Paradoxically, the full-scale invasion has given impetus to the acceleration of many reforms in Ukraine. And the unfortunate parliamentary reform, launched back in 2016, has also been revived. The war has intensified the implementation of certain recommendations of the Roadmap for Internal Reform of the VRU prepared by the European Parliament’s Needs Assessment Mission led by Pat Cox. According to the latest estimates of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, the reform is 45.7% complete. We will tell you where the parliamentary reform is heading now and what the difficulties are on the way.
New challenges
The martial law has made its own adjustments to the parliamentary reform. Everything related to amending the Constitution is currently impossible to implement (due to Article 157 of the Constitution, which prohibits amending the text of the Basic Law during the period of this legal regime). Therefore, all possible improvements can be divided into two categories as of today:
- Urgent, where their development and implementation do not require amendments to the Constitution. Accordingly, their implementation is currently a priority. For example, these may include the improvement of the Law “On Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine”, the Law “On the Status of an MP of Ukraine”, and the adoption of the Code of Ethics;
- Those that should be discussed now but whose implementation and constitutional consolidation should be postponed until after the victory. These are amendments to the Constitution regarding the status of the opposition, restrictions on the legislative initiative of parliamentarians, regulation of the interaction of the power triangle “Parliament – Government – President”, etc.
However, it is important to take into account that after the end of the war, some legislative proposals and developments may become irrelevant.
Where is the reform heading now?
During the full-scale invasion, the Parliament has continued its internal reform and is working to improve its institutional capacity. For example, MPs have already held three meetings in the format of the Jean Monnet Dialogues during the full-scale war (in May and November 2023 and in April 2024), which were attended by the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada and representatives of parliamentary factions and groups.
As a result of these discussions, parliamentarians agreed that it was necessary to:
- update the VRU Resolution on measures to implement recommendations on internal reform;
- adopt the Code of Ethics;
- adopt the Law “On Parliamentary Service”;
- develop amendments to the legislation to regulate the status of the opposition;
- work to reduce “amendment spam”;
- return to holding “question hours” with the Government;
- ensure the adaptation of national legislation to EU law.
Some of these proposals, together with the developments of the pre-war Jean Monnet Dialogues, were embodied in the concepts for reforming the Parliament prepared by the Working Group on Amendments to the Laws of Ukraine in Parliamentary Law.
To implement certain developments, in late 2022, the Verkhovna Rada registered draft law No. 8242, aiming to improve legislative work in terms of adapting Ukrainian legislation to EU law. It is expected that consideration of this draft law will not be delayed, as it is currently on the agenda of the 11th session of the Parliament, which is expected to last until September 2024.
A significant part of the developments also relates to strengthening cooperation between the legislative and executive branches of government. So, in addition to preparing a concept for reforming this area, an Interagency Working Groupon Improving Legislative Work, Assessing Legislative Impact and Improving the Results of Laws Implementation was established at the end of 2023. At the founding meeting of this group, representatives of the Parliament, the Government and NGOs discussed the interaction between the VRU and the executive branch in terms of developing draft laws aimed at adapting Ukrainian legislation to the EU acquis, improving the procedure for submitting draft laws by the Government and strengthening the role of the Cabinet of Ministers in devising proposals for the agenda of VRU’s plenary sessions.
A no less important achievement on the path to European integration is the development of draft law No. 8327on the Code of Ethics for MPs at the end of 2022. ALI experts were also involved in this process. A year after the draft law was registered, in December 2023, the main provisions were presented and discussed at a meeting of the Working Group on Amendments to the Laws of Ukraine in Parliamentary Law.
In addition, in early 2024, to implement one of the points of the Conclusions adopted during the ninth Jean Monnet Dialogue, proposals were submitted to update the version of the VRU Resolution on measures to implement the recommendations on the internal reform of the Parliament, which include:
- improving the legislative process and adapting Ukrainian legislation to the provisions of the EU acquis;
- improving the interaction between the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers;
- parliament digitalisation;
- strengthening the VRU’s institutional capacity;
- developing changes to the constitutional dimension of the parliamentary reform.
In general, parliamentary reform did not stop but became more relevant and active during the full-scale war. The acceleration of this process seems particularly noticeable compared to the several years preceding the full-scale invasion. This consolidation of the Verkhovna Rada’s efforts demonstrates its willingness to change even in the face of war.
So, the only thing that remains on this path is to take a responsible approach to implementing the changes outlined in the concepts developed so that the reform of the Ukrainian Parliament does not remain only a “promising project” but is actually implemented.
Read more about the parliamentary reform in times of war in our Journal.
