The Activities of the Working Group (1997-2000)

Establishment and composition of the Working Group

ˇ The quality of legislation was one of the subjects addressed by the Conference of Speakers of European Parliaments, which was held in Helsinki in June 1997. In particular, the Speaker of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, the Right Hon. Luciano Violante, delivered a presentation on "The problem of legislative inflation in the European context". The Conference subsequently decided to establish a Working Group on this issue. The Working Group was to submit a document to be discussed by the following Conference of Speakers (Lisbon, May 1999).
ˇ The co-ordination of the Working Group was entrusted to Pres. Luciano Violante. The Working Group itself was formed on the basis of the spontaneous membership of individual countries. The Working Group's proceedings were attended by representatives of the Parliaments of Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as of the European Parliament. Denmark and Sweden joined the Working Group at a later date.

The first phase of activity: the questionnaire (July 1997)

ˇ In the wake of the Helsinki Conference (July 1997), the activity of the Working Group consisted in the collection of the necessary background information. A questionnaire was prepared and sent out for this purpose. The in-depth answers that were received bore out the existence of similar levels of legislative complexity in the various countries and of relatively similar reactions to this issue.

The ECPRD Seminar in Rome on the subject of legislation (June 1998)

ˇ On the basis of these elements, the topic of legislative complexity was examined in a Seminar of the ECPRD (a body connecting the documentation services of the Parliaments), which was organised by the Italian Chamber of Deputies in June, 1998.

Meeting of the Representatives of National Parliaments with the Legal Committee and the Institutional Committee of the European Parliament (Sept. 1998)

ˇ The Working Group fully adopted the results of its meeting with the Legal Committee and the Institutional Committee of the European Parliament (September 21, 1998) during which the topic of the quality of legislation was examined in the light of the important work carried out in this field by EU institutions as well as of various national examples.

The Working Draf

ˇ A first Working Draft was prepared on the above basis and was subsequently forwarded to the national Parliaments that form the Working Group for an assessment of how closely it represented the situation from the viewpoints of the individual nations.
ˇ The Working Draft was subsequently examined in bilateral meetings of officials of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and their colleagues who were assigned to this initiative by the Speakers of the various national Parliaments. Following the detailed discussions that took place during those meetings and the supplementary observations that were later submitted in writing by the national Parliaments, the first working draft was extensively re-worded (Nov. 1998).

The Working Group Meeting in Rome (December 11-12, 1998)

ˇ On the occasion of the meeting organised by the Chamber of Deputies on December 11-12, 1998, the Working Group examined the Working Draft in detail. The approach that was adopted allowed for a deep and fruitful exchange of experiences at different stages. Against this backdrop, problems and trends that were common to all countries came to the fore, overlapping their legal and institutional differences.
ˇ The discussion ended with the final adoption of a document divided into two sections: the first containing a more detailed overview of the topic of legislative complexity in advanced democracies as well as of the role of Parliaments; while the second listed possible action patterns to deal with the issues at stake, within a framework of co-operation among the main democratic institutions.
ˇ It was furthermore agreed to leave the final document open until the end of March, so that any further remarks and additions by members of the Working Group might be inserted.

Follow-up activity within the Plenary Conference in Lisbon

ˇ On the basis of the discussions in Rome, the final document - which was entitled "Legislative complexity and the role of Parliaments in the era of globalisation" - was officially transmitted to President De Almeida Santos in March, taking account of all further remarks and comments by all the members of the Working Group. The Portuguese President forwarded it to all his counterparts together with the rest of conference-related documents.
ˇ At the Conference of Lisbon on 21-22 May the subjects mentioned in the document were illustrated in the presentation delivered by Pres. Violante. By consensus, the Conference proposed that:
- the document prepared by the Working Group be submitted to the Speakers to be brought to the attention of the competent Parliamentary bodies or individual Members of Parliament;
- the issue of legislation be adopted as an agenda item of the subsequent Rome Conference of Speakers and taken forward by the Working Group following the method that had been adopted till then, in order to submit an additional document to the Conference.

The activity of the Working Group in preparation of the Rome Conference

ˇ In view of the Rome Conference, the Working Group decided to resume its activity with a first meeting held in Cogne ,Val d'Aosta, on April 1, 2000.
ˇ In preparation of the Cogne meeting, the offices of the Chamber of Deputies set up an expert group to study the topic of the essential information for policy decision-making, in the light of the role and function of contemporary parliaments. Following a number of meetings which were organised during the latter months of 1999 - the last of which was attended by a delegation of the Public Management Committee - PUMA of the OECD -, a seminar was organised on Jan. 21, with the participation of PUMA and other experts, as well as of Prof. Yves Mény, Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies of the European University Institute.
ˇ A Preparatory Note for the Cogne meeting was drafted taking into account the fundamental issues contained in the document presented in Lisbon and ideas that were expressed during the meetings.

The Working Group meeting in Cogne - April 1, 2000

ˇ Delegations of the Parliaments of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, as well as of the European Parliament, took part in the Working Group meeting that was held in Cogne. The Secretary General of the OECD, Mr. Donald Johnston also attended.
ˇ In that framework the Working Group, chaired by the Speaker of the House, Pres. Luciano Violante, agreed on the proposal to draft a Memorandum on common objectives that could best be pursued through direct co-operation between the Presidents and parliamentary offices, to deal with the severe consequences of legislative complexity in the European context.
ˇ Moreover, it was then decided to call a second and last meeting at the European University Institute of Fiesole (Florence) in June 2000, with the participation of experts proposed by the Institute itself, to examine the themes to be included in the document submitted to the plenary meeting of the Speakers in Rome.
ˇ The delegations agreed to prepare information notes in the meantime, with an overview of the most significant experience of their own parliaments in this field, while the OECD undertook to prepare a report based on a questionnaire sent out to all of the parliaments of its member countries, to provide a full picture on a global scale.

The Working Group meeting in Fiesole - June 16-17, 2000

ˇ The first day of the meeting was dedicated to a discussion of an outline report submitted by the group of experts led by Prof. Mény and Prof. Burns of Uppsala University.
ˇ During the second day, in keeping with the guidelines agreed to in Cogne and a draft document prepared for the meeting, the contents of a Draft Memorandum for the Rome Conference were discussed, with the aim of providing a set of practical recommendations to enhance the quality and efficiency of parliamentary work, including the upgrading of information systems among the parliaments involved.

Preparation of the Draft Memorandum

ˇ During the subsequent weeks, the Draft Memorandum presented in Fiesole was amended in the light of the statements of the parliamentary delegations and the experts during the meeting, as well as of subsequent contacts between the offices of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and of the Finnish Parliament (President Uosukainen will report on this item in Rome).