Brussels, 25/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament is to host a three-day high-level conference from Monday 29 February until Wednesday 2 March, which will focus on capacity-building for the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament). The conference will be attended by over 40 Ukrainian parliamentarians.
This Ukraine Week will provide the opportunity on 2 March for the secretariats of the European and Ukrainian parliaments to sign an “administrative cooperation agreement”. This agreement follows on from another cooperation agreement between the two parliaments, which was more political. A European Parliament source told EUROPE that the administrative cooperation agreement will enable an exchange of procedures, staff, practices and experience between the two parliaments.
On 29 February, a report and a roadmap on capacity-building - both of which were put together by former European Parliament president Pat Cox - will be presented. On 1 March, several debates will take place - including on the relationship between the executive and the legislature, on the role of a parliament's representation in terms of openness, transparency and responsibility, on the ethics of deputies, and on good practices in harmonising Ukrainian legislation with the EU acquis. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)