.
He also noted the introductory speech of Dmitry Razumkov at the opening of the fifth session of the ninth convocation, which voiced the basic principles of Jean Monnet's dialogue – building consensus and setting priorities. Pat Cox stressed the importance of passing the bill on parliamentary control, as well as changes in the voting system using the touch button, which will prevent impersonal voting.
Stressing the importance of cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the European Parliament, Pat Cox also noted that the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Parliament and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on a common framework for supporting parliamentary democracy may take place during Dmytro Razumkov's forthcoming visit to Brussels.
During the video conference, First Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk informed about the intentions of the Ukrainian Parliament to start “fundamental reform on improving the quality of legislative activity and legislation in general.” He noted that the number of current regulations in Ukraine far exceeded one million. 90% of bills considered by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine are changes and additions to the current legislation. A large number of laws are inversely proportional to their quality.
The First Vice Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine noted that in order to resolve the situation it is necessary to start work on systematization, improving the quality of Ukrainian legislation, creating less technical legislation, more codified. The Parliament of Ukraine has already approved the Legislative Work Plan for 2021 and work is underway on medium-term planning for the next three years.
Ruslan Stefanchuk also stressed that the Ukrainian Parliament has partially “resolved the issue of ‘button-pressing’ at the legal and technical level, and will further improve this mechanism.” The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament also said that MPs are currently working on the draft law on the opposition. “We have abandoned the idea of creating a separate law on the opposition and are moving towards amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,” he said.
Ruslan Stefanchuk also reported on legislative innovations, in particular, the bill on amendments to certain laws of Ukraine registered last week to improve the process of planning the legislative work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (No. 5178), and informed that the draft law on public consultations (No. 4254) had been adopted in the first reading, and the draft law on the principles of law-making was being prepared.
The First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada expressed hope for close cooperation with the European Parliament and assistance in preparation of bills important for the Verkhovna Rada.