On June 17, at 11:30 in the Predslava Hall of the President Hotel at the address 12 Hospitalna Street, Kyiv city, Civil Network OPORA will hold a conference titled "Independent and efficient Parliament as a guaranty of democratic progress and Ukraine's perspectives on European integration."
The dialog on parliamentary standards, which should be followed by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in its activities, as well as international principles of higher legislative bodies, pluses and minuses of the first 6 months, and progress in implementation of EU-integration list of required legislative initiatives, is extremely topical today. Taking into consideration that the first half-year of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the VII convocation has passed, OPORA will present interim results of parliamentary monitoring for six months, and results of the expert poll on efficiency and independence of the legislative branch.
The event will consist of two sessions, titled:
- "The role of the parliament in EU-integration process and global reforms"
- "The future of Ukrainian Parliament from the viewpoint of representatives of Parliamentary factions"
Leading experts, MPs from different factions, politologists, diplomats, and representatives of international organizations will also be present on the conference, namely the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), European Commission (Brussels), and OSCE/ODIHR (Warsaw).
This discussion will be also participated by speakers which were involved in formation of Ukrainian parliamentarism, constitutional processes, diplomacy and European integration – Leonid Kravchuk, Borys Tarasiuk, Mykola Tomenko, Petro Poroshenko, Volodymyr Bondarenko, Hryhorii Nemyria, and others.
Besides that, representatives of parliamentary factions will present their viewpoints on the future of Ukrainian Parliament.
Preliminary agenda
11:00am – 11:30am – Registration of participants
11:30am – 11:40am – Greeting and introductory speeches from organizers:
Olha Aivazovska, Coordinator of electoral and political programs of the Civil Network OPORA;
Jed Barton, Region Director in Mission of USAID.
11:40am – 11:45am Video address and comments from European politicians and officials in Brussels: Peter Stano, spokesman for EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele; Radoslaw Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland; Pawel Kowal, Member of the European Parlaiment, Chairman of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in the European Parliament; Dirk Fokke Toornstra, EP, Director of the Office for Promotion of Parliamentary Democracy.
11:45am – 12:00am Presentation of interim monitoring results of OPORA "Ukrainian Parliament of VII convocation after 6 months of cadence"
12:00am – 13:00am The role of the parliament in EU-integration process and global reforms
Speakers:
Hryhorii Nemyria, Vice-Prime Minister on European Integration (2007-2010), MP of Ukraine of VII convocation, Head of the Committee on European Integration;
Borys Tarasiuk, Minister of Foreign Affairs in 5 Governments, Member of Parliament, Head of Sub-committee on cooperation with the NATO and Inter-Parliamentary Conference for the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union, the Eastern Partnership, and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on European Integration;
Petro Poroshenko, Member of Parliament
Oleksandr Sushko, Research Director of the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation
Civic experts
Questions and comments from the audience
01:00pm – 01:30pm Coffee break
01:30pm – 03:00pm Future of Ukrainian Parliament from the viewpoint of political elites
Moderated by Tetyana Danylenko
Speakers:
Anatolii Blyzniuk, Member of Parliament of Ukraine (PRU) (confirmed)
Mykota Tomenko, Deputy Head of the VRU of VII convocation, Member of Parliament (AUU Batkivshchyna) (waiting for the respond);
Yurii Miroshnychenko, President's representative in the VRU (confirmed);
Oksana Kaletnyk, Member of Parliament (CPU) (confirmed);
Yurii Mykhalchyshyn, Member of Parliament (AUU Svoboda) (confirmed);
Speaker from the UDAR (is being determined);
Questions from journalists, NGO representatives, and response of speakers
03:00pm Coffee and informal communication
Persons wishing to participate in the conference are requested to fill in an electronic application form.
The Civil Network "OPORA" - is a non-governmental, non-political and financially independent all-Ukrainian network of activists. We united to enhance public participation in the political process by developing and implementing models of citizen participation in the activities of state and local governments.