Background

The project Legislatures and Citizens: A programme for the parliaments and civil societies of Southeastern Europe studied one of the most worrying phenomena of the past few decades- the growing gap between citizens and the institutions that govern them. Of all state powers, elected parliaments are supposed to be the closest to their citizens, to represent and voice the concerns of diverse elements of the population. However, even in mature democracies, citizens often describe parliaments as being far removed from the interests of both individual citizens and society as a whole, as being remote and inaccessible.

This issue was even more pronounced in the struggling post-communist democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. There, citizens’ disillusionment with their legislatures was exacerbated not only by frequent accusations of shady practices and corruption, but also by the slow rate of change, characterized by economic and social hardships of the transition period.

Lack of public confidence in the professional capacity of legislatures presented a serious problem for emerging democracies. Citizens who lack trust in their governing bodies are less likely to obey laws and support the regime’s policies. Without public support for necessary reforms, and without citizen involvement in policy making, the transition towards a democratic society and ultimate integration into European and international structures cannot be successfully achieved.

Both legislatures and civil society must realize and acknowledge that they are equal partners in the democratic process. Together they have to seek ways of restoring public confidence in the parliament as the key democratic institution, and to find methods and instruments of ensuring genuine civic participation in the decision and law-making processes as the ultimate guarantee of their legitimacy and public support.

To this end, capacity and trust building exercises were necessary to focus on a constructive future together. Mutual forms of support were identified and addressed. The workshops and conferences in the programme Legislatures and Citizens provided an opportunity to bridge the above-mentioned gap and to build on creating an atmosphere of trust and mutual cooperation.

Legislatures and Citizens was a three-year programme, geared towards developing a true working relationship between parliaments and NGOs in the countries of Southeastern Europe, including: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo. The programme was divided into two complementary stages: civil society feedback on draft legislation and the staging of public debates. An on-going, regional, parliamentary/civil society exchange programme ran parallel to the broader programme. These exchanges gave participants an inside look at their neighbours' parliaments and a chance to better understand the different constructive roles that civil societies were trying to play in their respective countries.

Programme Duration

1 March 2001 – 31 July 2004

Funding

Funding for Legislatures and Citizens was provided by The European Commission’s European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Programme Activities

1. Preparatory visit to Croatia, 2-5 June 2001
2. Preparatory visit to Serbia, 16-17 July 2001
3. Preparatory meeting with Macedonian local NGO partner, 11 August 2001
4. Preparatory visit to Albania, 9-13 September 2001
5. Preparatory visit to Bulgaria, 19 September 2001
6. Preparatory visit to Romania, 25-27 September 2001
7. Launching Meeting, 17-18 November 2001
8. Opening of the L&C Regional Office in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1 May 2001
9. L&C website and internet reporting
10. Feedback Meeting, Tirana, Albania, 22 February 2002
11. Feedback Meeting, Podgorica, Montenegro, 1 March 2002
12. Feedback Meeting, Sarejevo and Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 9-10 May 2002
13. In-country Meeting, Pristina, Kosovo, 15-16 May 2002
14. Preparatory Meeting, Skopje, Macedonia, 27-28 May 2002
15. Feedback Meeting, Zagreb, Croatia, 11 June 2002
16. Feedback Meeting, Bucharest, Romania, 12 June 2002
17. Feedback Meeting, Sofia, Bulgaria, 20 July 2002
18. Follow-up Visit, Skopje, Macedonia, 6 September 2002
19. Follow-up Feedback Meeting, Pristina, Kosovo, 2-5 October 2002
20. Round Table Debate, Zagreb, Croatia, 10 October 2002
21. Round Table Debate, Tirana, Albania 25 October 2002
22. Feedback Meeting, Skopje, Macedonia, 30 October 2002
23. Round Table Debate, Bucharest, Romania, 1 November 2002
24. Round Table Debate, Varna, Bulgaria, 9 November 2002
25. Round Table Debate, Podgorica, Montenegro, 13 November 2002
26. Round Table Debate, Belgrade, Serbia, 15 November 2002
27. Round Table Debate, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 26 November 2002
28. Round Table Debate, Skopje, Macedonia, 29 November 2002
29. Mid-Term Regional Conference, Sofia, Bulgaria, 6-7 December 2002
30. Legislatures and Citizens Update
31. Roundtable Debate “Discussion of the new Labour Bill”, 24 January 2003, Zagreb, Croatia
32. Roundtable Debate “The new draft laws on indemnities for the damage caused by terrorist actions”, 17 February 2003, Zagreb, Croatia
33. Roundtable Debate “Law about national minorities’ rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, 14 April 2004, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
34. Public Forum “The legislative reform of the electoral system in Romania”, 29 May 2003, Bucharest, Romania
35. Regional Exchange Visit of Serbian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation to Albania, 5-9 June 2003
36. Regional Exchange Visit of Bosnian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation to Croatia, 16-19 June 2003
37. Public Forum “Towards greater tolerance: Reform of the Croatian education system”, 17 June 2003, Zagreb, Croatia
38. Regional Exchange Visit of Bulgarian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation to Montenegro, 21-24 June 2003
39. Regional Exchange Visit of Albanian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation to Serbia, 2-6 July 2003
40. Preparatory trip for the Regional Roundtable Debate, 8-10 August 2003, Tirana, Albania
41. Regional Roundtable Debate “Follow-up and continuation”, 5-7 September 2003, Tirana, Albania
42. Regional Exchange Visit of Croatian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, 16-19 September 2003
43. Public Forum “The law on the protection of national minorities’ rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, 17 September 2003, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
44. Joint Visit to the National Assembly of Republic of Srpska, 19-21 September 2003, Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska
45. Public Forum “Financing of political parties and electoral campaigns”, 23-25 September 2003, Bucharest, Romania
46. Public Forum “Commentary on the Draft Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance”, 22-24 October 2003, Belgrade, Serbia
47. Regional Exchange Visit of Macedonian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation to Romania, 30 November-4 December 2003
48. Regional Exchange Visit of Montenegrin Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation to Bulgaria, 1-4 December 2003
49. Public Forum “The Parliament and civil sector in transition”, 6-8 February 2004, Podgorica, Montenegro
50. Public Forum, “Commentary on the law on referenda”, 23-25 February 2004, Sofia, Bulgaria
51. Regional Exchange visit of Romanian Delegation to Macedonia, 25-29 February 2004, Skopje, Macedonia
52. Final Regional Conference, “Legislatures and Citizens”, 1-4 April 2004, Budapest, Hungary
53. Public Forum “The culture of dialogue and the role of the opposition”, 5-7 May 2004, Tirana, Albania
54. Regional Meeting “Programme Continuation”, 9-11 July 2004, Tirana, Albania
55. Publications, evaluations and progress reports

1. The preparatory visit to Croatia was carried out on 2-5 June 2001. The EWPPP was represented by Jill Adler, Director, Joeri Buhrer Tavanier, Project Manager, Radu Ghidau, Steering Committee Member, Aurela Isufi, Project Manager and Sonia Kanikova, consultant. The objective of the visit was to introduce the programme to the Parliament of Croatia, discuss programme implementation and division of tasks with both the Parliament and local NGO partner, set up the Croatian Consultative Committee and schedule a timeline of activities for Croatia. During the visit, meetings were held with:

• Mato Arlovic, Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament
• Snjezana Biga-Friganovic, MP, Chairman, Committee on Labour, Social Policy and Health Care /li>
• Darinka Orel, MP, vice-Chairman of the Committee on Labour, Social Policy and Health Care
• Vesna Pusic, MP, President of the Croatian People’s Party/li>
• Marija Lugaric, Member of Parliament
• Tin Gazivoda, Executive Director, Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
• Gvozden Flego, Member of the Executive Board, Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
• Bojan Munjin, Assistant Director, Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights.

The Croatian Consultative Committee, a cross-party advisory body tasked with determining the focus and the content of the in-country activities and advising on the selection of the national and international participants, was established, including:

• Snjezana Biga Friganovic (SDP)
• Zrinka Glovacki Bernardi (CSLP)
• Marija Lugaric (SDP)
• Luca Roic (CPP)
• Pavle Kalinic (SDP)

As regards the legislative feedback phase of the programme, the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, in cooperation with a number of other NGOs that would be involved in our programme, started preparatory work on the following pieces of legislation:

• Law on political parties
• Constitutional appeal to the Croatian State Agreement with the Vatican
• Law on the responsibility for damages resulting from terrorist acts
• Amendments to the law on social welfare
• Amendments to the criminal law regarding offences related to hatred, racial, cultural, political or gender discrimination
• Drafting of the law on the accessibility of information
• Amendments to a number of healthcare laws
• Law on the legal consequences for unjustified cancellations of tenancy 1991-2001

2. The first preparatory visit to Serbia took place on 16 and 17 July 2001. The EWPPP was represented by Project Manager Joeri Buhrer Tavanier and Sonia Kanikova, consultant. The objective of the visit was to introduce the programme to the Parliament of Serbia, to discuss programme implementation and division of tasks with both the Parliament and local NGO partner, discuss ways to involve the Federal Parliament, set up the Serbian Consultative Committee and schedule a timeline of activities for Serbia. Meetings were held with:

• Sasha Pasic, Vice President of the Parliament of Vojvodina, Chairman of the Vojvodina branch of DOS (Democratic Opposition of Serbia, now the ruling party).
• Stevan Lilic, MP, Democratic Centre;
• Djorde Mamula, MP, Democratic Party of Serbia;
• Nataša Milojevic, MP, Democratic Opposition.

Together with a team of experts we have been working on the draft of the Freedom of Information Act. Meetings took place on a weekly basis.

3. A preparatory meeting with the Macedonian NGO partner, Forum, was held in Sofia on 11 August 2001. The objective of the meeting was to discuss programme implementation and division of tasks with the local NGO partner, the make-up of the Macedonian Consultative Committee and to schedule a timeline of activities for Macedonia.

The Macedonian Consultative Committee has been set up and includes the following members:

• Stojan Andov, President of the Parliament
• Petar Goshev, MP, Liberal Democratic Party
• Nikola Popovski, MP, Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia
• Danilo Gligorovski, MP, VMRO - DPMNE
• Mersel Bilali, MP, Party for Democratic Prosperity

The MCC and EWPPP’s local partner Forum identified the piece of draft legislation to be discussed within the framework of Legislatures and Citizens: “Legal regulation of the coverage of electoral campaigns in the electronic and printed media”. This (draft) law will be very important during the forthcoming elections, scheduled for this summer. Forum and MCC intend to prepare a draft bill. Experts who decided to take part in the programme include:

• Zoran Bojarovski, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Forum Magazine
• Borjan Jovanovski, Editor, TV Alfa
• Andriana Skerlev - Cakar, Head of the Law Department at the Macedonian Broadcasting Council
• Snezana Trpevska, Head of the Programme Department at the Macedonian Broadcasting Council

4. The preparatory visit to Albania took place on 9-13 September 2001. The visit was carried out by Jill Adler, Director, Aurela Isufi, Project Manager, and Gerrit Valk, MP, Project advisor. The objective of the visit was to introduce the programme to the Parliament of Albania, discuss programmeme implementation and division of tasks with both the Parliament and local NGO partner, set up the Albanian Consultative Committee and schedule a timeline of activities for Albania. Meetings were held with:

• Arta Dade, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania
• Namik Dokle, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament
• Nard Ndoka, MP, Reformed Democratic Party, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group
• Sabri Godo, Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republican Party
• Mimoza Arbi, Secretary General of the Albanian Parliament/li>
• Arben Malaj, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of PS
• Fatmir Xhafa, MP, Socialist Party
• Ridvan Bode, General Secretary of the Democratic Party
• Jemin Gjana, Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party
• Maksim Begeja, Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party
• Kozara Kati, Executive Director, Albanian Centre for Human Rights
• Niazi Jaho, Bord Member, Albanian Centre for Human Rights

The Albanian Consultative Committee, a cross-party advisory body that would determine the focus and the content of the in-country activities and advise on the selection of the national and international participants, was established, including:

• Arben Malaj, MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group, Socialist Party
• Musa Ulqini, Chairman of the Committee for the Media, Socialist Party
• Kastriot Islami, Secretary of the Committee for Foreign Policy and International Relations, Socialist Party
• Fatos Beja, MP, Secretary for Elections and Human Resources, Democratic Party
• Lublin Dilja, MP, Democratic Party
• Jozefina Topalli, MP, Deputy Chair of the Democratic Party
• Ridvan Bode, MP, Secretary General of the Democratic Party
• Engjell Bejtja, MP, Social-Democratic Party
• Fatmir Mediu, MP, Chairman of the Republican Party

As regards the legislative feedback phase of the programme, the Albanian Centre for Human Rights suggested working on the draft law on ad hoc investigative parliamentary committees.

5. The first preparatory meeting in Bulgaria took place on 19 September 2001. The objective of the meeting was to introduce the programme to the Parliament of Bulgaria, discuss programme implementation and division of tasks with both the Parliament and local NGO partner, set up the Bulgarian Consultative Committee and schedule a timeline of activities for Bulgaria. EWPPP, represented by Project Manager Joeri Buhrer Tavanier, held meetings with:

• Ivo Christov, expert, Committee on Legal Affairs.
• Ivan Ivanov, MP, United Democratic Forces, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Transport and Telecommunications and Member of the Committee on Education and Science;
• Lenko Lenkov, Executive Director of Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation;
• Mikhail Mikov, MP, Coalition for Bulgaria, Member of the Committee on Economic Policy and of the Committee on Legal Affairs;
• Remzi Osman, MP, Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Chairman of the Committee on Local Self-Government and Member of the Committee on Legal Affairs, Chair of the LCC;
• Dimitri Panitza, Chairman of Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation;
• Irena Varadinova, MP, National Movement Simeon II, Member of the Committee on Civil Society Issues.

This group of MPs formed the Bulgarian Consultative Committee. The main topics on the agenda included selection of a piece of draft legislation (and the respective parliamentary committee). The legislative priorities of the majority in the 39th National Assembly and of the Council of Ministers were taken into account. It was decided that the selected draft legislation should be new and of significant public interest and should have a direct connection with the current harmonization with EU legislation. The logistical details related to the upcoming launching meeting of the project, which was planned to be organized in Istanbul on 6 October 2001.

In November, the BCC decided to work on a new draft bill regarding the Black Sea Coast region. An Expert Team within the Committee for local self-government and public works was established to debate the piece before its first reading. A list of NGOs and experts to be involved in the discussions was presented, as well as the conditions for organising a media campaign. LCC members identified NGOs with relevant expertise and held talks with two NGO networks. The FDBF in the meantime established contacts with the newly established Information Centre of the Parliament. A representative of the centre was present at all LCC committee meetings.

EWPPP and FDBF had several meetings with the media to introduce the project to a larger public. Meetings were held with the weeklies “Kesh” and “Tema” and with the dailies “Dnevnik” and “Sega”. “Tema” and “Dnevnik” promised us space in their publications.

6. The first preparatory visit to Romania took place on 25 September 2001. The EWPPP was represented by its Steering Committee member Mr Radu Ghidau, and by Project Manager Joeri Buhrer Tavanier. The objective of the visit was to introduce the programme to the Parliament of Romania, discuss programme implementation and division of tasks with both the Parliament and local NGO partner, set up the Romanian Consultative Committee and schedule a timeline of activities for Romania. Meetings were held with:

• Emil Boc, MP (Chamber of Deputies), Democratic Party;
• Radu Feldman Alexandru, MP (Senate), National Liberal Party;
• Zsolt Szilagyi, MP (Chamber of Deputies), Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania;
• Cristian Ionescu, General Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies;
• Adrian Sorescu, Executive Director, Pro Democracy Association (PDA);
• Eugenia Rotaru, APD Coordinator for Relations with the Parliament, and Local Project Manager, PDA.
• Razvan Ionescu, (MP. Social Democrat Party, Chairman of the Committee for Defense, Public Order and National Security;

The draft laws selected for Legislatures and Citizens were:

• The legislative proposal regarding lobbying activities in Romania
• The electoral law.

EWPPP, APD and the RCC decided to work in close cooperation with the Foundation for Civil Society Development, which was developing a similar project The Parliament and civil society. EWPPP has worked with representatives of this foundation during its programme for the Romanian Parliament, 1999-2000.

7. A planning/launching meeting with representatives of eight participating parliaments and NGO partner organizations was held on 17-18 November 2001, in Vienna. During the meeting it was emphasized that cooperation between parliaments and civil society is essential to participatory democracy. Elected representatives need to be actively encouraged to reach out to civil society for support in both their parliamentary missions of developing effective legislation and of communicating the results to the public. The purpose of this launching meeting, which was the first of three regional conferences, was to get acquainted with one another, and to come to a common agreement on how this project could best be implemented. The objective of the planning meeting was to share experiences and outline specific country strategies for programme implementation.

The meeting focused on the following topics:

• Cooperation between civil society and parliaments in the legislative process
  • o The NGO perspective (with an emphasis on the extent to civil society can influence draft legislation at various stages)
  • o The parliamentary perspective
• Strategies for project implementation
  • o In-country activities for legislative feedback
  • o Regional cooperation
  • o International conferences
• Follow-up and planning

Participants at the launching meeting included:

• 26 Members of Parliament
• 18 civil society representatives
• 8 international advisors
• 5 staff

Download the Programme Agenda (PDF, 66 Kb)

Outcome: an exchange of views concerning future strategies yielded various ideas about the specific areas of legislation to be targeted for NGO involvement – e.g. laws on elections, (the funding of) political parties, parliamentary rules of procedure, and lobbying. Laws on lobbying could formally allow (certain) NGOs to lobby in parliament in the field of their expertise. It was further noted that the aim of the new programme, Legislatures and Citizens, was to promote the development of a true, active working relationship between parliaments and NGOs in Southeastern Europe, both in individual countries and from a regional perspective. The participation of all of the countries of Southeastern Europe in the programme would promote greater awareness of each other’s current situations and common challenges, as well as promote a common sense of purpose in the framework of democratic and regional stability.

8. The EWPPP programme management and coordination regional office was opened on 1 May 2001, in Sofia, Bulgaria.

9. An L&C website was created to present detailed information on the progression of activities, the calendar of events, and the legislative feedback process in each country. The EWPPP has encouraged partners to put up short progress reports on L&C implementation on their websites and include links to the participating partner organisations.

10. Tirana Feedback Meeting, 22 February 2002

The first feedback meeting in Tirana took place on 22 February 2002. Participants in this meeting included Arben Malaj, Socialist Party; Fatos Beja, Democratic Party; Lublin Dilja, Democratic Party; Jozefina Topalli, Democratic Party; Ridvan Bode, Democratic Party; Engjell Bejtja, Social-Democratic Party; Qasim Tepshi, Democrat Party; Fatmir Mediu, Republican Party; Kozara Kati, ACHR Director; Niazi Jaho, ACHR Board Member; Erinda Bllaca, ACHR Lawyer; Jill Adler, EWPPP Director and Aurela Isufi, Project Manager. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss constructive Parliament-civil society relations, the needs of the parliamentary committees for cooperation with civil society, proposed legislation that could be used for the purpose of this programme as well as the in-country schedule of activities for the Legislative Feedback phase.

The meeting started with a short presentation by Kozara Kati on the activities of the ACHR, its involvement in the Legislatures and Citizens programme and the work already commenced on the draft law on the set up of ad hoc investigative parliamentary committees, which was introduced to the Committee on Legislation by one individual MP. Mr Malaj began by expressing support for the NGO involvement in the discussion of the ad hoc parliamentary committee law and further added that NGO expertise might also be useful in drafting the law on private property. He also emphasised that the aim of this programme was to increase cooperation between Parliament and civil society and provide MPs with an important regional network. Mr Beja suggested that it was vital that we bring other NGOs into the process of legislative feedback in areas on which they have become experts. Mr Bode acknowledged that Parliament – civil society relations are very important and can be utilised in various ways. He added that for the purpose of this programme, we should give priority to the NGOs that recognise the most fundamental rights of citizens; the right to vote being one of them. Given that, in the framework of the EWPPP programmes, we have already discussed the shortcomings of the latest parliamentary elections in Albania and the set-up of the bi-partisan commission to identify political remedies and commence discussions on the review of the Electoral Code, we should first set priorities in the fields in which we want to cooperate with civil society and identify other NGOs that might help us in the process. Mr Mediu agreed that the ACC should set priorities for common areas of cooperation with civil society representatives. Mr Dilja added that some of the issues we might focus on could include corruption and the review of the electoral law. Ms Topalli noted that draft laws should be sent to interested NGOs for comment on a regular basis and that previous cases of cooperation between Parliament and NGOs should be considered as case studies. She further suggested inquiring into the possibility of opening an office for cooperation with NGOs for the purposes of this project in the Albanian Parliament. At the end, participants decided to continue the initiative taken by the ACHR to work on the draft law on the ad hoc investigative parliamentary committees in cooperation with the Parliamentary Committee on Legislation, Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and the Parliamentary Committee on Public Order; to identify other NGOs to be included in the first phase of the programme on legislative feedback and eventually start working on either one of the following: reviewing the Electoral Code drafting the Private Property Law or the set up of the parliamentary bipartisan commission.

11. Podgorica Feedback Meeting, 1 March 2002

The EWPPP in cooperation with the CEDEM organised a feedback meeting on 1 March 2002, in Podgorica, Montenegro. Participants at the meeting included Igor Luksic, Democratic Party of Socialists; Ranko Krivokapic, Chairman, Social Democratic Party; Dragan Koprivica, Socialist Peoples Party; Ferhat Dinosha, Democratic Union of Albanians; Srdjan Darmanovic, CEDEM Director; Miodrag Vlahovic, L&C Project Manager; Snjezana Bojovic, L&C Project Assistant; Stevo Muk, Director, Centre for NGO Development (CRNVO); Nebojsa Medojevic, Director, Centre for Transition (CT); Jill Adler, EWPPP Director and Aurela Isufi, EWPPP Project Manager. Topics discussed included constructive Parliament–civil society relations, the needs of the parliamentary committees for cooperation with civil society, proposed legislation that can be used for the purpose of this programme and the in-country schedule of activities for the Legislative Feedback phase.

Upon introduction, Mr Vlahovic noted that the issue of statehood overshadowed the rest of the issues in the country, adding that in this context, pre-timely elections might also be an option. As regards L&C, he noted that the Montenegrin Consultative Committee had already convened a meeting on L&C implementation during which they proposed that all materials (draft laws, parliamentary session agendas, etc) be delivered to CEDEM, which will distribute them to other interested NGOs and, if needed, provide legislative feedback and that NGOs - civil society representatives – be given access to the meetings of all parliamentary committees, especially to the Committee on Legislation, among others. Mr Vlahovic further explained that the purpose of the EWPPP delegation meeting with the Deputy Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament, Mr Dragan Kujovic, was to officially confirm the above. Mr Luksic confirmed that NGO access to parliamentary committee meetings and sessions would be on the agenda of the March session, which is a very important development for increasing NGO presence in Parliament. Mr Krivokapic noted that introducing a draft law to the Committee on Legislation is not difficult, as any single MP could do it. The problem is that political parties are suspicious of the other side and thus MPs tend to vote alongside political affiliations. It is unfortunate that NGOs in Montenegro lack Western support, which is crucial in determining their influence and the outcome of their work. He further added that L&C could help a lot in this direction, by providing the opportunity for local NGOs to be associated with the Stability Pact and the EWPPP. Mr Medojevic stated that the L&C programme commenced at the right moment and provides the best way to check the real capacity of local NGOs. The CT has already prepared the draft law on anticorruption and has sent it to the Committee on Legislation. Mr Muk started by presenting some of the activities undertaken by the CRNVO, such as the document Principles and priorities for cooperation between the state and the NGOs, which was sent to both the government and the political parties. Unfortunately, the document did not make it to the Parliament. He further added that some of the major obstacles to the establishment of a democratic parliamentary practice include the lack of transparency in the law-making process (draft laws are not made available) as well as the fact that there are no budget hearings held in Parliament.

The EWPPP and CEDEM representatives met with the Deputy Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament, Mr Dragan Kujovic. After welcoming the guests to the Montenegrin Parliament, Mr Kujovic expressed his gratitude for the possibility of discussing and working on the legislative activity of the Parliament. He further noted that the Montenegrin Parliament is not yet working on its most important task, i.e. the law-making process. Politics seem to receive full attention. In view of the law re standardisation of Montenegro with EU countries, this programme gains more importance. Furthermore, Mr Kujovic confirmed that the Montenegrin Parliament is now ready to provide access to reliable NGOs to attend the parliamentary committee meetings.

12. Sarajevo Feedback Meeting, 9-10 May 2002

The L&C feedback meetings in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place on 9-10 May 2002. The purpose of these meetings was to discuss actively constructive parliamentary-civil society relations and set a schedule and plan for the legislative feedback part of the programme. Participants included Mariofil Ljubic, Chairman of the House of Representatives, State Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Branka Todorovic, Secretary General of the House of Representatives, State Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Zlatko Vukmirovic, Head of the Public Relations Office of the State Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Ismet Briga, Chairman of the House of Representatives, Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Slavica Gebert, Secretary of the House of Representatives, Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Tomo Vidovic, Deputy Chairman of the Tuzla Canton Assembly, Member of the House of People of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Igor Rajner, Member of the House of People of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Rasim Kadic, Deputy Minister of European Integration, member of Council of Ministers; Zara Halilovic, Coordinator for Stability Pact, Working Table 1, Ministry of European Integration; Fadil Sero, Executive Manager, Civil Society Promotion Centre (CSPC); Omir Tufo, Project Manager, Civil Society Promotion Centre (CSPC); Zlatan Ohranovic, CCI Director; Tamara Ljubinkovic, Assistant to the CCI Director; Ivica Cavar, L&C Local Project Manager; Leila Deronja, L&C Local Project Assistant; Jill Adler, EWPPP Director and Aurela Isufi, Project Manager.

Mr Ljubic emphasised the great need to adopt laws in various areas and noted the support given by the NGO-citizens in two cases, namely when discussing the law on the national minorities and the law on public holidays. He further expressed his confidence that the project Legislatures and Citizens would be very useful in giving NGOs the opportunity to contribute to the legislative process. For the purpose of this project, it is up to the MPs to decide which draft laws to include for legislative feedback and development. It was suggested that the draft law on national minorities and the draft law on gender equality might be interesting for the purpose of this project. Mr Ismet Briga emphasised the importance of the project Legislatures and Citizens at a time of the implementation of constitutional amendments in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After their entry into force, there will be some substantial changes in the institutional framework of the country. For instance, the role of the Federal Parliament will be more synchronised and the state level will no longer be considered as separate. Mr Briga added that the state level parliament should be included in the project Legislatures and Citizens. Mr Briga also emphasised the large impact that this project might have on Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the NGO sector is a very important component of the civil society, which in many cases lacks professionalism and expertise. Mr Rasim Kadic noted that the government initiates over 80% of the laws passed in Parliament. The involvement of civil society has so far been minimal. He further elaborated on the reasons for the backwardness of the NGO sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the war that broke out at a time when the non-governmental sector was just starting up. Mr Kadic noted that there is a great need for NGO involvement in the legislative process, which is the reason why the project Legislatures and Citizens could be very helpful. Tomo Vidovic started by congratulating the EWPPP for having chosen the CCI as the local partner for the implementation of the project Legislatures and Citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He pointed out the great value the project carries by aiming at building trust between the civil society and the elected representatives, increasing the accountability of the MPs vis-à-vis the civil society and initiating a dialogue across the countries of the Stability Pact, most of which have gone through serious internal conflicts. Citizens can sometimes feel disoriented and they should be more aware of their rights and the ways they can exercise them. With regard to the law-making process, Mr Vidovic noted that fifteen days before the parliamentary session, the drafts are sent to the committee for discussion. It could happen that MPs ask for expert opinions from outside Parliament, however this is more the exception than the rule. Mr Igor Rajner emphasised that the state parliament would have more powers due to the coming into force of the constitutional amendments.

13. In-country Meeting in Kosovo, 15-16 May 2002

On 15-16 May 2002, the EWPPP organised an in-country meeting in Kosovo. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the EWPPP programme Legislatures and Citizens to the newly elected Assembly of Kosovo, discuss parliamentary-civil society relations and set a schedule and plan for the first phase of the programme. Participants included Nexhat Daci, Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo; Mr Bujar Dugolli, MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the AAK (Alliance for the Future of Kosovo); Mr Fatmir Limaj, MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the PDK (Democratic Party of Kosovo); Hatixhe Hoxha, MP, Secretary of the Parliamentary Group of the PDK; Berat Lusha, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the PDK; Flora Brovina, MP, Democratic Party of Kosovo; Driton Lajci, MP, Democratic Party of Kosovo; Oliver Ivanovic, MP, Member of the Presidency of the Assembly of Kosovo; Sabri Hamiti, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the LDK (Democratic League of Kosovo); Franc Boulen, Secretary General of the Assembly of Kosovo; Hubert van Eck Koster, Head of the Member’s Service, Assembly of Kosovo; Joe Reynolds, Head of the Legal Department, Assembly of Kosovo; Jill Adler, EWPPP Director and Aurela Isufi, EWPPP Project Manager.

Mr Nexhat Daci, Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, expressed his gratitude to the EWPPP for including the newly elected Assembly of Kosovo in the programme Legislatures and Citizens. He emphasised his wish that Kosovo be part of the regional initiatives in parliamentary cooperation. With regard to the representation of the Assembly abroad, Mr Daci noted that Kosovo is not yet represented at the Council of Europe. There is, however, one Kosovar representative at the Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe in Brussels. Mr Daci emphasised the fact that a delegation of the Dutch Parliament had already visited the Assembly of Kosovo. Concerning the interparliamentary regional exchanges in the second phase of the programme, Mr Daci noted that his preference would be a visit to the Parliament of Croatia. He further added that the place for an exchange of opinions between the Kosovar MPs and their counterparts is in the framework of the European institutions. Mr Bujar Dugolli noted that a lot has to be done in order to normalise relations between the political parties and their representation in parliament. He further added that as new MPs, they would need to work on improving the functioning of their institutions. Regarding civil society, Mr Dugolli noted that the NGO sector lacks experience and expertise. With regard to the interparliamentary regional exchange visits, he added that his preference would be a visit to the Parliament of Albania, Croatia, or Bulgaria. Mr Dugolli agreed to serve as a member of the Kosovar Consultative Committee for the purpose of this programme. Mr Fatmir Limaj expressed his gratitude to the EWPPP for their involvement in Kosovo. He added that the programme Legislatures and Citizens will be very important and that he looked forward to its implementation. Mr Limaj continued by pointing out various difficulties encountered during the set up of the new Assembly, such as problems related to the internal structure of the Assembly. When asked about his preference for the regional exchange visits, Mr Limaj noted that he would like to visit the Parliaments of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. He further agreed to serve as a member of the Kosovar Consultative Committee for the purpose of this programme. Mr Oliver Ivanovic noted that inter-ethnic tolerance and open-mindedness were most needed. He added that as member of the new Assembly they should leave questions over the state status of Kosovo for later and deal with the everyday problems and the return process. Mr Ivanovic gave his full support to the programme Legislatures and Citizens and added that in the framework of the regional exchanges within the programme, he would like to visit the Parliaments of Croatia, Macedonia Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Given the current situation in the NGO sector in Kosovo, including almost exclusively aid and humanitarian relief organisations, and bearing in mind the legislative activity of the new Assembly, it was agreed to design a special programme to be implemented in Kosovo. The EWPPP would remain in close consultation with the members of the Assembly and the EWPPP programme advisors in order to schedule a timeline of activities for Kosovo.

14. Preparatory Meeting to Macedonia, 26-28 May 2002

On 26-28 May 2002, the EWPPP organised a preparatory meeting in Macedonia in order to set up the Macedonian LCC, agree on a timetable with the local partner, discuss possible pieces of legislation, introduce the programme to the Parliament and define the further development of this project as well as determine the new schedule of activities. The meetings of the Members of the now established Local Consultative Committee in the Macedonian Parliament under the "Legislatures and Citizens" project took place on 27 and 28 May 2002. Participants in these meetings included Mersel Bilalli, MP, Party for Democratic Prosperity; Jordan Boskov, MP, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee; Petar Goshev, MP, Liberal Party; Hulija Hilmi, FORUM Project Manager; Zoran Jacev, FORUM Executive Director; Vesna Jovanovska, VMRO-DPMNE; Radmila Sekerinska, Vice President of Social Democratic Union of Macedonia; Zivko Temelkovski, Project Co-ordinator, Forum and Joeri Buhrer Tavanier, EWPPP, Project Manager/Regional Representative. To introduce the project in more detail to the LCC, Zoran Jacev and Joeri Buhrer Tavanier made short presentations about the project, the main activities to be developed in the future, the role of the LCC and the methodology of the project. All present confirmed their commitment to participate in the implementation of the project in Macedonia.

The second subject on the agenda was the piece of legislation to be selected for discussion. In earlier meetings, LCC members proposed discussing a new draft law on the financing of local government. During the meetings on 27 and 28 May, however, MPs said that this law at second thought might be too complicated for discussion within Legislatures and Citizens. According to Mr Bilali, there are hardly any relations between NGOs and the Parliament. This project is therefore important because it will not just ‘improve’ such a relationship, it will basically be among the first programmes that enable a ‘real’ cooperation. There is an endemic fear to work with NGOs because the Parliament has no experience in cooperating with civil society. It is therefore important to choose a piece of legislation that is important for both sides. In this way, we would be able to ensure the MPs interest. Mr Goshev also noted this problem. He too advised to take a “simpler” piece of legislation, instead of the local government financing draft. Ms Sekerinska also said the local government financing act was too complicated. She mentioned the Parliament’s outdated rules of procedure. With the current rules, Macedonia will not become an EU member within 50 years, she said. New rules have to be adopted soon. The Members of the LCC decided to meet again to decide on a final piece of legislation to be worked on within the Legislatures and citizens project. FORUM would then prepare a detailed timeline of activities, which it would send to EWPPP for approval. The reason for the new schedule was the upcoming parliamentary election that would take place in September. Because of the elections, the Parliament stops working 60 days before the elections. This means working with the Local Consultative Committee would only be possible until July. It would be most practical to choose from the package of 16 laws based on the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which have to be adopted by the end of August.

15. Zagreb Feedback Meeting, 11 June 2002

The L&C feedback meeting with representatives of Parliament and civil society concerning the legislative process took place on 11 June 2002 in Zagreb. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss with members of parliament the draft law on the functioning of the political parties prepared by representatives of civil society. Participants included Snjezana Biga-Friganovic, MP, Chairman of the Committee on Labour, Social Policy and Health Care; Marija Lugaric, MP, Social Democrat Party; Zdravko Tomac, MP, Social Democrat Party; Nenad Stazic, MP, Social Democrat Party; Helena Štimac Radin, MP, Liberal Party; Darko Šantic, MP, Croatian Popular Party; Mišo Zoranic, MP, Croatian Popular Party; Vesna Škare Ožbolt, MP, Democratic Center; Dorica Nikolic, MP, Croatian Social Liberal Party; Dejan Palic, Croatian Law Center; Radmila Sucevic, Women association B.a.b.e.; Goran Markovic, HOMO; Zoran Malenica, Dalmatian Solidarity Committee; Ines Curin, Association of Youth; Srdan Dvornik, From Transition to Democracy; Dubravka Prodanovic, Civil Committee for Human Rights; Davor Gjenero, Croatian Movement for Social Justice; Gvozden Flego, CHC Board Member; Bojan Munjin, CHC Acting Director for Civil Society; Žarko Puhovski, CHC President and Ivica Cavar, Project Manager, Centres for Civic Initiatives (CCI), Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The meeting commenced with a welcome by the co-ordinator of the L&C project and representative of the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Gvozden Flego, who was accompanied by the representative of the Croatian Consultative Committee, Snjezana Biga Friganovic. It was illustrated that the presentation of the Bill on Political Parties, which was developed by the expert group of the Croatian Legal Centre (participating Non Government Organisation) is proof of the agility of the civil society in Croatia. It also demonstrated the beginning of the collaboration between NGO's and legislative bodies. This was followed with a speech given by Ivan Prpic, Professor of the Faculty of Political Science and leader of the expert group for the formation of the Bill on Political Parties. He pointed out that the bill, formed in detail, resulted from the elementary request of the pluralistic organisation of the political parties. It is also a response to the idea of legitimacy of parties that is based on the national sovereignty. The representatives of Parliament and the Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Affairs and Legislation, as well as the leaders of political parties, were mainly polarised on the issue of the effectiveness of the great number of the bill’s regulations. That is, on the issue of whether the law, with its regulations, should impinge upon the details of the organisation and functioning of a political party. There was a conflict of opinion when the representatives of the non-government organisations demanded more administrative regulations in the law while the representatives of the legislative authority asked for less. The main argument of the expert group and NGO representatives in the discussion was that the law, which regulates in detail the functioning of political parties can only help democracy, not hinder it. Finally, the Members of Parliament decided to support the draft law, proposing it to Parliament for admission through the Committee on legislation.

16. Bucharest Feedback Meeting, 12 June 2002

On 12 June 2002, the EWPPP, in cooperation with the APD, organised a feedback meeting in Bucharest to discuss actively constructive parliamentary-civil society relations and make a schedule and plan for the legislative feedback component of the project. Participants in this meeting included Nicolae Paun, MP, Party of Roma in Romania, President of the Committee for Human Rights; Eberhard-Wolfgang Wittstockic, MP, Forum of the Germans in Romania; Mihaela Mandrea Muraru, MP, Social Democratic Party, Committee for Human Rights; Pavel Cherescu, MP, Great Romania Party; Bahrin Dorel, MP, Romanian Humanist Party, Committee for Defense, Public Order and Safety; Eugenia Rotaru, APD Program Manager; Traian Marinescu, Estuar Foundation; Gelu Maksutovici, Union of Albanians; Carmen Petrovici, Foundation for Civil Society Development; Traian David, Save the Children Organisation; Florentina Covaliu, National Council for Refugees; Liana Popa, Foundation for Pluralism; Dan Mihai, Helsinki Committee; Vera Campeanu, Accept; Alievici Gemile, Union of Albanians; Ecaterina Pacurar, ARCA; Mihai Cristian. BNS; Olaru Louise, European Movement; Florin Niculescu, Alianta Civica; Liana Ganea, Agency for Press Monitoring; Daniela Stan, Fundatia Pestalozzi; Alina Stancu, Radio Romania; Ileana Lucraciu, Romania Libera; Mirela Luca, Ziarul Financiar; Alina Zamfiroiu, Mediafax and Mircea Stroe, Jurnalul Bihorean. The main topic on the agenda was the Modification of ‘Title II’ from the Constitution on ‘Fundamental rights’.

During the meeting, the debate between civil society and Parliament regarding the modification of the Constitution was opened. Modifying of the Constitution requires a consensus on the level of both the political environment and civil society. Nicolae Paun opened the session by naming common interests of the Pro Democracy Association and The Human Rights Committee. He mentioned issues like the improvement of the electoral system and the dialogue with civil society. The civil society proposals referred to the following aspects of ‘Title II’ of the Constitution: decreasing the number of signatures necessary for introducing in Parliament a legislative initiative from 250 000 to 100 000; modifying art. 3, § 3 which contains a restrictive stipulation and extending it with the possibility of establishing territorial communities; changing the Constitution must be sustained by an information campaign; introducing the principle of equal chances and equal access for women to elected positions – regulating this aspect also through an organic law and guaranteeing the right to property. (The right to property has been infringed by all governments until now) Furthermore, civil society introduced the following proposals: regulating more clearly the problem of arresting persons since the term stipulated in the present Constitution in not constitutional; ensuring the right of free access to education; ensuring the right of free access to justice (presently this right is infringed by the system of taxes and it is a complicated juridical procedure); modifying art. 38, §2, reformulating the concept of social protection in the context of the international treaties signed by Romania and in the context of EU integration; modifying article 38, §4 in the sense of introducing the following “for equal work women and men should receive equal payment”; eliminating the obligatory military stage; modifying art. 35: allowing Romanian citizens with foreign citizenship or living abroad the right to be elected; ensuring foreigners the right to buy land in Romania and modifying art. 52 in the sense of the professionalisation of the army. All proposals were submitted to the Committee.

17. Sofia Feedback Meeting, 20 July 2002

On 20 July 2002, the EWPPP, in cooperation with the FDBF, organised a feedback meeting in Sofia. Participants in this meeting included Tatyana Doncheva, MP, Member of the Committee on Legal Affairs; Ivan N. Ivanov, MP, Deputy Chair, Transport and Telecommunications Committee; Tatyana Kalkanova, MP, Member of the Committee on Civil Society Affairs; Lyuben Kornezov., MP, Chair of the Committee on Citizen’s Petitions and Complaints; Nikolay Mladenov, MP, Member of the Committee on Civil Society Affairs; Milena Paunova, MP, Member of the Committee on Civil Society Affairs; Ivo Hristov, parliamentary staff member, Expert at the Committee on Legal Affairs; Lyudmila Georgieva, parliamentary staff member, Expert at the Committee on Civil Society Affairs; Milena Harizanova, Expert, Project Management Unit, Child Welfare Reform Project, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare; Mihail Ivanov, Secretary, National Council on Ethnic and Demographic Affairs, Council of Ministers; Velina Todorova, Director, Directorate “International Cooperation”, State Agency for Child Protection; Lenko Lenkov, FDBF Executive Director; Radoslav Genchev, Project Manager; Zhivka Vasileva, Project Coordinator, Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation; Valerie-Audrey Guidat, Council of Europe Information Centre in Sofia; Boryana Katzarska, Royal Netherlands Embassy, Sofia; Marian Diankov, Programme Director, Centre for Independent Living; Plamen Dimitrov, Program Manager, Democracy Network Program; Nikoleta Efremova, Project Coordinator, Foundation for Local Government Reform; Georgi Genchev, Director, Parliamentary Centre for European Law Foundation; Maria Georgieva, Programme Director, Every Child Foundation; Ema Gileva, Executive Director, Black Sea NGO Network Association; Petya Kabakchieva, President, Social Research Foundation; Tatyana Kovacheva, Programme Director, Save the Children Fund; Svetlana Lomeva, Executive Director, Political Academy for Central and SE Europe; Kapka Panayotova, Executive Director, Centre for Independent Living; Lyuben Panov, Director, Bulgarian Centre for Non-profit Law; Krasen Stanchev, President, Institute for Market Economy; Raina Timcheva, Programme Director, NGO Resource Centre Foundation; Gergana Zhuleva, President, Access to Information Programme and Joeri Buhrer Tavanier, EWPPP, Project Manager/Regional Representative.

Topics discussed included constructive Parliament-civil society relations, the need of the parliamentary committees for cooperation with civil society, proposed legislation that can be used for the purpose of this programme and the in-country schedule of activities for the Legislative Feedback phase. In the course of the debate, the parliamentary viewpoint was outlined by Ms Tatyana Kalkanova, Mr Nikolay Mladenov and Ms Tatyana Doncheva. The viewpoint of non-governmental organisations was presented by Ms Gergana Zhuleva, Mr Marian Dyankov and Mr Krasen Stanchev. The experience of their organizations’ interaction with the National Assembly was presented as well by Ms Tatyana Kovacheva, Ms Nikoleta Efremova and Ms Rayna Timcheva. The perspective of the state institutions was presented by Ms Velina Todorova and Mr Mihail Ivanov. They presented the institutionalised forms of NGO involvement in lawmaking at the level of the Executive: the National Child Protection Council at the State Agency for Child Protection (involving a significant number of NGOs, which can debate the first drafts of legislation); the lawmaking working groups at the National Council of Ethnic and Demographic Affairs involving NGO experts. The overall opinion was that the meeting actually turned into a forum of a lively and instrumental debate, which gave the participants rich food for thought and a good basis for the development of the expressed ideas.

18. Follow-up Visit to Skopje, 6 September 2002

A second preparatory visit to Skopje took place on 6 September 2002. The aim of this visit was to discuss implementation of L&C after the parliamentary elections of 15 September, define the further development of this project as well as determine the new schedule of activities. Because of the Parliamentary elections in Macedonia, which were to be held on 15 September 2002, we had not been able yet to organise a feedback meeting in Skopje. This short informal meeting was meant to discuss the implementation of Legislatures and citizens through the end of the year. Therefore, EWPPP Project Manager/Regional Representative Joeri Buhrer Tavanier met with Hulija Hilmi, Project Manager, Forum and Zivko Temelkovski, Project Assistant, Forum. Because of the elections there was a considerable delay in activities. As soon as the new Parliament had been formed, Forum would contact the LCC again. It would first determine whether the LCC could function in its makeup of July 2002 or whether a new LCC had to be formed. This depended on which MPs will have been (re) elected.

19. Follow-up Feedback Meeting to Pristina, 2-5 October 2002

A follow-up feedback meeting to Pristina, Kosovo, was held on 2-5 October 2002. The purpose of this visit was to assess parliamentary-civil society relations. The EWPPP delegation met with Nexhat Daci, Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo; Fatmir Limaj, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the PDK; Sabri Hamiti, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the LDK, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Kole Berisha, Deputy Chairman of the LDK; Bujar Dugolli, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the AAK; Gjylnaze Syla, Secterary General of the AAK; Isuf Demaj, Seretary Geneal of the Assembly; Franklin De Vrieze, Political Affairs Officer and ASI Coordinator, OSCE; Rita Taphorn, Programme Officer, OSCE; Valerie Sluiter, Head of The Netherlands Office in Pristina; Lars Tummers, Principal International Officer to the Prime Minister; Katherine L. Nichols, USAID; Fran Nazi, East-West Management Program; Jill Adler, EWPPP Director; Elisabeth Lubbers, Program Advisor and Aurela Isufi, EWPPP Senior Program Manager.

Ambassador Pascal Fieschi, Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, noted that 18 committees have been set up and are now functioning in the Assembly. The Assembly Support Initiative set up by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo has been coordinating the support of foreign aid and donors concerning the Assembly. Franklin de Vrieze noted that the first three laws have already been adopted, namely the law on pensions, the law on primary and secondary education and the law on higher education. Several other laws are at present in consideration. According to the ASI representatives, there is need for quality in the legislative process. The Acting Secretary-General of the Assembly, Mr Franck Boulin, noted that the Assembly of Kosovo intends to work in accordance with the standards of Western democracies, as set forth in the Constitutional Framework, which is why the work carried out in support of the new Assembly is of extreme importance. He added that some of the most pressing needs included the clarification of the relation between the Government and the Assembly, as well as the committee work with respect to receiving, drafting and amending laws.

Mr Daci expressed his full support of the participation of the western MPs in support of the work of the Assembly. He further added that such a co-operation would be beneficial also to the western MPs, providing them first-hand information on Kosovo, free of media clichés. With the election of the Assembly of Kosovo and the President of Kosovo and with the increased transfer of powers to the local institutions, the capacity of the Assembly and its members to fulfil their basic functions such as representing the electorate and developing legislation in accordance to their needs is being tested on a day-to-day basis. At the Assembly level, a lack of access to accurate information and the ability to use such information in the debating and decision-making process is getting in the way of the development of an effective democratic parliamentary practice. It was emphasised that there is no long-term programme aimed at building trust and confidence among the members and the different political groups, the normalisation of the inter-party relations or the establishment of channels of communication between the members of the Assembly and their European counterparts.

As regards the NGO sector, Katherine Nichols explained that the USAID was working on transparency and accountability programmes. The development, discussion and passing of the education bill in the Assembly were the first examples of co-operation between the civil society representatives and MPs. Civil society in Kosovo includes the NGOs, political parties and individual activists. The following NGOs were mentioned: the Gjakova Forum, the Forum for Democratic Institutions (FDI), the Kosovo Action Civil Initiative (KACI) and Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (CDHRF). The latter is one of the most experienced NGOs in Kosovo, established 12 years ago. The focus of the CDHRF is now on election monitoring, as well as government monitoring both at the municipal and central level. Some of the main problems facing the civil society in Kosovo include emerging trends towards the overly powerful executive, the role of the executive vis-à-vis Parliament, as well as the gap between the executive and Parliament.

20. Croatia Roundtable Debate, 10 October 2002

The Croatia Roundtable Debate was held on 10 October 2002 in Zagreb. Participants included representatives of the Croatian Parliament: Zdravko Tomac, Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Social Democrat Party; Snjezana Biga Friganovic, Social Democrat Party; Marija Lugaric, Social Democrat Party; Viktor Broz, Croatian Social Liberal Party; Miroslav Furdek, Croatian Peasant Party; Zrinjka Glovacki-Bernardi, Liberal Party (Libra); Marijan Marsic, Croatian Peasant Party; Romano Mestrovic, Social Democrat Party and Ivo Slaus, Social Democrat Party. Representatives of Croatian NGOs included: Dejan Palic, Croatian Law Center; Bojan Munjin, Croatian Helsinki Committee; Radmila Sucevic, Women’s organization “B.a.b.e.”; Toni Vidan, “Green action”; Jelena Cukrov, “From transition to democracy”; Srdjan Dvornik, “From transition to democracy”; Dubravka Miskovic, Civil Committee For Human Rights; Ankica Gorkic, Serbian Democratic Forum; Biserka Milosecic, Center for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights; Ramiza Memedi, Roma organization; Irena Curin, National Youth Association and Milan Lucic, Association for Owners’ Rights. EU and regional representatives included: Petro Koci, Member of Parliament, Albania; Branko Neskovic, Member of Parliament, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Otto Vos, Member of Parliament, The Netherlands; Gregor Niessen, Programme Director, One Europe Foundation, The Netherlands; Hulija Hilmi, Centre for Strategic Research and Documentation, FORUM, Macedonia; Ivica Cavar, Centers for Civic Initiatives, CCI, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Lejla Deronja, Centers for Civic Initiatives, CCI, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Tin Gazivoda, CHC Director; Bojan Munjin, L&C Project Manager; Aurela Isufi, EWPPP Senior Programme Manager and Lyda Doyle, EWPPP Project Assistant.

Zdravko Tomac gave the opening speech. Topics discussed included co-operation between Parliament and Civil Society in the legislative process from the NGO perspective, co-operation between Parliament and Civil Society in the legislative process from the Parliamentary perspective, discussion of points of agreement and disagreement during the feedback on the draft law on the functioning of the political parties based on the Croatian Helsinki Committee Commentary, the dynamics of the legislative process and politics and building trust between legislators and civil society when dealing with hot political issues.

The main views shared during the roundtable were the importance of co-operation between parliament and the NGOs and the benefits that have come about by meeting together in this forum. Wide support was shown for not only a strong relationship between the two sides but also a co-operative link between parliament and civil society. The participants shared their ideas on how to establish this link and how to make the most of these circumstances. The door should be open to all forms of discussion in order to create something concrete in the future.

21. Albania Roundtable Debate, 25 October 2002

The Albania Roundtable Debate was organised on 25 October 2002. The purpose of the debate was to take both an objective and critical look at various policy approaches to the legislative process and discuss the Paper/ Commentary developed by Albanian Centre for Human Rights, ACHR. Participants included Servet Pëllumbi, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament; Makbule Çeço, Deputy Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, Socialist Party; Jemin Gjana, MP, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Group, Democratic Party; Engjëll Bejtja, MP, Deputy Chair of the Social-Democratic Party; Fatmir Mediu, MP, Chairman of the Republican Party, Chairman of the Committee for EU Integration and the Stability Pact; Musa Ulqini, MP, Chairman of the Committee on Media and Public Information, Socialist Party; Petro Koçi, MP, Socialist Party; Durim Hushi, MP, Socialist Party; Ermelinda Meksi, MP, Head of the Permanent Parliamentary Delegation to the European Parliament; Ritvan Bode, MP, Secretary General of the Democratic Party; Fatos Beja, MP, Democratic Party; Gaqo Apostoli, MP, Social-Democrat Party; Prenç Zogaj, MP, Democratic Alliance Party; Hamdi Jupe, Head of the Cabinet of the Speaker of Parliament; Fatmir Xhafaj, MP, Socialist Party; Qazim Tepshi, MP, Democrat Party; Vangjel Mita, Head of Protocol; Pranvera Xhelo, Department of Interparliamentary Affairs; Vjollca Meçe, Director, Women's Advocacy Center; Rasim Gjoka, Director, Foundation for Conflict Resolution; Aurela Pano, Director, Albanian Center for the Children's Rights; Nikolla Gogo, NGO for Handicapped Durres; Sokol Lekaj, Foundation for Conflict Resolution; Jonida Jolldashi, Foundation for Conflict Resolution; Sokol Berberi, Director, Center for Parliamentary Studies; Merita Gjoka, Center for Rehabilitation of Trauma and Torture Victims; Brisejda Dengu, Center for Rehabilitation of Trauma and Torture Victims and Isa Gorica, Syndicate, F.I.N.C. Albania. Foreign guests included Malcolm Bruce, Member of the House of Commons, United Kingdom; Radu Ghidau former Member of Parliament, Romania; David Skaggs, Executive Director of the Democracy and Citizenship Program at the Aspen Institute in Washington, Member of the US Congress 1987 – 1999; Kevin Patrick, Lobbyist, USA; Miodrag Vlahovic, Project Manager, Centre for democracy and Human Rights, Podgorica, Montenegro; Vladimir Podoprigora, former Member of the Russian Parliament (1990-1995), Vice-Governor of Novgorod. Other participants included Stavri Koçollari, Representative of the Ombudsman Office; Elga Mitre, Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Albania; Miranda Veliaj, Representative of OSCE Office; Agron Lamku, International Organisation for Migration; Kozara Kati, ACHR Director; Niazi Jaho, ACHR Board Member; Ndue Zef Toma, ACHR Editor; Elma Tërshana, ACHR Coordinator; Edlira Shapllo, ACHR Lawyer; Jill Adler, EWPPP Director; Aurela Isufi, EWPPP Senior Program Manager and Joeri Buhrer Tavanier, EWPPP Project Manager/Regional Representative.

Topics on the agenda included opening remarks by Servet Pellumbi; discussion of the Paper/ Commentary, NGOs in the legislative process in Albania; NGOs utility to Parliament and accessibility to the legislative process; cooperation between Parliament and civil society in the legislative process from the Parliamentary perspective; dynamics of the legislative process and politics and building trust between legislator and civil society when dealing with hot political issues. Participants made various suggestions including that the Albanian Parliament must have the initiative to invite the different syndicate organisations to parliamentary sessions; in the legislative process, the role of civil society may be in opposition to Parliament, but not in disagreement at every point; Parliament needs to have the assistance of independent experts because it is very difficult to separate from political indication; the NGOs can be the means of providing validation and legitimisation to the politicians; politicians need to have public understanding and NGOs are seen as an effective and trustful resource of expertise and, within the Albanian Parliament, an "Information Office" needs to be set up because representatives from civil society or any one from the general public should have the right and the possibility to be informed about draft laws in discussion. This is one way to inform the general public about Parliamentary activities. NGOs should be selected to be part of different Parliamentary Commission discussions depending on their specific expertise on the different topics.

22. Feedback meeting, Skopje, 30 October 2002

On 30 October, EWPPP and Forum organised a feedback meeting in Skopje. Participants included representatives of the following NGOs: The Community of the organisations of the disabled in the Republic of Macedonia, The Union of the disabled persons of the Republic of Macedonia, The Union of the deaf people of the Republic of Macedonia, The Union of the blind people of the Republic of Macedonia, The State Centre for Assistance to the People with mental disability, the Union of the Labour Disabled People of the Republic of Macedonia, The National Coordinating Body for the issues of the disabled people and Polio Plus, as well as members of the Local Consultative Committee.

Articles discussed included article 1 of the law for disabled persons, which stipulates the benefits for disabled in public transport. Article 3 stipulates which persons are considered as disabled persons that have the right to beneficiary transport. The next Article determines what is considered as a disabled handicap, damaged sight, damaged hearing and persons with intellectual problems. This Article determines the degree of the damage, which gives the right to beneficiary transport. In the conclusions of the meeting it was stated that the participation of the civil sector in the legislative process is necessary. Civil society was not only interested in having information on the content and the forms of the legislation process, but really participated in the drafting process. The participation in the preparation of the legal projects could be done in two ways. The first one is the participation of the NGOs in certain phases of the process of preparation of draft laws. In the preparation of the legal acts, the ministries should submit the proposals i.e. the prepared working texts for an opinion, suggestions or remarks by the respective NGOs. The second way is that the NGOs should make proposals themselves, initiate different legal proposals to the Parliament, as well as to be more persistent in proposing legal projects. A working group has been set up, consisting of NGO representatives and MPs.

23. Romania Roundtable Debate, 1 November 2002

The Romania Roundtable debate was held on 1 November 2002 in Bucharest. The roundtable took an objective and a critical look at various policy approaches to the issue, as well as a critical look at the Paper/Commentary developed by the NGOs involved in the project. Participants included Radu F. Alexandru, Senator, National Liberal Party; Costica Canacheu, MP, Democrat Party; Mona Musca, MP, National Liberal Party; Victor Babiuc, MP, Independent Senator; Mihaela Mândrea-Muraru, MP, Humanist Party; George Serban, Counsellor, Romanian Senate; Iulia Huiu, Counsellor, Deputies Chamber; Ruxandra Costache, Juridical Counsellor; Alina Radoi, Juridical Counsellor and Andreea Abruda, Expert, Ombudsman. The Romanian civil society was represented by over twenty national and international NGOs. Other participants included Dumitru Costin, Trade Union BNS; Catalin Dancu, lawyer, BNS; Bogdan Hossu, Trade Union Confederation „Cartel Alfa”; Catalin Croitoru, Federation of Educatiei Nationale; Sever Cartianu, Secretary General, Trade Union Federation of Transporters; Stefan Deaconu, Assistant professor, Law Faculty and Dan Pavel, Faculty of Political Sciences. Foreign guests included Nan Aron, Alliance for Justice, USA; Benjamin Feit, Deputy Chief of Party, DAI; Steven Blake, Political Officer, US Embassy; Mark Wentworth, Public Affairs Officer, US Embassy; Aurel Ciobanu Dordea, Pre-Accession Advisor, European Commission Delegation in Romania; Cristian Pârvulescu, APD President; Adrian Sorescu, Executive Director; Eugenia Rotaru, Coordinator for the relations with the Parliament; Radu Ghidau, EWPPP Steering Committee Member and Joeri Buhrer Tavanier, EWPPP Project Manager/Regional Representative.

Topics discussed included presentation of the projects “Romanian Legal framework of Lobby activity- Assessment & Raising Awareness Campaign” and “Legislatures and citizens”; regulating lobby activities in Romania; internal context and previous initiatives in this field; the concept of lobbying; lobbying in other countries; influencing public opinion in Romania and lobbying vs. trafficking of influence. At the end of the meeting participants decided to submit suggestions to be included in the law on lobbying, drafted by a consortium of NGOs. Based on this list, a joint proposal will be submitted. On 29 November there will be another meeting between the representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Parliament and representatives of businesses, civil society and the media.

24. Bulgaria Roundtable Debate, 9 November 2002

The Bulgaria Roundtable Debate was held on 9 November 2002 in Varna. Participants in the roundtable debate included Anelia Atanasova, MP, NMS II; Atanas Vasilev, MP, NMS II; Borislav Ralchev, MP, NMS II; Ivan Kozovski, MP, NMS II; Ivan N. Ivanov, MP, UDF; Liubomir Panteleev, MP, Coalition for Bulgaria; Luchezar Toshev, MP, UDF, Chair of the Committee on Human Rights and Religious Denominations; Marina Dikova, MP, Parliamentary group of NMS II; Nasko Rafailov; Petia Gegova, MP, NMS II, Deputy Chair of the Committee on Self-government, Regional Policies and Town Planning; Stefan Minkov, MP, NMS II; Stelian Grozdev, MP, NMS II; Ivo Hristov, Chief Expert, Committee on Legal Affairs, National Assembly; Mariana Vitanova, Head, Parliamentary Information Centre Department; Savin Kovachev, Chief Expert, Committee on Self-government, Regional Policies and Town Planning; Antonina Doncheva, Senior Expert, Region with Administrative Centre Varna; Atanas Stoilov, Mayor, Aksakovo Municipality; Atanaska Assenova, Legal Advisor, Avren Municipality; Boris Kornovski, Deputy Mayor, Varna Municipality; Diana Ilieva, Head of Regional Development Department, Region with Administrative Centre Varna; Galia Stoyanova, Senior Expert, Regional Development Department, Region with Administrative Centre Varna; Georgi Tashev, Senior Architect, Primorsko Municipality; Ilian Tzonev, Mayor, Biala Municipality; Konstantin Galabov, Consultant, Ministry of Environment and Waters; Krassimir Gorchev, Senior Expert, Ministry of Environment and Waters; Nikola Nikolov, Deputy Governor, Region with Administrative Centre Varna; Rosen Pavlov, Senior Expert, Region with Administrative Centre Dobrich; Ventzislav Nikolov, Director, Black Sea Basin Directorate; Yani Yanev, Governor, Region with Administrative Centre Varna; Alexander Assenov, Martzianopolis Foundation; Ema Gileva, Executive Director, Black Sea NGO Network; Hristo Tzvetkov, Secretary General, Bulgarian Association of Yacht Ports; Ivan Lazarov, Executive Director, Association of Shipbuilders and Dockyard Workers; Juliana Yaneva, Youths Forum XXI Century; Luchezar Bratoev, Chairman, Bulgarian Association of Yacht Ports; Mariana Ivanova, Executive Director, Association of Bulgarian Black Sea Local Authorities; Marina Dimova, Program Coordinator, Foundation for Local Government Reform and Lenko Lenkov, Executive Director, Free and democratic Bulgaria Foundation. Visiting guests included Eugenia Rotaru, Program Manager, Pro Democracy Association Romania; Guillaume Sainteny, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Political Studies, Paris; James Borger, Volunteer, US Peace Corps and Joeri Buhrer Tavanier, EWPPP Project Manager/Regional Representative. Topics discussed included an analysis of problems and achievements in the interaction between parliamentarians and NGO representatives during the first stage of the "Legislatures and Citizens" project; the need for modern legislation to regulate the Black Sea coastal area; issues, aims, scope and structure of the Law on the Black Sea Coastal Area; potential coalitions and legal initiative groups in the area of legal regulation of the Black Sea coastal area issues.

There was a recurring emphasis on the complexity of the issues related to the Black Sea coast, given that this is an area which combines in a unique way possibilities for rapid economic growth in a number of directions with the imperative necessity to preserve the environment and use carefully the limited coastal area resources. Specific consideration was given to the need for combining and prioritising the different and sometimes contradictory interests at national and local levels, as well as the powers delegated to various institutions related to the coast. The importance of transparency and public debate was underlined in connection with efforts for attaining a balance of interests in the legislative regulations to be adopted. Apparently the Round Table could not find solutions to the whole range of problems raised in its course. It was decided that the Round Table transcript should be made available on the National Assembly’s and ABBSLA’s web-sites where citizens and non-governmental organisations will also be able to place their opinions, comments and proposals. The Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation believes that establishing this electronic forum would be a suitable component of the implementation of the second stage of the "Legislatures and Citizens" project as well.

25. Montenegro Roundtable Debate, 13 November 2002

On 13 November 2002, the EWPPP and CEDEM organised a roundtable debate in Podgorica, Montenegro, to discuss the legislative feedback phase of the project. The roundtable participants were welcomed by the Deputy Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament, Mr Rifat Rastoder, whose remarks emphasized the importance of the cooperation with civil society. Other participants in the roundtable included Igor Luksic, MP, DPS; Miodrag Vukovic, MP, DPS; Ranko Krivokapic, MP, President of the SDP; Borislav Banovic, MP, SDP; Ferhat Dinosha, MP, DUA; Vuksan Simonovic, MP, SNP; Predrag Popovic, MP, NS; Goran Danilovic, MP, SNS; Miodrag Zivkovic, MP, LSCG; Branislav Radulovic, MP, SDP; Veselin Pavicevic, CEDEM expert on electorate law; Srdjan Darmanovic, CEDEM Director; Zlatko Vujovic, Centre for Monitoring of Elections; Nebojsa Medojevic, Centre for Transition; Marko Canovic, Centre for Democratic Transition; Stevo Muk, Centre for development of NGOs; Milenko Popovic, Director of Centre for International Studies, University of Montenegro; Nenad Koprivica, CEDEM assistant; Miodrag Vlahovic, CEDEM project manager; Aurela Isufi, EWPPP Senior Programme Manager and Lyda Doyle, EWPPP project assistant. Foreign representatives included Damir Masic, MP, Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Gregor Niessen, Programme Director, One Europe Foundation, The Netherlands and Gary Bass, OMB Watch, Washington D.C. The status of the civil society organisations and their tendency towards political affiliations were further debated. Foreign participants emphasised the importance of NGO independence from both government and political parties, which in turn would increase their public credibility.

26. Serbia Roundtable Debate, 15 November 2002

The Serbia Roundtable Debate was held on 15 November 2002 in Belgrade. Participants in the roundtable included Stevan Lilic, MP, Democratic Centre; Ðorde Mamula, MP, Democratic Party of Serbia; Nataša Milojevic, MP, Social Democratic Party; Milena Miloševic, MP, Democratic Party; Dragana Djurasinovic, Assistant, Serbian Assembly Board of Foreign Affairs; Milan Nikolic, Center for Policy Research; Aleksandar Roknic, Ekonomist Weekly magazine; Aleksandra Jankovic, Danas Daily magazine; Gary D. Bass, Director, OMB Watch, Washington D.C.; Gregor Niessen, Programme Director, One Europe Foundation, The Netherlands; Nenad Koprivica, CEDEM, Montenegro; Dejan Milenkovic and Nevena Ružic, Yugoslav Association of Lawyers; Dragana Aleksandric, EMINS Account Manager; Živorad Kovacevic, EMINS President; Dragan Lakicevic, EMINS Project Manager; Danijel Pantic, EMINS Secretary General; Joeri Buhrer Tavanier, EWPPP Project Manager/Regional Representative, Lyda Doyle, EWPPP Project Assistant and Aurela Isufi, EWPPP Senior Programme Manager.

Danijel Pantic welcomed all participants and explained the main goals of the programme and this meeting. Dragan Lakicevic then introduced the NGOs involved in the project and gave a brief account of undertaken activities. He explained the main reasons for choosing the Freedom of Information Act, i.e. the aim of this act is to introduce a higher level of transparency in the work of public institutions and the draft of this bill originated in the very heart of the civil sector. It was a joint effort of several NGOs to produce a draft that will contribute to an accountable state administration. Professor Stevan Lilic then explained the details of the recent parliamentary crisis in Serbia and reasons why the work of the Parliament was blocked – and the Parliament thus did not function - for more than four months. Part of his presentation dealt with the ten year long history of trying to introduce a draft law dealing with the Ombudsman. Ms Natasha Milojevic continued by giving some examples of successful cooperation between NGOs and the Parliament. She mentioned the joint work on the Broadcasting Act where several NGOs, Parliamentary Committees and independent experts were working together on no less than eight draft versions. Gary Bass described the long history of introducing the Freedom of Information Act in the USA. Mr Bass further gave some important suggestions concerning the draft law in Serbia. The meeting was closed after planning for the next phase of the project was discussed.

27. Bosnia and Herzegovina Roundtable Debate, 26 November 2002

The Roundtable Debate on the co-operation between Parliament and Civil Society in the Legislative Process in Bosnia Herzegovina was held on 26 November 2002 in Sarajevo. Participants included representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina including Mariofil Ljubic, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Nikola Spiric, Speaker of the House of Peoples; Milos Jovanovic, MP, House of Representatives; Branka Todorovic, Secretary of the House of Representatives and Ibrahim Spahic, MP, House of Peoples. Representatives of the Federation Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina included Avdo Hebib, MP, House of Representatives (SDA); Damir Masic, MP, House of Representatives (SDP); Stjepan Mikic, MP, House of Representatives (HDZ); Slavica Gebert, Secretary General of the House of Representatives (NHI); Igor Rajner, MP, House of Peoples (SDP) and Nada Arnaut, Secretary General of the House of Peoples. Representatives of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska included Nevenka Trifkovic, MP, (PDP); Branko Neskovic, MP, (SNSD) and Remzija Kadric, MP, (S BIH). The Bosnian NGO community was represented by eighteen NGOs involved in the project including the Democracy Center New Hopes, the Ecology Association ''Kravice Waterfalls'', Citizens cooperation center, the Civil Society Promotion Center, the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH, Lex International and the Youth Communication Center in Banja Luka. Other participants included Otto Vos, former Member of Parliament, The Netherlands; Petro Koci, Member of Parliament, Albania; Gregor Niessen, Programme Director, One Europe Foundation, The Netherlands; Miodrag Vlahovic, Project Manager, CEDEM, Montenegro; Ankica Gorgic, Lawyer, Serbian Democratic Forum, Zagreb, Croatia; Borislav Graljuk, MP, representative of the national minorities, Parliament of Croatia; Hulija Hilmi, Program Manager, FORUM, Skopje, Macedonia; Nedjo Milicevic, Professor at the Law Faculty in Sarajevo; Jakob Finci, President of the Jewish Community in BiH; Saban Mujic, President of Association of the Roma; Zara Halilovic, Stability Pactv Coordinator, Ministry for European Integration; Elvis Zutic, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI); Josip Milas, Legal Expert from Council of Ministers; Zlatan Ohranovic, CCI Executive Director; Ivica Cavar, CCI Project Manager; Leila Deronja, CCI Project Manager; Majda Behrem Stojanov, CCI Spoksperson; Jill Adler, EWPPP Director; Aurela Isufi, EWPPP Senior Programme Manager; and Lyda A. Doyle, EWPPP Programme Assistant.

Topics on the agenda included the opening speech by Mariofil Ljubic - discussion of the co-operation between Parliaments and civil society in BiH in the legislative process from the parliamentary perspective; the strategy for developing a sustainable non-governmental sector in BiH within the framework of co-operation between the governmental and non-governmental sector from the NGO perspective; involvement of NGOs in the legislative process; the Dutch experience, the rights of ethnic and national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of the Constitutional Amendments within the Entity level; the making of the draft law on the rights of the national minorities in the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the commentary on the draft law on national minorities and the regional perspective on the rights of national minorities.

28. Macedonia Roundtable Debate, 29 November 2002

The Roundtable Debate on the implementation of the project in Macedonia was held on 29 November 2002 in Skopje. Participants in the debate included Jani Makraduli, MP, SDSM; Zoran Shapurik, MP, LDP Group; Zoran Krstevski, MP, LP Group; Zamir Dika, MP, DPA; Ismet Ramadani, MP, Coordinator of Parliamentary Group, PDP; Abdulai Vejseli, MP, PDP Group; Agron Budzaku, MP, Coordinator of Parliamentary group, DUI; Andrej Zernovski, MP, Coordinator of Parliamentary group, LDP; Cedomir Kralevski, MP, VMRO; Nezded Mustafa, MP, SDSM Group; Zvonko Savrevski, President of "Polio Plus"; Miroslav Dobrevski, President of the Association of blind persons; Krume Mitkovski, Association of blind persons; Borce Batic, National Coordinative Body for Equal Rights of Disabled Persons; Branimir Jovanovski, Union of Handicapped; Vanco Karanfilov, President of the Union of Handicapped; Krsto Canev, President of the "Union of the Labour Disabled People”; Megdi Ramazanovski , President of the Union of the Labour Disabled People; Goko Gruevski, Union of the deaf people; Nikola Ognenovski, President of the Union of the deaf people; Dusan Nesevski, Community of the organisations of the disabled; Violeta Dimovska, General Secretary of "Poraka"; Cedomir Trajkovski, President of Poraka and Dr. Dijana Belevska, President of "Dobredojde". Other participants included Marin Dyankov, Researcher and advocacy advisor, Center for Independent Living, Bulgaria; Johan Hommes, OSCE Misson Macedonia; Lenko Lenkov, Executive Director, Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation; Gregor Niessen, Programme Director, One Europe Foundation, The Netherlands; Kapka Panayotova, Executive Director, Center for Independent Living, Bulgaria; Joeri Buhrer Tavanier, EWPPP Project Manager/Regional Representative; Ivica Cavar, CCI Project Manager, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Zoran Bojarovski, Project Coordinator CSRD; Zivko Temelkovski, Project Coordinator CSRD, Hulija Hilmi, Project assistant CSRD, Ana Janevska, Project assistant CSRD; Anzelika Misajlovska, Project assistant in CSRD and Olivera Tevceva, Project assistant CSRD.

Topics on the agenda included a review of the undertaken activities and proposal of the draft law on determining the benefits for handicapped when using public transportation, MP's and citizens involvement in drafting legislation from the NGO perspective, MPs and citizens in drafting legislation from the Parliamentary perspective, exchange of experience in the law-drafting process by NGOs, integrated education of disabled children in Bulgaria through amendments to the Public Education Act, the dynamics in the legislative process and the responsibilities of the various actors and exploring opportunities for future cooperation.

29. L&C Mid-Term Regional Conference, Sofia Bulgaria, 6-7 December 2002

The Mid-term Regional Conference in the framework of the project Legislatures and Citizens was held on 5-8 December 2002, in Sofia, Bulgaria. Participants in the Mid-term Conference included representatives of the Parliaments and the civil societies of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia; representatives of EU Parliaments from Belgium, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom; representatives of civil societies from Hungary, Belgium, The Netherlands and the United States; representatives of inter-governmental agencies and members of the Steering Committee and staff of the East-West Parliamentary Practice Project. Unfortunately, representatives of the National Assembly of Kosovo were not able to take part in this conference due to unforeseen circumstances.

Mr Younal Lutfi, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, welcomed the participants on behalf of the Bulgarian Parliament. Dr. Dobrin Kanev read a letter of welcome addressed to the conference participants from the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Georgi Parvanov.

The first part of the conference focused on an exchange of best/worst practices derived from the first phase of the project: feedback and consultative meetings and roundtable debates. One representative from parliament and one from civil society from each country made a short presentation of the successes and challenges involved in their co-operation. These presentations pointed out that parliamentary co-operation with civil society varies from country to country, but as a rule, it needs to be improved and deepened. All of the Southeastern European countries still face challenges in the continually evolving relationship between legislators and citizens. Elected representatives need to be actively encouraged to reach out to civil society for support in both their parliamentary missions of developing effective legislation and communicating the results to the public. If included as an integral part of the process, in the end the civil society will have an investment in the success of the legislation. Non-governmental organisations often can offer a non-partisan platform for testing ideas, getting civic feedback, educating the public and promoting active citizen participation in public affairs.

The second part of the conference focused on how EU member states deal with legislature – civil society relations, as well as the perspective from the region. The key to truly functioning institutions is practice and the desire of attaining EU membership is one of the common goals of all the countries of Southeastern Europe. The third session of the conference focused on planning for the second stage of the project, which would include the staging of public forums and regional exchange visits. In a democratic system, the public understanding of what is happening in Parliament is crucial. PR usually does not stand only for Public Relations, but also for Public Responsibility and Public Responsiveness. Transparency and citizen participation make democratic governing both legitimate and sustainable. Generating public involvement in legislation can happen with or without parliamentary engagement. It is almost always better for parliamentarians, and even NGOs and their leaders, when an issue is brought to a broader public through co-operation by the two.

Download Programme agenda & the list of participants (PDF, 76 Kb)

30. Legislatures and Citizens Electronic Newsletter

In response to the need to share information and contacts among various participants in the project, and bearing in mind the increasingly greater number of NGOs involved in the project, the EWPPP prepared and distributed two additional issues of an electronic newsletter including the latest information on L&C activities in each country, information about the L&C local partners and information about upcoming activities and new staff.

31. Zagreb, Croatia 24 January 2003: Roundtable Debate “Labour Bill”

Participants included a significant number of NGO representatives, trade-union leaders, parliamentarians, and journalists. The trade unions and NGO organizations opposed the Labour Bill because it reduced the rights of employees regarding work contracts, period of notice and severance pay. The trade union and NGO representatives believed that the Labour Bill negotiations should be focused on the employees’ requirements rather than the requirements of the international community for violation of employee rights. The President of the Committee for Work, Social Politics and Health Services of the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia, Snjezana Briga Friganovic, determined that the Labour Bill was not definitive and she promised through the public forum dialogue the possibility of amending the bill.

32. Zagreb, Croatia 17 February 2003: Roundtable Debate “The new draft law on indemnities for the damage caused by terrorist actions”

Participants included Parliamentarians, NGO representatives, representatives from foreign embassies, OSCE, Council of Europe, the UN, and journalists. The previous law about the obligatory relations according to which the state is obliged to compensate the damage done to citizens who have suffered terrorist attacks was repealed in 1996. The Government of the Republic of Croatia proposed a new bill to regulate this issue in February 2003. This new bill was found by many present to be unacceptable; its regulations are applied retroactively, which goes against the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia. During the debate, those opposing the bill explained to the representatives of the legislation their arguments against the bill. The conclusion of the representatives of the NGOs was to direct to each representative of the Croatian Parliament a letter with their critique of the content of the bill and to create a new bill taking into account the corrections.

33. Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina 14 April 2003: Roundtable Debate “Law on national minorities’ rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina”

Participants included representatives of more than 40 NGOs, national minority representatives, and independent experts. The introduction was given by a law professor from Sarajevo and a law professor from Mostar. One conclusion drawn was that the title should be changed: In “Law about the protection of national minority member rights” the word “member” should be removed, since some rights cannot be realized without being considered collective rights. A possible new title “Law about the protection of national minorities’ rights” was suggested in accordance with positive practice in most European countries. Another conclusion was that some parts of the law were too general. Also, representatives of the national minorities were not satisfied with regulating their participation in legislative authority; they believe that members of other political parties should not represent their interests in the parliament without their agreement. The national minorities would like to have national minorities elected and representing them in Parliament. There were also concerns about financing private educational institutions, using symbols and signs of the national minorities and using native language. It was also emphasized that some articles were prescribed from other countries’ laws which were found to be inapplicable in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This Public Forum was well documented in the media: television, radio stations, and BIH daily press newspapers.

34. Bucharest, Romania 29 May 2003: Public Forum “The legislative reform of the electoral system in Romania”

The discussions were based on the Electoral Code Project, which would replace the current laws regulating the organization and development of the elections in Romania. A mixed compensation system (system with proportional representation and personalized selection) was introduced, based on the uninominal ballot of a majority, with a single round, for the Senate as well as for the House of Commons. The reduction of the number of parliamentarians and the establishment of a Permanent Electoral Authority was also proposed. The Permanent Electoral Authority was well received; participants agreed that it was not only useful but also necessary. The debate on this subject included positive reactions and suggestions for improving its function.

