Senior officials from the six Eastern partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) and EU services met in Tbilisi on September 24-25, 2018. The main purpose of this Eastern Partnership (EaP) event was reviewing the common practice of the parliamentary secretariats of the countries represented, the need for a new system of experience exchange and coordinated multilateral cooperation.
The said officials talked over the prospects of cooperation and signed a memorandum, which provides for the establishment of a cross-industry network to facilitate the organization of joint activities, the adoption of exchange programs for employees.
It was also pointed out that it is for the first time that the meeting is held in such a format, new format, keen interest to which has been confirmed by attendance of a high-ranking official from the German Bundestag.
Petro Bodnar, the First Deputy Secretary General of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Secretariat-Chief Manager, spoke of the secretariat’s workflow management, introduction of electronic document workflow, open data access, the intradepartmental reforms, and elaboration of communication and IT strategies of the Ukrainian Parliament. In greater detail he dwelt upon the 2017 parliamentary IT-strategy tasked to step up confidence to the parliament and further its democratic development. “The clue to success of Rada’s reform is, first of all, room for using the ideas, experience of international partners, political will of the government and the energy of civil society, as well as a common vision and a unified strategy of actions, assistance and support of the colleagues of the EaP,” stressed P.Bodnar.
The conferees also touched upon issues of public administration reform, the development of road maps for the future and issues of the communication strategy, clarified the structure and activities of parliamentary secretariats, the importance of reinforcing regional and international platforms, and strengthening inter-parliamentary ties.