Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro took part in the multilateral seminar for MPs on the topic “The legislative cycle – from legislative initiative to implementation and monitoring“, which took place in Brussels, from 19 to 20 June 2017.
The gathering, organised by the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group of the European Parliament, was aimed at presenting the overall legislative cycle of the EU. Special attention was paid to the role of the European Parliament and its committees. The aim of the European Parliament, in addition to presenting the best practice in the legislative cycle, was to encourage discussion and the exchange of experiences among the national parliaments.
During the two days of the seminar, the vice presidents of the European Parliament, as well as the chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the line committees of the European Parliament, informed their colleagues from the national parliaments on the responsibilities of the European Parliament and its committees, from the aspect of the EU legislative procedure. A great deal of attention was paid to the procedure of consideration of proposals for acts, coordination of work among the committees, and implementation of horizontal issues. Furthermore, they also discussed the cooperation between the European Parliament and national parliaments, and mechanisms that this institution had established in order to guarantee the representation of national interests of member states at the EU level.
Within the seminar, the MPs attended the meetings of committees on legal affairs and agriculture and rural development, where, among other things, there was a discussion on monitoring the implementation of certain EU regulations, and in that manner got the opportunity to be informed on the implementation of oversight mechanisms of the EP’s working bodies.
Bearing in mind the specific quality of the European Parliament and complexity of the legislative procedure, the members of the European Parliament especially emphasised the significance of dialogue and reaching consensus on contentious issues, and the significance of consultations during the entire process. They presented instruments which enable achieving compromise among political groups of the parliaments, which represent a wide spectrum of interests. They pointed out the significance of transparency in decision-making as one of key features of parliaments, and fostering closer ties with citizens and organisations of the civil society, primarily through involvement in the legislative process.
Participants in the first multilateral capacity building seminar of the European Parliament included members of the European Parliament and MPs/chairpersons of parliamentary committees from over 20 countries form Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, with whom the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group of the European Parliaments established cooperation on democracy support and capacity building.
Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro consisted of Chairperson of the Legislative Committee Ms Marta Šćepanović, Chairperson of the Committee on Political System, Judiciary and Administration Mr Željko Aprcović, Chairperson of the Committee on European Administration Mr Adrijan Vuksanović, and Chairperson of the Committee on Health, Labour and Social Welfare Mr Suad Numanović.