The second topic, changing the electoral system for the Romanian parliamentary elections, was disputed; participants associated it with other problems of the Romanian political class. This discussion brought up much debate about the current system, what changes could be implemented and the problems those changes might cause. There were two conclusions drawn from the public forum: electoral reform is necessary and should be made a priority and the Permanent Electoral Authority must be created.

35. Tirana, Albania 5-9 June 2003: Regional Exchange Visit of Serbian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation

Participants included Serbian and Albanian Parliamentarians and NGO representatives. During the exchange visit in Albania, the Serbian delegation attended meetings with the Chief of the Cabinet of the Speaker of the Albanian Assembly, Chairman of the Human Rights and Minority Committee, Minister of Economy, Deputy Minister of Environment, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Public Order, leaders from local government and Albanian NGO representatives. Topics discussed included the Albanian experience with human and minority rights, access to state information, the role of civil society in controlling the Government, relations between Parliament and civil society and regional parliamentary cooperation. The delegation also learned about the functioning, experiences, achievements and difficulties of some Albanian state institutions.

36. Zagreb, Croatia 16-19 June 2003: Regional Exchange Visit of Bosnian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation

Participants included representatives from the BIH and Croatian Parliament and NGOs. The BiH delegation participated in a meeting with Croatian NGO representatives about the level of cooperation achieved between parliament and civil society in both Croatia and BiH. The delegation also met with the BiH Ambassador in Croatia who provided a briefing on the current relations between BiH and Croatia focusing on the open questions in the relationship and how to continue improving relations. The delegation had the opportunity to attend a Parliamentary session before meeting with Croatian Parliamentarians, including the Chair of the House of Representatives in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The meeting focused on the cooperation established between parliament and civil society in these two neighbouring countries, possibilities for improving this communication, and on current issues between these two countries.

37. Zagreb, Croatia 17 June 2003: Public Forum “Towards greater tolerance: Reform of the Croatian education system”

Participants included Croatian and BIH Parliamentarians, Croatian and BIH NGO representatives, professors, educational experts, and journalists. Topics discussed during the forum included educational reform: the basics of state culture, relations between genders: against stereotypes and intolerance in teaching, how to achieve high-quality education for civil values and human rights, permanent education of teachers, and relations of schools and non-governmental organisations in the process of teaching: widening the authorized circle. The main NGO groups present included: Croatian Helsinki Committee, Croatian Legal Centre, Women Association, Centre for Peace Studies, Civic Committee for Human Rights, Serbian Democratic Forum, Committee for Civil Initiatives and Amnesty International Croatia. The Croatian educational system is very traditional and according to the NGO representatives present - full of cultural, national and historic prejudices. There have been previous attempts to change the system with little success. The forum provided the NGOs a chance to provide evidence to support their arguments; it was a starting point for their campaign to change the educational system.

38. Podgorica, Montenegro 21-24 June 2003: Regional Exchange Visit of Bulgarian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation

Participants included Bulgarian and Montenegrin Parliamentarians and NGO representatives. The delegation had meetings with Montenegrin parliamentarians including the Deputy Speaker and Secretary. Due to the political situation in the Montenegrin Parliament at the time (opposition parties were in negotiations with the ruling DPS-SDP coalition about returning to parliamentary session), there were two separate meetings - one with the governmental parties (DPS and SDP) and the other with the opposition parties (SNP, SNS, NS). In both meetings the parliamentarians exchanged experience and views on a number of issues related to the work and legislative activity of their respective parliaments. The Bulgarian delegation visited the old Montenegrin capital of Cetinje and was given tours of the Old Royal Court, residence of Petar Petrovic Njegos II - "Biljarda" and the National Museum of Montenegro. The delegation also had the chance to meet the mayor of Podgorica; the mayor confirmed interest in establishing cooperation between Podgorica and Sofia.

The delegation met with Montenegrin NGOs. The delegation was divided into two groups: the Parliamentarians visited "Group for Changes" and the NGO representatives were the guests of CEDEM. “Group for Changes" (GfC) is a newly established think-tank organization active in Montenegrin politics; the group met and discussed their relationship with the Montenegrin Parliament. The Bulgarian NGO representatives met with CEDEM and discussed CEDEM activities, the goals they hope to reach, and the situation in the Montenegrin civil sector. A leading Montenegrin expert on parliamentary practice and the director of a newly established Media Regulatory Agency of Montenegro joined the delegation for dinner. It should also be noted that Montenegrin media expressed a considerable interest in the Bulgarian delegation; there were television and radio reports as well as articles in all Montenegrin daily newspapers.

39. Belgrade, Serbia 2-6 July 2003: Regional Exchange Visit of Albanian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation

Participants included Serbian and Albanian Parliamentarians and NGO representatives. Topics discussed included the division in Parliament between the ruling coalition and opposition and State – Civil Sector relationships. The delegation met with Serbian Parliamentarians, including Bojan Pajtic, Democratic Party, President of Club of DOS MPs, President of Legislative Board in the Serbian Assembly; Sinisa Mitrovic, Liberals of Serbia, Vice - President of the Club of DOS MPs, President of the Environmental Board in the Serbian Assembly; Natasha Milojevic, Democratic Alternative; President of Reducing Poverty Board in the Serbian Assembly; Nada Kolundjija, Democratic Alternative, President of the Foreign Affairs Board in the Serbian Assembly; and Vera Markovic, SDU. Discussions focused on the political situation in Serbia, the relationship between parliament and civil society, the impact of the Thessaloniki Summit on the Western Balkans and the new Serbian Ombudsman Law. The delegation also met with the European Movement in Serbia and other Serbian NGOs; the NGOs’ current activities and their relationship with the Serbian Parliament were discussed.

The delegation went on to visit the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro. All MPs from the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro received the Albanian delegation. The delegation met with Radoje Prica; Borivoje Mijatovic; MIodrag Isakov, Vice President of the Governement of Serbia; and Ljiljana Colic, MP, Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro. There the delegation discussed current topics of interest for both countries: free visa regime for the citizens of the whole Western Balkans, free trade in the region, etc. The delegation had the opportunity to visit Oplenac, a famous Serbian Church where Serbian Royal family Karadjordjevic is buried and Arandjelovac known for its mineral springs and gardens. The delegation also had the opportunity to the meet the Serbian press and representatives from the Albanian Minority in Serbia and Montenegro.

40. Tirana, Albania 8-10 August 2003: Preparatory Trip to Albania for the Regional Working Meeting in September

At the request of our NGO partners in the region and following the regional exchange visits, the EWPPP decided to organise an additional regional meeting to discuss regional parliamentary cooperation in the framework of the program as well as produce recommendations for follow-up during the second stage. Participants at this meeting included one NGO representative and one member of Parliament from each of the nine parliaments involved in the project.

41. Tirana, Albania 5-7 September 2003: Regional Roundtable Debate “Follow-up and continuation”

The L&C regional working meeting in Tirana had three main objectives: to conduct an overall evaluation and review of activities to date; to plan second phase activities, which included exchange visits and public forums; and to come up with suggestions for a follow-up to the L&C programme, which will end in June 2004. Participants included representatives of partner organizations and parliaments in all participating L&C countries. The first part of the agenda was devoted to country reports on activities to date and the planning of second phase activities. Fatimir Mediu, MP and Chair of the Committee on EU Integration and the Stability Pact of the Albania Parliament, opened the meeting. He noted that in the framework of the Stability Pact, following the conflict in Kosovo, the EWPPP had undertaken a series of important regional parliamentary initiatives. He remarked on how significant it was that MPs from post-conflict societies which appear to have irreconcilable differences and tensions are now taking part in roundtable discussions in the framework of the L&C programme. These discussions reinforce the conviction that regardless of their differences, MPs have a common duty to establish contemporary legislatures and increase the authority of the parliament in monitoring the government. The participation of civil society representatives in these discussions has increased parliament’s transparency. He singled out the invaluable regional exchange visits between Albania and Serbia as evidence of the success of the L&C programme.

Prompted by their experiences within the L&C programme, a group of Albanian MPs took the initiative to organize a high level Balkan gathering, with representatives of the EU and the US, aimed at building friendships. He stressed that the L&C programme needs continuity and a concrete follow-up for 2005 and beyond, focusing on regional thematic exchanges. The fact that some countries within the region are further along in the EU integration process does not diminish the importance of regional cooperation and exchange of experience. He expressed support for the creation of a regional parliamentary assembly.

42. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina 16-19 September 2003: Regional Exchange Visit of Croatian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation

Participants included BIH and Croatian Parliamentarians and NGO representatives. The Croatian delegation met with the Speakers of the House of Representatives and House of People from the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Ambassador of Croatia in BIH who provided a short history of the relations between the two countries; the NGO representatives from BIH; and representatives from the BIH Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The main topics discussed included: parliament-civil society relations and minority rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

43. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina 17 September 2003: Public Forum “Law on the protection of national minorities’ rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina”

Participants included BIH and Croatian Parliamentarians and NGO representatives. The Forum was about the current Law on the protection of the rights of members of national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was adopted with great urgency and did not allow for amendments. The delegation reached the conclusion that the Parliamentary Assembly of BIH, House of Representatives and House of People would accept discussions on all initiatives from non-governmental organizations, including initiatives from national minority organizations in BIH for changes and amendments to the recently adopted law. There was evidence of a mutual willingness for compromise. The public forum was followed by all BIH television stations in as well as by representatives of all printed media.

44. Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 19-21 September 2003: Visit to the National Assembly of Republic of Srpska

Participants included members of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Parliament of Federation BiH, National Assembly and Council of People of Republika Srpska and NGO representatives. This was the first joint visit of a Croat, Muslim, and Serb Parliamentary delegation to the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska. The National Assembly of Republika Srpska invited NGO Centers for Civic Initiatives (CCI) to be a more active participant in the process of drafting new Local Self-Governance Law of Republika Srpska, together with other non-governmental organizations involved in the regional project “Legislature and Citizens”. It was agreed that better cooperation was needed between NGOs in Republika Srpska and the Office for Legislation of the RS Government- especially participation of the representatives of NGOs in the work of Parliamentary Committees and in the Manual (Working procedures) of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska.

45. Bucharest, Romania 24 September 2003: Public Forum “Financing of political parties and electoral campaigns”

Participants included Members of the Romanian Parliament, NGO representatives, and two election/party specialists. Topics discussed included the importance of disclosing party financing and the benefits of transparency, disclosure requirements and legislative needs regarding the financing of political parties, the Court of Account’s view regarding political party financing and monitoring electoral campaigns and legal frameworks and practice in law enforcement. The specialists included a representative from the International Foundation for Election Systems and from the European Party Rights and Party Research and Development Organization.

46. Belgrade, Serbia, 23 October 2003: Public Forum “Comments on the Draft Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance”

Participants included Serbian Parliamentarians, representatives of the OSCE Mission in Serbia, representatives of the Council of Europe, Serbian NGO representatives and Serbian academics. In their opening remarks the speakers all welcomed the draft law on ‘Free Access to Information of Public Importance’ as a benchmark in the development of a transparent democratic society. Among the participants an ample discussion was held about the meaning of the word ‘right’ to access of public information. According to the Council of Europe ‘all information is public’, unless restrictions are made, for example, regarding the security of the state.

Other topics raised included whether or not to allow oral requests for information, International research shows that the majority of requests are simple oral questions. Another issue was whether or not to provide special provisions for the media; this was rejected by the majority of foreign participants and representatives of the NGOs who stated that the law is for everyone- requests from the media would put pressure on the officials to respond. Another point raised was the issue of paying for information; the discussion focused on the payment for information sent by (post) mail which could lead to unequal access to information for people not living in the capital. The principle adopted by those in attendance was not to ask for payment as long as the request is in the interest of the public. Discussion was held about the independence of the Ombudsman; the Ombudsman should be independent and impartial, neither residing at the Presidents’ office nor in the Governmental venues. In the Serbian opinion such a position should be elaborated on in order to free the majority from political influence.

The chairman concluded that the list of exemptions should be narrowed, that the law is for all citizens, with no preference for NGOs and media; it is up to the questioner to decide on the way to put forward a request (oral, in writing); the position of the Ombudsman should be clearly defined: independent and impartial; the Government should be encouraged to rewrite the Constitution according to EU-standards; and the participants appealed to table the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance as soon as possible in the parliament.

47. Bucharest, Romania 30 November-4 December 2003: Regional Exchange Visit of Macedonian Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation

Participants included Macedonian MPs and NGO representatives and Romanian MPs and NGO representatives. The Macedonian delegation visited the Macedonian Embassy and was provided a summary of the history of the Macedonian-Romanian relationship from a political and economic perspective. The delegation went to the municipality of Brasov where they met with the Mayor and Local Councillors and discussed local government and minority issues. The delegation also visited the Romanian Senate where they met with the head of the Foreign Policy Committee and exchanged experiences. This meeting was followed by a visit to the Romanian Parliament, where they had the opportunity to exchange views with members of the Parliamentary Friendship Group.

The delegation had a meeting with NGO representatives, where discussion focused on the involvement of MPs and citizens in drafting legislation and on the Romanian Law on free access to information. The Macedonian delegation also had the privilege of participating in the military march on Romania’s national day. The exchange visit created greater regional awareness regarding similar and different challenges facing Romania and Macedonia in the development of parliamementary-civil society relations and it served as grounds for the continuation of regional communication. Partisan cooperation was intensified as MP’s from different parties had the chance to openly discuss current issues. Cooperation between NGOs and Parliamentarians was also intensified due to the opportunity provided to discuss current issues.

48. Sofia, Bulgaria 1-4 December 2003: Regional Exchange Visit of Montenegrin Parliamentary and Civil Society Delegation

The Montenegrin joint delegation of representatives of parliament and civil society met with the Deputy Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament, Members of the Bulgarian Parliamentary Group for Friendship with the Parliaments of Serbia and Montenegro, Chair of the Legislative Committee of the National Assembly, Chair of the Committee on Civil Society Affairs of the Bulgarian National Assembly, Bulgarian NGO representatives, Regional Governor of Plovdiv, and the Director of the Plovdiv International Fair. Topics discussed included Bulgaria’s future entry into the EU, the relationship between parliament and civil society, civil society’s role in draft legislation, NGO funding, the Bulgarian bill on lobbying, the media and its involvement with parliamentary proceedings, draft procedures, political party funding and Plovdiv regional government operations.

