On June 1, 2016, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives held a roundtable on “Institutionalization of the Coalition and Opposition in the Parliament of Ukraine”.

The event was organized in cooperation with the Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure and Support to Work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine within the framework of the USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly implemented by the East Europe Foundation.

Participants of the roundtable discussed legislative initiatives concerning amendments to the Rules of the Verkhovna Rada (No. 1066, 1066-1, 3061, 3061-1, 4331, 4331-1) in order to set standards for the status of the coalition and opposition in Ukraine. The event was aimed at developing a consolidated position on the legislative regulation of the status and procedure of the coalition and opposition in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Pavlo Pynzenyk, First Deputy of the Committee on Rules of Parliamentary Procedure and Support to Work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, emphasized the fundamental importance of settling the status of the parliamentary majority and, accordingly, of the minority in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine:

Ihor Kohut, CoP of the USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, assured of a readiness for comprehensive support in order to establish a political dialogue:

Yurii Miroshnychenko, co-author of bill No. 1066, briefly outlined the main ideas of the legislative initiative:

Mykhailo Papiyev, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Deputy Ethics, for his part, assured of a readiness for thorough work on the institutionalization of the coalition and opposition in the parliament:

Valeriy Pysarenko, co-author of bills No. 1066-1, No. 3061-1, spoke about political will as an indispensable prerequisite for prompt settling of the status of coalition and opposition in the Ukrainian parliament:

Borys Bespalyi, USAID RADA expert, spoke about restraints regarding the list of rights of the parliamentary opposition, for “Opposition factions have the same rights as coalition ones (the right to be represented in parliamentary permanent and interim bodies, mandatory inclusion of bills from the opposition on the agenda, etc.).” From this point of view, it is complicated to set some priorities for the opposition in purely legislative activity:

The Agency for Legislative Initiatives with the support of the USAID RADA Program presented the first issue of Chasopys Parlament for 2016 to MPs, which was offered for everyone in their workplace thanks to the MPs Yaroslav Markevych and Oleksiy Mushak.

The materials were prepared by the European Information and Research Center, headed by Roman Kobets.

Other MPs supported the flash-mob in the Verkhovna Rada, such as Viktoria Ptashnyk, Vladyslav Holub, Natalia Veselova, Oksana Yurynets, Pavlo Kyshkar, Yuriy Makedon, Andriy Vadaturskyi, Serhiy Leshchenko and Svitlana Zalishchuk.

On May 25, the NSC Olimpiyskiy hosted the Town Hall Meeting “Ways to Organize Comfortable Urban Space in Kyiv”.

The event was organized by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives on the initiative of MP Yehor Sobolev, in cooperation with the Interns’ League, in the framework of the Model District Project with the support of the USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly implemented by the East Europe Foundation.

Ihor Kohut, CoP of the USAID RADA Program, expressed his gratitude to all those present for the time they devoted to the town hall meeting and pointed out:

MP Yehor Sobolev supported this idea:

More than 150 active participants split into small groups and took part in a three-hour discussion of the crisis of urban planning documentation and alternatives of decentralization of the urban development industry management. Kyiv residents expressed their support for the scenario that involved drafting a Kyiv City Strategy, introduction of changes to the General Plan 2015, and drawing up clear zoning regulations. Besides, most participants voted in favor of the option involving new unified state building standards (DBN) for the whole of Ukraine instead of the local level regulation of construction standards.

Crisis of urban planning documentation. Description of the problem
Problem I. Option 1. Adopt the draft of General Plan-2025 and zoning of the central part of Kyiv
Problem I. Option 2: Continue public discussion and professional discussion with a view to finalizing the zoning project and creating conditions for adoption of a General Plan and a zoning plan that would be acceptable for Kyiv residents
Problem I. Option 3. Conduct an independent audit of the General Plan-2025 and make a decision following the audit
Problem I. Option 4. Create a Kyiv City Strategy, amend the General Plan 2025 and develop clear zoning regulations
Problem I. Option 5. Commission a completely new General Plan from a foreign institute
Problem II. Option 1. New unified state building standards (DBN) for the entire country
Problem II. Option 2. Regulation of building standards at the local level, the state sets only accessibility and security requirements

On May 19, 2016, (2 p.m. – 4 p.m.), within the framework of the Day of Europe in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives held a presentation of the study “Expert Analytical Support of the Legislative Process in the European Union”, involving discussion of the annual report of the European Information and Research Center at the VRU. The event took place in the assembly hall (room No. 12), at the address 18/2 Hrushevskyi St.

The event was organized by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives under the aegis of USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly, implemented by the East Europe Foundation.

Andriy Parubii, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, welcomed the participants in his opening speech and highlighted the Center’s potential to improve the quality of draft laws submitted to the parliament:

Ihor Kohut, CoP of the USAID RADA Program, said:

MP Olena Sotnyk, the most active user of the European Information and Research Center, spoke about the benefits of the analytical support provided by the Center in work on draft laws:

Arkadii Nyzhnyk, Deputy Head of the Main Legal Department of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is also convinced of the urgent need to improve the quality of bills currently submitted for consideration in the session hall.

Volodymyr Bondarenko, Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Head of the Central Organization Office.

MP Oksana Yurynets stressed the importance of getting acquainted with the experience of implementation and consequences of certain policies or reforms in European and other countries, because this information will help to predict the possible consequences of such policies for Ukraine:

Tymur Tashtanov, Local Coordinator for the European Parliament’s Capacity Building Program for the Verkhovna Rada, focused on the feasibility of introduction of White Papers as an instrument for establishing communication between the Government and Parliament of Ukraine:

On May 12, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and Interethnic Relations, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance and the Agency for Legislative Initiative held a joint expert roundtable on “Improving the Legislation on Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repressions. Problems and Prospects”.

The event was organized within the framework of the USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly in partnership with the RPR National Remembrance Policy Group and the Center for the Study of the Liberation Movement.

Valeriy Paktsan, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and Interethnic Relations, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Relations with Ukrainians Living Abroad, highlighted the relevance of the topic of restoring the rights of political repressions victims and improving the current regulatory framework.

Igor Kohut, CoP of the USAID RADA Program, focused on the entire process of advocacy of this legislative initiative by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives under the USAID RADA Program: Responsible Accountable Democratic Assembly

Photo credit: Mykola Myrnyi, Information Center for Human Rights

A number of Ukrainian experts completely agree with the criticism expressed in the report of the European Commission on the implementation of the European Neighborhood Policy in Ukraine for 2011. Coordinator of the Youkraine.eu platform Oleh Rybachuk said at a press conference hosted by Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday, May 17:

According to him, such reports are important evidence about how the European Union estimates the process of reform in Ukraine – they reflect the level and stage of the Ukraine’s integration and also take the temperature of Ukrainian-EU relations, to some extent.

At the same time, the coordinator noted that the assessment of the reforms dealing with democracy is a main criterion for the EU on how sincerely the country, which aspires to gain EU membership, actually desires it. According to him, authorities said that Association Agreement, Free Trade Area were more necessary for the EU, because the Ukrainian market is very attractive to the EU.

“Everything reflected in the report shows contradictory values,” he said adding that such issues as fair and free elections, respect of human rights, freedom of peaceful meetings, mass media freedom, justice independence, fighting corruption are important for the EU.

In turn, Chairman of Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union Arkadiy Buschenko declared:

According to him, in recent years the situation with the human rights has worsened in Ukraine.

He stressed that the country still has a problem with judicial system and also added:

Talking about corruption, an expert from the Ukrainian Institute for Public Policy, Ivan Presniakov said the only successes were on paper.

In the report of the European Commission on the implementation of the European Neighborhood Policy in Ukraine, which was presented on May 15, EU highlighted the slow pace of the implementation of economic reforms, the worsening situation with democracy in Ukraine in 2011, and the absence of significant results in fighting corruption.

Source: https://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/127765/

The European Integration Index for Eastern Partnership Countries will track the progress of Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine—on an annual basis. It provides a nuanced cross-country and cross-sector picture that is comparative.The Index is a monitoring tool that is also intended to assist EU institutions in applying the ‘more for more’/‘less for less’ principle, announced by the EU in May 2011. Although the EU and independent civil society initiatives provide numerous regular assessments of the progress of EaP countries in European integration, few of these assessments have attempted to place the countries in a comparative perspective. This is what the Index primarily attempts to do.The Index was developed by independent civil society experts who advocate reforms related to European integration. It is prepared by the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) in partnership with the Open Society Foundations (OSF) and experts from think-tanks and university institutions in EaP countries and the EU. The project is funded by the IRF’s European Programme and the EastEast: Partnership Beyond Borders Programme of the OSF.

This is a pilot edition of the European Integration Index, so we welcome feedback on the composition and methodology of the Index in order to work to improve this product. The first full-fledged edition of the Index will be published in May 2012 and will then become an annual project.

Composition of the Index:

The Index consists of three dimensions that are further disaggregated into sections, categories, subcategories and items. The dimensions and sections are:

I. Linkage

• Political dialogue and CFSP/ESDP cooperation
• Trade and economic integration
• Freedom, security and justice
• Energy and Transport
• Education and People-to-people
• EU assistance

II. Approximation

• Democracy
• Rule of law
• Governance quality
• Market economy
• Freedom, security and justice
• Energy and Transport
• Education and People-to-people

III. Management of European integration

• Coordination mechanism
• Legal approximation
• Involvement of civil society
• External assistance coordination

The following sources were consulted to develop the composition of the Index. This list not exhaustive, since a number of experts from official institutions and civil society were consulted to develop a number of items.

The detailed and comprehensive composition of the Index can be found here.

Methodology:

The Index is based on an expert survey and on statistical data from official sources. Experts were requested to answer a detailed, standardized questionnaire, and their assessments were reviewed to ensure a cross-national comparability.

Project team:

The project is implemented by IRF in cooperation with Open Society Foundations.

Over 30 experts from the EaP countries and the EU (including Denys Kovryzhenko from the Agency for Legislative Initiatives) have been involved. The project also appreciates the contribution of Ukraine-based experts from the EU Delegation to Ukraine and various civil society organizations for having assisted with development of Index composition.

The presentation was opened by Ihor Kohut, Chairman of the Board of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, who briefly described the main priorities pursued by the Agency, and reported on the public discussions arranged in various regions of Ukraine for the purpose of the study.

Marcin Walecki, Chief of OSCE/ODIHR Democratic Governance Unit, noted that the presented report was the most complete and fundamental profile study, which would remain valid for the years to come. Mr Walecki commended the report for the interesting and simple presentation of information.

The introductory words were followed by the presentation of the main opinions and ideas of the report by Denys Kovryzhenko, Legal Programmes Director of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives.

The presentation was completed with the discussion of the presented analytical overview.

* * *

The National Report “Regulation of Political Parties: Current State and Direction of Reforms” has resulted from the discussions of the key issues in the regulation of the functioning of political parties, including those related to the participation of political parties in elections, campaign funding, internal party democracy, gender balance, complicated procedures set for the establishment and termination of political parties in Ukraine. The report also offers recommendations on the solutions and prospects for the improvement of the Ukrainian legislation which regulates the functioning of political parties on the basis of the best European practices.

During the round table, the Agency presented the study “Regulation of Political Parties in Ukraine: Current State and Directions of Reforms”, which is based on the discussions of the key problematic issues related to the regulation of the activities of political parties in Ukraine, including those related to the participation of political parties in elections, campaign funding, internal political party democracy, gender balance, complicated procedures set for the establishment and termination of political parties. The report also offers recommendations on the ways and prospects to improve the Ukrainian legislation regulating the functioning of political parties on the basis of the best European practices. The study was undertaken by Denys Kovryzhenko, Director for Legal Programmes of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, with the financial support of the European Union within the framework of a joint EU-OSCE/ODIHR project.

The round table was opened by Marcin Walecki, Chief of OSCE/ODIHR Democratic Governance Unit, who defined the main aim of the national report on the legislation regulating the political parties in Ukraine – implementation of democratic transformations in the area of political party regulation. On behalf of ODIHR, Mr Walecki also expressed gratitude to the Agency for Legislative Initiatives for the fruitful cooperation during the project implementation.

After Mr Kovryzhenko presented the report, the following issues were discussed: (a) general principles for the regulation of establishment, functioning, and liquidation of political parties; (b) internal political party democracy; and (c) state and private funding of political parties and election campaigns.

Mykhaylo Shelep, Executive Director of the Centre for Political Analysis and Election Consulting, noted that timeliness of the study for the Ukrainian society. The expert, however, believes that the focus should be shifted from the ways to improve the legislation to the mechanisms for the implementation and observance of laws, since whatever imperfect the legislation may be, it will not be able to solve any problems if it is not observed.

Taras Plakhtiy, Member of the Male Kolo Society, emphasised the necessity to solve the problems of the internal political party democracy. The political scientist believes that political parties should deliver the following final product: (a) acquisition of public powers, which requires existence of a rigid hierarchical structure, and (b) generation of creative solutions for the current problematic issues, which requires developed horizontal links within the political party. In such a way, solution of this contradiction should become the starting point in the reform of the political party regulation in Ukraine.

Yuriy Kuzhelyuk, Member of Lviv City Council, believes that the main reason behind the degradation of the political party system in Ukraine is the constantly changing legislation, which not only sets additional barriers to political parties, but also undermines the voters’ trust to the political parties. Mr Kuzhelyuk also considers that the recent amendments, made to the law on local elections, had both positive and negative consequences. Thus, the positive changes included a ban on participation of political blocs, which often destabilise the functioning of the elected bodies, while cancellation of the possibility for the self-nomination of the mayoral candidates is regarded as a negative change.

