The European Integration is one of the key directions in the work of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy in 2023
03 January 2024, 12:58
The year 2023 was marked, among other things, by the official start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU. The Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Humanitarian and Information Policy also joined the implementation of the country's European integration path.
The Committee's work was primarily focused on harmonising Ukrainian legislation with European legislation.
In particular, in order to implement the EU Directive on audiovisual media services, the Parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine "On Media" at the end of last year. This act is aimed at providing legislative support for the reform of the media industry, which envisages strengthening the role of an independent media regulator, reducing the role of private interests in the sector, etc.
The second stage of the Directive's implementation (in terms of introducing European rules on the dissemination of commercial information) was the ongoing work of the Committee on the development and preparation of a European integration bill on advertising. The relevant Law of Ukraine (No. 3136-IX) was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on 30 May 2023.
The Committee members also submitted their proposals to the European integration Law of Ukraine "On Consumer Protection" (they managed to ensure reliable protection of the right to receive information about goods and services in Ukrainian) and the Law of Ukraine on Certain Issues of Exercising the Rights and Freedoms of Persons Belonging to National Minorities (Communities) of Ukraine (in particular, they defended the position that the law's innovations should not apply to russian as the language of the aggressor state).
An equally important topic that the Committee has not lost sight of is the protection of the rights of Ukrainian children. Thus, in 2023, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted an Appeal to the parliaments and governments of foreign countries and international organisations to condemn the forced deportation of Ukrainian children. The draft Appeal was initiated by members of the Committee.
The joint meeting of the specialised subcommittees considered the issue of payments for orphans and children deprived of parental care who are in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and the territory of the russian federation. The Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy was unanimous in its position on the continuation of such payments and stressed the need to develop a mechanism for the return of status children to the government-controlled territory of Ukraine. As a result, the Government was instructed to intensify efforts to return Ukrainian children. On 15 December, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 1310, which regulates this issue.
The Committee is also active in the cultural sphere. Most importantly, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a draft law on the introduction and maintenance of electronic registers in the field of culture. Recently, the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine was officially presented. Information on most monuments will be publicly available: both national and local; both known and newly discovered.
By 272 votes, the Parliament adopted as a whole, taking into account the Committee's opinion, a draft law on clarifying the activities of the Ukrainian Book Institute to support distributors of publishing products and provide a certificate for the purchase of books. This step gave the green light to book certificates in Diia and subsidies for renting premises for bookstores.
National memory policy is also on the agenda. On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a statement calling on international organisations and parliaments to recognise the Holodomor as a crime of genocide against the Ukrainian people.
A draft resolution on the commemoration of memorable dates and anniversaries in 2024-2025 has been developed. Over the next two years, many dates and anniversaries of figures who are significant in the creation of the Ukrainian state will be celebrated at the state level: from the times of Kyivan Rus to the current war.
On 2 May 2023, the Resolution "On the Statement of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine 'On the Use of the Ideology of ruscism by the Political Regime of the russian federation, Condemnation of the Principles and Practices of ruscism as Totalitarian and Hateful" was adopted.
A significant part of the work continues in the international arena. MPs who are members of the Committee systematically raise the issue of the return of Ukrainian children and the preservation of Ukraine's cultural sites in PACE and the OSCE.
These are some of the issues that the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy worked on in 2023. Detailed reports on its work are available on the website.