49. Podgorica, Montenegro 6-8 February 2004: Public Forum “Parliament and the civil sector in transition”

Topics discussed included parliament and the civil sector in transition and possibilities for participation of the civil sector in legislative activities. Participants in this meeting included Mr. Ranko Krivokapic, Speaker of Parliament, Social Democratic Party President; Mr. Dragan Kujovic, Democratic Party of Socialists, Deputy Speaker of Parliament; Mr. Rifat Rastoder, Social Democratic Party, Deputy Speaker of Parliament; Mr. Miodrag Vukovic, Democratic Party of Socialists; Mr. Miodrag Ilickovic, Social Democratic Party Vice President; Mr. Borislav Banovic, Social Democratic Party, President of the Montenegrin Consultative Committee (MCC); Mr. Ferhat Dinosha, Democratic Union of Albanians President, member of the MCC; Mr. Mehmet Bardhi, Democratic Alliance President; Mr. Dragan Koprivica, Socialist People Party Spokesman, member of the MCC; Mr. Neven Gosovic, Socialist People Party; Mr. Goran Danilovic, Serbian People Party Vice President; Mr. Miodrag Zivkovic, Liberal Alliance of Montenegro; Mr. Krsto Pavicevic, Citizens’ Party President; and Mr. Branislav Radulovic, Social Democratic Party, Chief of the Speaker’s Cabinet. Representatives present from Montenegrin NGOs included: Prof. Veselin Pavicevic, Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM); Prof. Nebojsa Vucinic, Group for Changes; Mr. Nebojsa Medojevic, Group for Changes; Mr. Zlatko Vujovic, Center for Elections Monitoring (CEMI); Mr. Marko Canovic, Center for Democratic Transition (CDT); Mrs. Ivana Gajevic, Nansen Dialogue Center (NDC) in Montenegro; Mr. Stevo Muk, Center for the Development of NGOs (CRNVO); and Mr. Nenad Koprivica, CEDEM, L&C Project Assistant in Montenegro. Further participants included: Mr. Bert Koenders, EWPPP Steering Committee Chair, Social Democratic Party, Foreign Affairs Spokesman, Member of the Dutch Parliament; Mr. Malcom Bruce, Member of the House of Commons, Britian; Mr. Radu Ghidau, former Member of the Romanian Parliament; Mr. Stevan Lilic, former Member of the Serbian Parliament, Professor of Law, Belgrade; Mr. Vladimir Podoprigora, Vice-governor of Novgorod region, Chairman of the Assembly of Parliamentarians, former member of the Russian Duma; Mr. David Skaggs, former Member of the U.S. Congress; and Mr. Miodrag Vlahovic, CEDEM, co-ordinator of L&C Project in Montenegro. The EWPPP staff members present included: Jill Adler, Director; Aurela Isufi, Head of Programmes; Elena Subbotina, Programme Officer; and Renée Vassilos, Programme Officer.

50. Sofia, Bulgaria 23-25 February 2004: Public Forum, “Commentary on the law on referendums”

This public forum focused on the amendments to the draft law on referenda. Participants included Anelia Mingova, National Movement Simeon II; Borisslav Tzekov, National Movement Simeon II; Emil Koshlukov, National Movement Simeon II; Ivan N. Ivanov, Union of Democratic Forces; Marina Dikova, National Movement Simeon II; Mihail Mikov, Bulgarian Socialist Party; Tatyana Kalkanova, National Movement Simeon II; and Yanaki Stoilov, Bulgarian Socialist Party. Participants from the Bulgarian parliamentary staff and Bulgarian NGOs included: Ivaylo Fitkovski, National Association of Bulgarian Minucipalities, Legal Advisor; Ivo Hristov, Chief Expert, Committee on Legal Affairs, National Assembly; Slaveya Hristova, Balkan Assist Association, Executive Director; Dr. Petya Kabakchieva, New Bulgarian University; Plamen Kirov, Advisor on Legal Matters of the President of Bulgaria; Diana Kovacheva, Open Society Foundation, Programme Director; Hristina Kovacheva, Foundation for Local Government Reform, Programme Director; Lenko Lenkov, Executive Director, Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation; Svetlana Lomeva, Political Academy for SEE, Executive Director; Dr. Svetoslav Malinov, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”; Dotcho Mihaylov, A.S.A. Agency for Research and Surveys; Ralitza Negentzova, Judge, Sofia City Court; Ivelin Nikolov, Institute for Social Integration, Executive Director; Luben Panov, Bulgarian Centre for Non-Profit Law, Director; Dimitar Sotirov, Bulgarian Media Coalition, Executive Director; Prof. Evgeni Tanchev, Member of the Constitutional Court; Iva Taralezhkova, Balkan Assist Association, Programme Director; and Prof. Todor Todorov, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.

The main changes to the existing law were introduced, including introducing two types of referenda- decisive and consultative, allowing a legislative initiative for referendum to be introduced by a certain number of votes (600.000), providing for a broader range of legislation which can be subject to a referendum, and broadening the level of the referenda- national and municipal. The discussion focused on these issues with opinions supporting the introduction of consultative referenda and a referendum on the municipal level. Also, the relatively high number of voters needed to pass a national referendum and the possibility to decrease this number was further discussed. As for the national referenda, the discussion focused on the repercussions which a national referendum can provoke regarding the constitutional balance of powers. Opinions were expressed that referenda are a democratic tool of governance which should be carefully used. The participants agreed that the debate was very useful for clarifying positions of the different political actors involved and contributed towards creating larger public support for the main ideas of the draft law.

51. Skopje, Macedonia 25-29 February 2004: Regional Exchange visit of Romanian Delegation to Macedonia

Following the visit of a Macedonian civic and parliamentary delegation to Romania in November 2003, a three-day exchange visit for a Romanian delegation was organised in Macedonia. The members of the Romanian delegation included Radu F. Alexandru, Senator, National Liberal Party; Dorel Bahrin, MP, Social Democratic Party; Oana Calenciuc, Civic Society Development Foundation; Costica Canacheu, MP, Democratic Party; Sogor Csaba, Senator, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania; Ramona Lupu, Media Monitoring Agency; Mihaela Mandrea Muraru, MP, Social Democratic Party; Mircea Marian, Journalist, Adevarul Mona Musca, MP, National Liberal Party; Cristian Pirvulescu, President, Asociatia Pro Democratia (APD); Costel Popa, Deputy Director, APD; Virgil Popescu, MP, Social Democratic Party; Andreea Sorescu, Program Coordinator, APD; Zsolt Szilagyi, MP, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania; and Codru Vrabie, Transparency International Romania. Meetings were set up in the Macedonian Parliament with the coordinators of the political parties represented in the Parliament; members of the Political System and Interethnic Relations Committee; the President and Vice President of Parliament; members of the Parliamentary Group for Cooperation between the Parliament of Macedonia and that of Romania. Meetings with the Mayor of the Municipality of Kisela Voda (one of the five municipalities in the city of Skopje) and the Mayor of Struga and a sightseeing tour of Ohrid were also scheduled.

Due to the tragic death of the Macedonian President, Boris Trajkovski, on 26 February 2004, the exchange visit was cut short.

52. Budapest, Hungary 1-4 April 2004: Final Regional Conference, “Legislatures and Citizens”

This final regional conference provided a common conclusion to the programme “Legislatures and Citizens”. Participants included representatives of the Parliaments and the civil societies of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo; representatives of the Parliaments of Turkey, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom; representatives of inter-governmental agencies such as the Stability Pact and the OSCE, members of the Steering Committee and staff of the East-West Parliamentary Practice Project.

The purpose of the final regional conference was to evaluate the second phase of the programme, share experiences, best (and worst) practices and plot a future course which would enable us to continue our work in promoting cooperation between parliament and civil society in Southeastern Europe.

The following topics were discussed Download Final agenda & participant list (PDF, 75 Kb)

• Highlighted activities from the second phase of the programme including:
  • The visit of a Serbian parliamentary-civil society delegation to Albania, with a return visit to Serbia of an Albanian parliamentary-civil society delegation - the first of its kind.
  • During the visit of a Croatian parliamentary-civil society delegation to Bosnia, a joint delegation of MPs from the parliament of BH and the Federation Parliament visited the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska in Banja Luka - also the first such visit.
  • Public forums with debates on:
    • The law on referenda in Bulgaria
    • The law on free access to information in Serbia
    • Transportation rights for the handicapped in Macedonia
    • The law on the protection of national minorities in Bosnia
    • The education reform bill in Croatia
    • Legislative reform of the electoral system in Romania
• Specific gaps in resources and know-how that the project participants had identified in the process, including common approaches to common problems in the region.
  • The parliamentary perspective
  • The NGO perspective
• Regional minimum standards of conduct between parliaments and civil society.
  • A panel discussion which was chaired by Jan Dirk Blaauw (the Netherlands) and included:
    • Makbule Ceco, Deputy Speaker of the Albanian Parliament;
    • Ivo Hristov, Chief Expert, Committee on Legal Affairs, Bulgarian National Assembly;
    • Stevan Lilic, Democratic Centre, Professor of Law, Serbia;
    • Miodrag Vlahovic, Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, Montenegro.
  • A presentation from a representative from each country involved in the project on the regional minimum standards of conduct between parliament and civil society necessary in their country.
• Regional cooperation and EU integration: EU models of coordination and cooperation
  • A panel discussion which was chaired by Lord Roper (United Kingdom) and included:
    • Zekeriya Akcam, Member of the Turkish Parliament;
    • Professor Gabriel Fragniere, Former Rector of the College of Europe, Belgium;
    • Otto Vos, Member of the Dutch Parliament (1994-2002).

Participants included:

• 75 Members of Parliament
• 5 Parliamentary Staff
• 30 Civil Society Representatives
• 3 Stability Pact and OSCE representatives
• 3 Ambassadors of participating countries to Hungary
• 4 EWPPP Staff

Outcome:

It was concluded that this was a good programme and much was gained in the way of parliament-civil society relationships, and that a long-term regional dimension was created and should be fostered in the continuation of this project in Southeastern Europe. It was also concluded that a lot can be done in order to increase parliament’s public outreach.

Download the final conference report (PDF, 98 Kb)

53. Tirana, Albania 5-7 May 2004: Public Forum “The culture of dialogue and the role of the opposition”

Issues discussed included: majority-opposition relations and the work of parliamentary committees, relations between members of parliament and the electorate during an electoral campaign, the role of the media during an electoral campaign, and public opinion and parliamentary debates: realities and perceptions. Participants from the Albanian Parliament and the Consultative Committee (ACC) included: Makbule Çeço, Ritvan Bode, Jemin Gjana, Petro Koçi, Musa Ulqini, Edi Paloka, Jozefina Topalli, and Gjovalin Bxheta. Other participants included Fatmir Mediu, MP, Chairman of the Stability Pact and European Integration Committee, Gaqo Apostoli, MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Social-Democratic Party, Nard Ndoka, MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Democrat Party. Representatives of civil society included Rasim Gjoka,Director of Conflict Prevention Foundation; Kozara Kati, Director of the Albanian Centre for Human Rights, Vjollca Meçaj, Director of the Advocacy Centre for Women; and Sabri Godo former Chairman of the Republican Party.

54. Tirana, Albania 9-11 July 2004: Regional Meeting “Programme Continuation”

This meeting’s discussion focused on the results of the Legislatures and Citizens programme and ideas for the development of a new regional programme. Some of the recommendations were the formalization of cooperation at the regional level, the organization of a standing regional conference of parliaments and NGOs focusing on good legislative practice, including country teams and a regional team focusing on the role of parliament and citizens in EU integration, and the coordination of ad-hoc meetings between NGOs and MPs in the region on such specific issues as e.g. code of conduct, good legislative standards. Participants included: Jill Adler, EWPPP Director; Gaqo Apostoli, MP, Social Democratic Party, Albania; Ivica Cavar, Project Coordinator, Centres for Civic Initiatives (CCI), BiH; Leila Deronja, Project Assistant, CCI, BiH; Kozara Kati, Director, Albanian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR); Petro Koci, MP, Head of the Albanian Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe; Jemin Gjana, MP, Co-Chairman of the Bi-Partisan Committee, Albania; Hulia Hilmi, Project Manager, Centre for Strategic Research and Documentation (FORUM), Macedonia; Aurela Isufi, EWPPP Head of Programmes; Edi Paloka, MP, Deputy Chair of the Committee for the Media, Albania; Dragan Lakicevic, Project Coordinator, European Movement in Serbia (EMINS), Serbia; Stevan Lilic, Head of the Local Consultative Committee and Member of the EMINS Board, Serbia; Fatmir Mediu, MP, Chairman of the Committee on European Integration and the Stability Pact, Albania; Vjollca Mece, Director, Women Advocacy Centre, Albania; Gregor Niessen, EWPPP Program Advisor, the Netherlands; Zoran Shapuric, MP, Chairman of the Committee of Political System and Relations between Communities, Macedonia; Jozefina Topalli, MP, Deputy Speaker of the Albanian Parliament; Musa Ulqini, MP, Chairman of the Committee for the Media, Albania; and Miodrag Vlahovic, L&C Coordinator, Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM), Montenegro.

55. Publications, evaluation and progress reports

Apart from the website materials, we have distributed the following:

• L&C Update Spring Issue 2 and Winter Issue 3
• Report on the Tirana Feedback Meeting, Albania, 22 February 2002
• Report on the Podgorica Feedback Meeting, Montenegro, 1 March 2002
• Report on the Sarajevo Feedback Meeting, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 9-10 May 2002
• Report on the In-country Meeting in Pristina, Kosovo, 15-16 May 2002
• Report on the Zagreb Feedback Meeting, Croatia, 11 June 2002
• Report on the Bucharest Feedback Meeting, Romania, 12 June 2002
• Report on the Sofia Feedback Meeting, Bulgaria, 20 July 2002
• Report on the Follow-up feedback meeting to Pristina, Kosovo, 2-5 October 2002
• Commentary paper by the ACHR, Tirana, Albania, September 2002
• Commentary paper by the APD, Bucharest, Romania, October 2002
• Commentary paper by the CHC for Human Rights, Zagreb, Croatia, October 2002
• Commentary paper by the CCI, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, November 2002
• Commentary paper by the CEDEM, Podgorica, Montenegro, November 2002
• Commentary paper by the Emin, Belgrade, November 2002
• Commentary paper by the FORUM, Skopje, Macedonia, November 2002
• Commentary paper by the FDBF, Sofia, Bulgaria, November 2002
• Report on Zagreb Roundtable Debate, Croatia, 10 October 2002
• Report on Tirana Roundtable Debate, Albania, 25 October 2002
• Report on Bucharest Roundtable Debate, Romania, 1 November 2002
• Report on Varna Roundtable Debate, Bulgaria, 9 November 2002
• Report on Belgrade Roundtable Debate, Serbia, 15 November 2002
• Report on Sarajevo Roundtable Debate, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 26 November 2002
• Report on the Mid-Term Regional Conference, Sofia, Bulgaria, 6-7 December 2002
• L&C Update Issue 4 and 5
• Handbook resulting from the country presentations during the mid-term regional conference, “Cooperation between Parliament and Civil Society,” with a narrative of best/worst practices in the region
• Report on the Roundtable Debate, “Law on the national minority rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” BiH, 14 April 2003
• Report on the Public Forum, “Electoral reform in Romania,” Romania, 29 May 2003
• Report on the Regional Exchange Visit, Serbian Delegation to Albania, 5-9 June 2003
• Report on the Regional Exchange Visit, Bosnian Delegation to Croatia, 16-19 June 2003
• Report on the Roundtable Debate, “Towards higher tolerance: reform of the Croatian educational system,” Croatia, 17 June 2003
• Report on the Regional Exchange Visit, Bulgarian Delegation to Montenegro, 21-24 June 2003
• Report on the Public Forum, “Draft law on free access to information of public importance,” Serbia, 23 October 2003
• Report on the Regional Exchange Visit, Macedonian Delegation to Romania, 30 November-4 December 2003
• Report on the Regional Exchange Visit, Montenegrin Delegation to Bulgaria, 1-4 December 2003
• Public information brochures in Croatia, Romania, Macedonia, Serbia 2004
• L&C Update Issue 5
• Final Conference Report
• Legislatures and Citizens Networking Handbook: Contact names and information of participants from Southeastern parliaments and NGOs, EU member states and other countries

Programme Assessment and Evaluation

During the implementation of the project “Legislatures and Citizens” the EWPPP had two equally important project partners - the parliaments and civil societies in the participating countries. While the CSO partners usually took the lead in organization, the parliaments contributed actively to the planning and provided all necessary feedback, information and resources possible to facilitate the CSO’s work. During the preparation phase, the EWPPP conducted feedback meetings to assess the current political situation in each country, consulting Western embassies, international organisations and experts for advice. EWPPP representatives met with all the Speakers of the beneficiary parliaments as well as the leaders of the parliamentary party groups to discuss cooperation and specific project implementation. The next step in project implementation was the establishment of an EWPPP Local Consultative Committee (LCC) in each parliament involved. The LCC was a cross-party advisory body, made up of members of parliament and parliamentary staff. The LCC included representation from all parties sitting in parliament, and the EWPPP made a concerted effort to ensure that ethnic minorities and women made up a part of this advisory Committee. The LCC participated in programme design, planning and implementation. It determined the focus of the project as well as programme content. Furthermore, the Committee advised the EWPPP on the selection of national and international participants. The LCC was also responsible for evaluating progress and results, and proposing follow-up activities. The EWPPP kept up regular contact with the chair and other members of the committee in order to ensure that our activities continued to address relevant issues in a useful manner.

