Following a meeting in October 2016, we the Leadership and Heads of Factions and Groups of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU) met for a second time in the format of the Jean Monnet Dialogue for peace and democracy. We remain fully committed to changing the political culture in our country and to drive and complete the institutional reform of the Verkhovna Rada, in line with the “Report and roadmap on internal reform and capacity building for the VRU” and adopted by the VRU in resolution 1035-VIII of 17 March 2016. We consider the process itself is delivering benefits beyond the scope of the specific topics included in the agenda including stimulating overall momentum for change in the Verkhovna Rada.
We met to discuss our collective achievements since the last meeting and to reiterate our commitment to institutional reform and, in particular, to a consensus-building approach to implementation through the permanent Working Group established by the first Jean Monnet Dialogue. We are confident that such an inclusive and dedicated Working Group is an essential driver for concretely bringing forward the necessary reform of the Verkhovna Rada. On this basis, we welcome the extension of the Memorandum of Understanding by exchange of letters between President Tajani and Speaker Parubiy, in order to continue the partnership between the European Parliament and the Verkhovna Rada. We also welcome the idea of renewing the Administrative Cooperation Agreement between our two parliaments, as an integral part of this partnership.
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On the follow-up to the conclusions from the first Jean Monnet Dialogue and other steps that have been taken since:
We took-stock of what has been achieved and are committed to moving from constructive dialogue to effective implementation, in particular on:
· the establishment of the Working Group, chaired by Mr Parubiy, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, and composed of representatives of the leaders of the factions and groups. This puts into practice the consensus-building methodology. The Working Group has successfully held five meetings since the first Jean Monnet Dialogue. The need to further reinforce the administrative support of the Working Group will be explored.
· the reform of the committee structure and reducing the number of committees: we underlined our support for the draft law # 6256 aiming at reducing and limiting the number of committees and their alignment with the Ministries.
An extensive discussion revealed the layers of complexity associated with this issue. Some of us emphasised the need to reduce the number of committees while others focused on the need to consider committee functions in greater depth. The need to protect the continued existence of key cross-cutting committees was discussed, particularly those dealing with Rules, Budget, Anti-Corruption, European Integration, Human Rights (including its sub-committee on equal rights and opportunities), and Freedom of speech. Various different formulae were put forward to reduce the number of committees, including fixing the number of deputies per committee and ensuring each faction or group is represented in every committee. Reference was made to the European Parliament’s practice of setting rules to deal with the establishment of committees and providing for the functions of the committees in an annex to the rules. Some EP committees cover more than one "ministry", some committees have sub-committees and, for important topical issues, it is possible to create special commissions, though these are temporary and only one is allowed to exist at any one time
· a consensus emerged that the number of committees should be reduced, and that this should be defined by law for implementation in the next convocation.
This agreement is conditional upon additional steps being taken to ensure that key cross-cutting committees remain and that the functions of committees are fully considered and defined. This outcome could be achieved in several legislative steps, based on a political commitment that all these steps will be taken during the current convocation. The Working Group should seek consensus on the means by which this agreement should be implemented.
· a draft law on proportional representation in VRU committees and delegations, in line with the conclusions from the First Jean Monnet Dialogue. Representation should be proportional to the size of factions and groups in the VRU and inclusive. Once an agreement is reached in the Working Group, the provisions of the draft law should take effect from the beginning of the next (9th) convocation.
· amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the VRU to bring it into compliance with the constitution of Ukraine (Registered draft law # 5522). We took note of the progress and preparations for including this on the plenary agenda once the Venice Commission has delivered its opinion.
· an update from the Cabinet of Ministers on draft amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the CMU to introduce ‘White papers’ and Annual Ministry reports into the legislative process, as discussed in the framework of the first Jean Monnet Dialogue. We took due note of the report of the representative of the Cabinet of Ministers on the current work on amending accordingly the Rules of Procedures of the Cabinet of Ministers, and welcome the fact that proposals for how to implement a new White Paper consultation process should be presented before the Summer.
· the development of a draft regulation to provide a specific legal basis for the operation of faction secretariats. We took note in this regard of the initiative of chiefs of staff of the VRU factions during their working meeting in Oslo, and the resulting draft to address a technical flaw of the law on reform of the public service. We recommended that steps to be taken would not undermine the current interinstitutional discussions on the public service law but would encourage the Working Group to take this proposal forward in a timely manner.
· an update on regular meetings of committee chairs, under the lead of the Speaker, to discuss legislative priorities and agenda issues. We regard this as a positive example of the successful application of the working methods of the Jean Monnet Dialogue applied to wider consensus building in the VRU.
On Recommendation N° 44 – Regulation and status of the parliamentary opposition, whereby “an early decision should be made and implemented to regulate the status of the parliamentary opposition”.
The rights and duties of parliamentary factions to peacefully coexist and exercise, without undue restriction, their duties to represent citizens’ interests need to be guaranteed. After an extensive discussion, we reached a consensus that a sustainable, fair, and objective answer on the nature and needs of the parliamentary opposition requires several steps for guaranteeing these rights.
We agreed that the Working Group will pursue by consensus purposeful small steps to resolve the issue of the rights of the opposition, using the principle of consensus, and that the first steps would be:
· equitable distribution of parliamentary positions for committee chairs and the allocation of ordinary seats on committees. We have come to the conclusion that the priority is the principle of a fair distribution, and an appropriate mathematical method will be agreed by consensus.
· the role of the committees in the VRU are an important means for all factions to enhance their agenda setting and oversight roles. A new Law on Committees and/or amendments to the Rules of Procedures of the VRU would contribute to enhancing the role of all factions as well as reflecting the importance of the committees in the VRU.
· the oversight of the executive could be made more efficient by reformatting the question session with the CMU, organised according to thematic topics.
· a new provision needs to be made to allow specific plenary time for debates on urgent and topical issues.
Each time a first step is taken, it is the beginning of a journey that lead to further steps. There is also a willingness to build a consensus on the election law. If any assistance is needed for this process, it would need to be requested specifically.
Additional suggestions were made that require further consideration including on reducing the quorum for both plenary sessions and committee meetings and on parliament's rights to sanction and dismiss ministers.
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As a measure of our openness and commitment to cross-party dialogue and consensus-building on the institutional reform of the Verkhovna Rada, we have agreed that these conclusions and agreements should be publicly available to the citizens of Ukraine.
We will continue to meet regularly in the format of the Jean Monnet Dialogue on the implementation of the institutional reform agenda and wider topics of mutual interest to the leadership and heads of the political factions and groups of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Andriy PARUBIY, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Serhii SOBOLIEV, deputy head of Batkivshchyna faction
Igor GRYNIV, MP, Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction
Yuriy PAVLENKO, MP, Opposition Bloc faction
Svitlana VOYTSELHOVSKA, MP, People's Front faction
Iaroslav MOSKALENKO, head of People's Will group
Ihor POPOV, MP, Radical Party faction
Volodymyr PYLYPENKO, representative, Renaissance group
Oleh BEREZIUK, head of Samopomich faction