Monday, 3 October 2011
FIRST WORKSHOP FROM THE IPA PROJECT ON THE ROLE OF NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS IN THE EU
Friday, 30 September 2011 - MPs from various political groups participated in the first IPA-TAP Project (Technical Assistance to Parliament) workshop about the Parliament and EU-related topics.
The focus of this workshop was to provide the MPs with a general understanding on the role of national parliaments in the European Union, with special emphasis on the new elements introduced by the Lisbon Treaty. This workshop, held in Boris Trajkovski Hall, was especially aimed at the MPs who are members of the European Affairs Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, the National Council for European Integration, and the Joint Parliamentary Committee (European Union-Republic of Macedonia).
Dr. Zoltan Horvath (Project Training Director) and Ms. Inese Birzniece (Project Team Leader) presented short overviews of these topics together with practical examples from their extensive experience in EU affairs working at the Hungarian and Latvian parliaments, respectively, both before and after Hungary and Latvia joined the EU in 2004.
The workshop included an exchange of views between the participating MPs and the presenters, especially regarding the current status of Macedonia’s preparations for EU accession negotiations and EU membership. Another three workshops and two seminars are planned for MPs regarding the accession negotiation experiences of new EU Member States, the role of the European Affairs Committees in the accession process and related topics.
The EU-funded IPA project “Technical Assistance to the Parliament” began its work at the Parliament in January 2011 and will continue for 18 months.
The project has three main components:
- Improving the technical support of the Parliamentary Working Bodies;
- Improving the Parliament’s capacity to deliver analytical reports to the MPs on EU matters (working with the anticipated Parliamentary Institute);
- Improving the access to and provision of information, for MPs and Parliament staff, particularly with regard to the EU accession agenda and making information more accessible to the public.