Local CSO partners were selected on the basis of several criteria: reputation, independence, effectiveness, transparency and the ability to carry out project implementation. L&C Civil Society partners were respected organisations both among their civil society colleagues and the parliaments of their countries, and were perceived as non-partisan liaisons between the parliament and the public. In addition, EWPPP’s partner CSOs possessed the necessary infrastructure to continue working with the parliament long after the programme ended. Upon commencement of the project, the EWPPP concluded formal partnership agreements with each partner covering the whole duration of the project.

Activities actually implemented have been very successful. The Local Consultative Committees throughout the region were committed cross-party groups of parliamentarians who all contributed actively to the planning process. In the starting phase of the project and because of the existing level of cooperation between civil society and parliaments and the degree of progress in relations between them in each country, the EWPPP, in close cooperation with the LCCs and the local NGO partners, developed country-oriented implementation programmes for the legislative feedback phase.

The launching meeting brought international advisors together with 46 representatives of parliaments and NGOs from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. Expert moderation stimulated a lively and interesting exchange of best/worse practices of cooperation between civil society and parliaments in the legislative process. The meeting outlined specific strategies for programme implementation, bearing in mind the different stages of the legislative process (e.g. draft, lobby/amendments). The parliaments and the NGO partners have expressed sincere satisfaction with the results. It was constructive simply having members of the different parliaments in the region all sitting around the table and sharing ideas and experiences. The meeting has laid the foundation for a much more in depth discussion on the legislative process, regional cooperation and EU integration.

In the first year of the project, the EWPPP and its partner organisations involved over fifty civil society organisations in the process of developing and discussing different pieces of legislation. Throughout the year, we worked on over twenty draft laws, providing feedback and commentaries to the respective parliamentary committees. The various feedback meetings organised in each country provided additional opportunities for members of parliament and civil society representatives to develop channels of communications and improve cooperation between the two. L&C activities that took place in 2002 brought together hundreds of parliamentarians from the participating countries as well as hundreds of representatives from the civil society. The regional representatives in the country roundtable debates have further provided opportunities to exchange first-hand knowledge and get closer to each other’s neighbours.

In 2003, the various feedback meetings between NGO representatives and Members of Parliament in each country contributed to improving mutual understanding of each other’s role in the legislative process. The roundtable debates on the level of cooperation between each parliament and the civil society in the country further reinforced that understanding. Participation of regional representatives in all project activities provided a first hand regional perspective and comparative analysis of the legislative process in neighbouring countries, which in its turn strengthened regional cooperation and understanding. The mid-term regional conference that concluded the first phase of the project allowed for an exchange of best/worst practices and ideas over regional and European integration.

Throughout the first phase of the project (2001-2002), the EWPPP used its local consultative committees in the parliaments as a sounding board. We kept up regular contact with the chair and other members of the committee in order to be sure we are addressing the correct issues in a useful manner. We also conducted written and oral evaluations in order to assess the success of those events. In preparation for in-country activities, as well as for the regional meetings, EWPPP project managers interviewed key experts in civil society and the academic world in order to ascertain what other kinds of programmes or projects might exist that are relevant to our own project. The L&C project consultants and advisors further assisted the EWPPP team to better process such information and make necessary changes to the programme. The mid-term regional conference further made a mid term assessment of the implementation of the project in every country.

During the beginning of the second phase in 2003 activities conducted included public discussions and regional exchange visits. During the exchange visits between Serbia and Albania, it was noted that participants seem to have developed a greater degree of tolerance and respect for one another. The regional exchange visits between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina had been conducted at a high level and were beneficial to both countries. Thanks to activities within the L&C project, citizens are now invited to participate in parliamentary sessions and in the work of parliamentary committees. Nikola Spiric, the Speaker of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina noted that in the beginning, the government feared NGOs, but that this was changing. He expressed his full support for the NGO sector in BiH. He referred to the problem in BiH as the implementation of laws, and suggested that NGOs could do more to inform the public about implementation. His suggestion for future regional exchange visits was joining three countries in combined delegations, with a focus on EU standards.

Following the completion of the first phase of the project, the role of the EWPPP was assessed as excellent (77%), very good (20%), and satisfactory (3%).

The role of the local NGO partner was viewed as excellent (37%), very good (40%), satisfactory (13%) and needs improvement (10%). There were different local NGO partners being assessed; the comments ranged from- the majority of participants declaring the partner as very open and objective to the minority of participants viewing the partner as too exclusive and critical towards the parliament.

In 2004, project activities included public forums, regional exchange visits, regional conferences and publications. The concluding regional conference held in Budapest on 1-4 April 2004 included participation of 80 Members of Parliament and staff, 30 Civil Society representatives and 10 experts/advisors/staff.

Following the final regional conference held in Budapest on 1-4 April 2004, EWPPP local project managers interviewed members of parliaments and representatives from the civil society organization who have been involved in this project. These latest evaluations show that the project’s impact on both parliaments and NGOs involved has been significant. The overwhelming majority of MPs and NGO representatives questioned agree that “Legislatures and Citizens” introduced an innovative concept of cooperation between Parliaments and NGOs in the region. “Legislatures and Citizens” has without a doubt made a positive contribution to both regional parliamentary cooperation and parliament-civil society relations in each country by providing several opportunities for direct contact through both formal and informal meetings, open and equal discussions, as well as by delegating activity supervision of project activities to the local MPs and NGOs. As far as the most important contribution this programme has had on parliamentary practice in the region, the majority of the members of parliaments considered improvement of cooperation between parliaments and civil society as its prime contribution. Other contributions viewed to be the most important included the development of regional cooperation, provision of feedback to the legislative process, and the strengthened role of civil society. NGO representatives found that the programme’s most important contribution to the cooperation between NGOs and Parliament was the stimulation of open discussion and the creation of closer personal and professional ties between MPs and civil society representatives. Several NGOs found the successful promotion of draft laws to be a good contribution to this cooperation.

With regard to the novelty this programme introduced to the participants compared to other projects in the region, 76% of the Members of Parliament questioned found that L&C is an innovative programme and 22% found that it has improved relations between legislatures and citizens.

Other comments from MPs on whether/howr L&C can be distinguished from other programmes included:

• Parliament-civil society relations in Albania before the programme were lacking (Albania)
• The highest value of the project is that it brought the legislative process closer to the citizens in the most direct way. The programme emphasised a more active role on the part of NGOs in the initiatives for adopting laws and submitting amendments for existing ones. L&C is distinguished by its regional characteristic and duration, by the significance of the subject matter: legislation; by the importance placed on the promotion of cooperation and trust between the Parliament and NGOs, and by the level of professionalism of the local partner, CCI. (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• L&C can be distinguished for two reasons: first, the practical, inclusive, exercise-based approach for achieving the goals of the project and second, the broad regional approach. Internationally, the L&C programme provided opportunities for regional contacts and networking in different areas of interest for MPs from the SEE countries; and nationally - the participatory character of the L&C events are what make the programme unique. (Bulgaria)
• L&C has enabled contacts between MPs from various political parties and states; the exchange of experiences; and the familiarisation with different cultures and customs. (Macedonia)
• The regional approach taken in this programme and the high level of involvement of MPs makes it unique. (Montenegro)
• L&C is a novel programme for many reasons, including the long period of implementation (3 years), the regional approach, and the interest showed by the mass media for the activities of the programme. (Romania)
• L & C is a new form of communication between government and citizens that significantly differs from the tradition in this region. (Serbia)

Regarding the regional approach taken in this programme, 100% of the responses were positive towards the regional aspect. MPs described the regional approach as welcome, necessary, highly important and relevant, very useful, and a good opportunity for contact and cooperation. Other comments on the regional approach taken in the L&C programme included:

• Regional cooperation is very important. The regional exchange of experiences is a concrete contribution as well as a very useful element provided by this programme. This programme helped strengthen regional cooperation and knowledge. (Albania)
• This kind of the approach is worthy of praise; I absolutely support it. (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• It is needed. There are many open issues between the countries in the region and resolving these issues is done through bilateral contacts between governments. (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• The regional approach is a strong point in the design and implementation of the project - the same idea being implemented in different countries gives the participants an opportunity to compare similarities and differences, facilitates the exchange of ideas and practices, and keeps channels of communication open. (Bulgaria)
• As the Chair of the Group for Friendship with the Parliaments of Serbia and Montenegro, the programme gave me a good opportunity to establish contacts with colleagues from the Montenegrin Parliament and to discuss issues of common interest. (Bulgaria)
• It has intensified regional cooperation and has enabled more direct personal contact. (Macedonia)
• The exchanging of experiences, between MPs and NGOs from different countries is one of the most important benefits from this programme. (Montenegro)
• In a period when the word “globalisation” became one of the most used words, the regional approach of the programme gave more coherence and representation to the efforts of the countries involved in the programme. (Romania)
• In the case of Southeastern Europe and the post Yugoslav Republics, this is an approach that is most rational and sensible. Primarily because it opens channels of communication in a region that has experienced over a decade of tension. (Serbia)

With regards to this programme’s contribution to the cooperation between NGOs and Parliament, the MPs held the unified opinion that the programme positively contributed to reinforcing this cooperation. Comments on the programme’s positive contribution to the cooperation between NGOs and parliament included:

• In the Albanian context, the cooperation between NGOs and Parliament was a new experience introduced by the L&C programme. (Albania)
• This programme’s contribution to the cooperation between NGOs and Parliaments includes the direct participation of the parliamentarians in the work of the NGOs and the NGOs’ active follow-up of the parliamentarians’ work. (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• It has strengthened the impact/influence of the citizens on parliamentary work. (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• The programme contributed to breaking wrongly founded perceptions that NGOs and Parliament are two opposite parties. (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• It is very rare that governmental and non-governmental sectors meet; however, this programme has opened the discussion on concrete issues between the government and non-governmental sector. (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• L&C broadened the circle of parliamentarians convinced of the usefulness of working with NGOs. (Bulgaria)
• L&C improved MPs’ understanding of the way NGOs work, building on our capacity to work with them. (Bulgaria)
• It has contributed significantly to the intensification of cooperation between NGOs and the Parliament; we have begun working together on drafting various law initiatives. (Macedonia)
• L&C moved cooperation a step forward by encouraging expert and NGO involvement in the deliberation of legislation. (Montenegro)
• This programme improved the communication and cooperation between the MPs and civil society organizations and encouraged the MPs to take advantage of the advice and support role that NGOs can give in the process of developing legislation. (Romania)
• The overall impression is that the programme's key contribution was the combined NGO/Parliament (and media) active participation. In this region, this is an innovative and flexible form of opening avenues of potential dialogue and understanding. (Serbia)

As far as the most important contribution this program has had on parliamentary practice in the region, 64% of the members of parliaments considered improvement of cooperation between parliaments and civil society as its prime contribution. Other contributions viewed to be the most important included the development of regional cooperation (15%), the positive influence on the legislative process (10%), and the strengthened role of civil society (10%).

Other comments on the most important contribution of Legislatures and Citizens included:

• Some of the most important laws drafted have been approved in Parliament with the direct feedback, contribution of NGOs. A new relationship between the members of Parliament and the Albanian voters has been created in the Albanian Parliament. (Albania)
• The most important contribution is the established coordination between the representatives of the partner NGO and the representatives of the parliaments. (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• It has given citizens the opportunity to express their opinion about many important questions. (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• The programme raised the awareness of MPs on the importance of joint cooperation with civil society structures in order to promote legislative changes and improve their understanding of the mechanisms for achieving it. (Bulgaria)
• L&C has contributed towards strengthening regional cooperation among the countries involved and improving interethnic relations. (Macedonia)
• The EWPPP helped establish good cooperation with all political parties represented in parliament and with the parliamentary staff. (Montenegro)
• I highly appreciated the opportunity to meet professionals and other colleagues from the region, with whom I had the chance to share views and practices given that we all dealt with almost the same problems. Comparing and discussing them is the first step towards increased professionalism which is what we all need in this region. (Romania)
• Direct contact and communication between representatives of parliament and NGOs, with particular emphasis on the Serbian-Albanian mutual visits. (Serbia)

NGO representatives were asked about the influence of this three-year project in their country. They found the strengthened relationship between parliament and civil society to be the most important influence of the project. Further important influences of the project were the support towards legislative development and reform, the development of regional cooperation, and media coverage throughout the three-year project. Comments on the influence of Legislatures and Citizens included:

• The project raised the level of awareness and improved the understanding of both parliamentarians and NGOs about the mutual benefits of their joint work on pieces of legislation and of their respective roles in this process. (Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation)
• This is a unique project; it links three important segments in society: political institutions, non-governmental organisations and citizens and, at the same time, has assisted in the passing of several concrete law initiatives in parliament. (FORUM CSRD, Macedonia)

Regarding the implementation of Legislatures and Citizens as compared to other projects/programs, NGO representatives found the regional aspect of the project, the direct contact through both formal and informal meetings, the open, equal discussions and the supervising of the project by MPs as innovative in the implementation of this project compared to other projects. Comments on the new aspects of the implementation of the project compared to other projects included:

• The development of democratic relationships among regional parliamentary and civil society representatives of the SEE countries through the hosting of both formal and informal meetings. (Albanian Centre for Human Rights)
• The Romanian MPs had the opportunity to share experiences with their colleagues from other countries in the region on involving citizens in the legislative process; this subject combined with the method were new. Also, the supervision of the project by a Local Consultative Committee, which included MPs, was a new method of implementation. (Asociatia Pro Democratia, Romania)

As far as the number of MPs and NGOs involved in programme activities is concerned, a total number of 665 MPs and 513 NGO representatives from the participating countries were involved in the 53 activites implemented throughout the three-year project. The in-country activities involved an average of 10 MPs and 6 NGO representatives whereas the regional conferences involved an average of 60 MPs and 40 NGO representatives.

When asked about the programme’s contribution to cooperation between NGOs and Parliament, NGO representatives found that the programme’s contribution to the cooperation between NGOs and Parliament was the stimulation of open discussion and the creation of closer personal and professional ties between MPs and civil society representatives which was made possible through the direct participation of MPs in all programme activities. A few NGOs found the successful promotion of draft laws as a good contribution to this cooperation. Comments on the programme’s contribution to the cooperation between NGOs and Parliament included:

• Some obstacles facing NGOs trying to work with parliament were removed. MPs were able to find real partners and negotiators in the NGOs involved in the programme and at the same time the negative stereotypes about NGOs were proven untrue. (Centres for Civic Initiatives, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• The programme’s contribution to the cooperation between NGOs and Parliament was the direct contact between parliamentarians and citizens on a regular basis, the promotion of new laws, which were focused on the urgent needs of citizens, and the more responsible behaviour on the part of the MPs towards the needs of citizens. (European Movement in Serbia)

Regarding the programme’s contribution to regional parliamentary and civil society cooperation, NGOs agreed that the programme’s contribution to regional parliamentary and civil society cooperation was the establishment of institutionalized and personal relations among NGO representatives and members of parliament and their counterparts throughout the region through the exchange of experiences. Comments on the programme’s contribution to regional parliamentary and civil society cooperation included:

• The programme opened new channels of varied types of cross-border communication- MPs/NGOs, MPs/MPs, and NGOs/NGOs. It facilitated the exchange of modern legislative ideas and practices and of good practice regarding MP/NGO interaction, and raised the level of general knowledge about the situation in neighbouring countries, contributing towards building cross-border confidence. (Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation)
• On a regional level, the programme has created an environment for direct familiarisation, involvement, and cooperation among the NGOs and the MPs from a number of parliaments in the region. (FORUM-CSRD, Macedonia).