First of all, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk congratulated the staff of the Research Service of the Ukrainian Parliament on the anniversary of its establishment.
“We have set an ambitious task to turn a traditional scientific institute of legislation into a service that would be an applied parliamentary service and would be able to solve specific tasks assigned to it,” said Ruslan Stefanchuk, adding that the creation of the Research Service, on the one hand, was the result of studying the best foreign experience, and on the other hand, taking into account national parliamentary traditions.
He emphasised that Ukraine has been a candidate for accession to the European Union for over a year now, and during this time the Parliament of Ukraine has demonstrated that it can be a real driving force when it comes to adapting legislation to European law.
“However, any decision-making, any legislative decision must be based on the analysis of the relevant norms and professional expertise of the proposed drafts and acts,” said Ruslan Stefanchuk, stressing that in this regard, the Research Service is primarily responsible for research, information and analytical support of the Parliament’s activities.
At the same time, he welcomed the progress made by the Research Service in international cooperation, adding that during every visit to foreign partners he hears about their full readiness to provide Ukraine with expert assistance, in particular, in the development of the Research Service.
“This year we expect the opening of EU accession negotiations. We need to clearly understand how to make the Research Service one of the best parliamentary research services in the world. And I want to thank you for what you have already done. I hope that you will be able to do even more,” said the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Lesia Vaolevska, the Head of the Research Service, reported that over the year of its existence, the Service has prepared and provided 685 information and analytical materials to customers, most of which are dedicated to Ukraine’s integration into the EU.
“When planning our activities, we took into account the proposals of parliamentarians, in particular, when preparing the concept of legislative development. We created a catalogue of information and analytical materials, which is available on the website, and prepared a calendar of events of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for the 2024 with information about the relevant event and a hyperlink to the relevant provision of the law,” said Lesia Vaolevska.
The Research Service also took part in 25 working groups and subgroups and 32 expert discussions on topical issues of lawmaking, and provided professional training to 1113 people.
The event was also attended by the Chairmen of the Verkhovna Rada Committees. They made proposals for the further development of the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, in particular, the introduction of a unified glossary of legislative terms, the need to strengthen the financial direction of the Research Service’s work in order to improve the budget process, to enhance activities in analysing the impact of adopted laws not only in the financial and budgetary, but also in other areas, as well as to connect to international databases in order to study the most leading trends in various spheres of the country’s life.