The leadership of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine participated in the tenth meeting of the Jean Monnet Dialogue

On April 18-20, for the tenth time since October 2016 and for the fourth time since the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the ninth convocation met in the format of the Jean Monnet Dialogues for Peace and Democracy.

The meeting included three sessions: "Implementation of the agreements following the ninth round of the Jean Monnet Dialogues", "The EU enlargement process" and "Ensuring the stability of the political system and democratic process in Ukraine under martial law".

The event was opened by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk together with the former President of the European Parliament (1989-2004) Pat Cox.

The Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine emphasized that the decision taken by the leaders of the European Union at the end of last year to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union is undoubtedly a historic decision for our country, opening the way to the realization of the country's strategic choice — "the choice for which our soldiers are shedding blood today and which we are defending against russian invaders."

"The war has made many adjustments to the work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, as well as to the life of the whole country. We have departed from the usual forms of work, we have been forced to seek a reasonable balance between compliance with procedures and the restrictions imposed on us by the realities of wartime," said Ruslan Stefanchuk, emphasizing that, despite this, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has reached a point where it is necessary to make significant progress on the architecture of work, on the issues of how the Parliament will look like in the process of negotiations with the European Union.

"We have implemented some of the agreements reached in the previous round of dialogues. In particular, no legal processes have taken place regarding the approaching elections, options are being sought to make the work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine more transparent in the format of the session hall, discussions on the Code of Ethics are ongoing, and the process of coordinating positions on parliamentary service is underway," said Oleksandr Korniyenko, the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

At the same time, he noted that during this time there have been many opinions and articles about the future of the legislature: "But there is a fact that responds to all of them — over the past six months, the Parliament of Ukraine has demonstrated its ability to gather at critical moments — this is evidenced by the adoption of the Law on Mobilization and additional issues regarding EU accession."

"Jean Monnet Dialogues is an important format for the development of parliamentarism in Ukraine, which should be continued in the next convocations," emphasized Oleksandr Korniyenko.

"Effective, responsible and open to the public work of the parliament is the basis of democracy in any country that is a member of the EU or aspires to become one. It is also particularly important for the consolidation of the country in times of war," emphasized Olena Kondratiuk, the Deputy Chairwoman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

She noted that the Jean Monnet Dialogues help the majority and the opposition in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to find common ground: "The more effective work of the Parliament as an institution directly depends on this."

According to the Vice Speaker Olena Kondratiuk, this time they managed to reach a compromise on several sensitive issues, including the openness of the Parliament of Ukraine to journalists, taking into account security standards, control over the Government's activities, and strengthening efforts aimed at Euro-Atlantic integration, in particular, the implementation of parliamentary diplomacy on parity.

"At this round of the Dialogue, I was very impressed with the ability of the factions to reach consensus and compromise. This is the right time to come together and focus on the unity of the Parliament —  and the leaders have demonstrated a clear capacity to do so," said Pat Cox, the former President of the European Parliament (1989-2004).

As a result, the participants signed the conclusions adopted during the tenth Jean Monnet Dialogue, which confirmed their commitment to continue working together, building trust and strengthening the unity of democratic forces in Ukraine, which is especially important in the context of the unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression by the russian federation against Ukraine.

In particular, the participants welcomed the historic decision of the European Council of December 14-15, 2023, to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union, which opens a further way for the implementation of Ukraine's strategic course. And also the unanimous decision of the leaders of the EU member states adopted at an extraordinary meeting of the European Council on February 1, 2024, on the Ukraine Facility, which provides support for our country in the amount of 50 billion euros.

Welcoming the development of in-depth cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the European Parliament, the participants expressed their firm intention to develop cooperation with the new composition of the European Parliament, in particular in the format of bilateral and multilateral cooperation of committees and implementation of measures to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

For reference. The goal of the Jean Monnet Dialogues and the mediation process is to contribute to the development of political dialogue and consensus between political parties.

The event was organized with the participation of the European Parliament, the United States Agency for International Development in Ukraine (USAID) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

https://www.rada.gov.ua/en/news/News/top_news/249135.html