Oles Starovoyt, Head of the Ideology Section of Our Ukraine Lviv Oblast Office Executive Committee, noted that the main problem of the imperfect political party regulation in Ukraine was lack of the public demand for such political parties, that would reflect the interests of specific voter groups, when a political party only strives to get the power without any general prospects and detailed action plans for the future.

Anatoliy Romanyuk, Director of the Centre for Political Studies, generally supported the recommendations presented in the report, having stressed the necessity to introduce state funding of political parties with efficient public control. The expert also referred to the European experience in termination of political parties: if a political party does not participate in elections a number of times in a row, it is cancelled automatically. Mr Romanyuk considers that members of political parties are not sufficiently interested in the proposals expressed by experts in terms of improvement of legislation related to the regulation of political parties.

Yuriy Shveda, Senior Lecturer of the Political Sciences Department of the Faculty of Philosophy of Lviv National Ivan Franko University, noted that the presented report meets the recommendations of the Venice Commission and reflects all aspects where the Ukrainian legislation is incompliant with the European standards. In the expert’s opinion, the legislative regulation of the political parties should ensure the balance between the liberal approach (whereby a political party is part of the society) and the public power paradigm (where a political party is identified with the government, while it is the government that regulates the activities of political parties). Mr Shveda considers that in any case competition should be ensured at the local level with the possibility of self-nomination, as well as a simplified procedure for the registration of political parties on the basis of an application should be introduced.

Certain round table participants, such as Vasyl Pasichnyk, Assistant Professor of the European Integration and Law Department of Lviv Regional Public Administration Institute, Olha Batyshcheva, Senior Lecturer of the Document Studies and Information Activities of the Ostrog Academy National University,Vasyl Marchuk, Director of Precarpathian Centre for Political Studies and European Integration Studies of Ivano-Frankivsk, were generally positive about the report, but noted that the study lacked the methodological basis – it was focused only on the normative side of the regulation of political parties omitting the substantial, from the political studies perspective, aspects of the functioning of political parties.

During the round table, the Agency presented the study “Regulation of Political Parties in Ukraine: Current State and Directions of Reforms”, which is based on the discussions of the key problematic issues related to the regulation of the activities of political parties in Ukraine, including those related to the participation of political parties in elections, campaign funding, internal political party democracy, gender balance, complicated procedures set for the establishment and termination of political parties. The report also offers recommendations on the ways and prospects to improve the Ukrainian legislation regulating the functioning of political parties on the basis of the best European practices. The study was undertaken by Denys Kovryzhenko, Director for Legal Programmes of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, with the financial support of the European Union within the framework of a joint EU-OSCE/ODIHR project.

The round table was opened by Ihor Kohut, Chairman of the Board of the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, who described the regional expert discussions which preceded the preparation of the study, as well as emphasised the critical importance played by political parties in Ukraine’s social life before the local elections. He also suggested that the Parliamentary Committee for State Development and Local Self-Governance could establish a working group to analyse the proposals on the improvement of the functioning of political parties.

Oleksandr Omelchenko, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for State Development and Local Self-Governance, spoke about the problematic aspects related to the operation of Ukraine’s political parties. In particular, he stressed the difference between the registered political parties in Ukraine and the number of the relatively active ones, including those represented in the Parliament. In Mr Omelchenko’s opinion, a considerable difference between these figures evidences a problem in the democratic functioning of political parties. Mr Omelchenko also noted the importance for Ukraine to develop its own political party model and general political system.

Rene Bebeau, Senior Project Manager of the OSCE Project Coordinator, said he was confident that the presented study should become the basis for the development of further proposals on the improvement of the political system in Ukraine. Marcin Walecki, Chief of the OSCE/ODIHR Democratic Governance Unit, stressed that the presented report was the most complete study of the topic, and that it also contained the most successful practices of the European countries.

During the discussion of the study and the Ukrainian political party system, Ihor Zhdanov, President of the Open Ukraine Think Tank, expressed his assumption that with renewal of the Ukrainian Constitution in the its 1996 version, the Ukrainian political system will go back to its condition of 1998-2004, which was characterised by instable faction structure, as well as a formal relations between political parties and members of parliament acting on their behalf in the Verkhovna Rada. In this context, Yuriy Klyuchkovskyi, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for State Development and Local Self-Governance, mentioned that the role of political parties in the political life of the country may decrease. He also pointed out to the necessity of the legislative support to the internal political party democracy. Volodymyr Stretovych, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Legal Support to the Law-Enforcement Activities, pointed out to the danger of monopolisation of the political party system by one political party.

Regulation of Political Parties in Ukraine: Current State and Directions of Reforms