Does Ukrainian Parliament need a Rapporteur?

On 8 June 2016, a seminar entitled “The Institute of the Rapporteur: the German Experience” took place at the German Bundestag. The seminar was organised by the German Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), together with the NGO “Intern’s League” and the Financial and Economic Office in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (FEAO). Speaking at the event were a series of German experts: Gerd Ehlers, former State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, and Katja Borns-Löhn, advisor in Deutscher Bundestag (German Parliament). The participants in the seminar were representatives from the committees and apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRU), as well as members from civil society organisations.

During the seminar, experts presented the German institute of a rapporteur, the benefits and challenges of introducing this system. According to Mr Ehlers, the rapporteur is a central figure who operates and analyzes all the incoming information from the parliamentary committees.

The participants discussed the features of the rapporteur in the Budget Committee. The rapporteur of the committee acts as a link between sectoral and budgetary policies, and is involved in processing inquiries on changing the budget, and preparing the documents to allow the use of funds.

The recommendations of Pat Cox, the former President of the European Parliament, regarding the improvement of the Ukraine’s Parliamentary Budget Committee, were also discussed during the seminar. Mr Cox suggested that a “rapporteur” for the Committee would be advantageous, in order to improve processing standards and increase the responsibility of the Members of the Parliament. The Verkhovna Rada accepted these recommendations in the form of a decree.

The introduction of the “rapporteur system” could provide the VRU with an additional oversight tool, creating parliamentary ownership not only of the draft budget, but of its implementation throughout the financial year.

During the seminar, Pavlo Pirnykoza, analyst at the Financial and Economic Analysis Office in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (FEAO), delivered a presentation about the goals, mission and functions of the FEAO. One of the key goals is to make financial information accessible for the Committees of the Verkhovna Rada, in order to enable them to better fulfill their functions and responsibilities. “The mission of the FEAO is to raise the quality of economic and financial legislation developed and adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine”, he said.

Vladyslav Vitrenko,

Trainee at the Information Office of the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine