ANNEX C4

FINAL REPORTTwinning Contract number KS 14 IB OT 01

TWINNING FINAL REPORT

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

KS 14 IB OT 01 TWINNING PROJECT Support to the Kosovo Assembly

FINAL REPORT

Project Title: Further Support to the Kosovo Assembly

Partners: Hungarian National Assembly, as Member State Partner

Kosovo Assembly, as Beneficiary Partner

Date28 May 2018

Twinning Contract numberKS 14 IB OT 01

Contents

Section 1: Project data3

Section 2: Content4

2A – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY4

2B – BACKGROUND6

2C – IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS11

Developments outside the project11

Project developments14

Project visibility19

2D – ACHIEVEMENTS OF MANDATORY RESULTS21

COMPONENT 022

COMPONENT 123

COMPONENT 226

COMPONENT 330

COMPONENT 433

COMPONENT 537

2E – IMPACT40

2F – FOLLOW-UP AND SUSTAINABILITY42

2G – CONCLUSIONS44

2H – FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS45

2I – ANNEXES47

Annex 1: Overview of the mandatory results achieved47

Section 3: Expenditure73

Annex 2: Expenditures73

FINAL REPORTTwinning Contract number KS 14 IB OT 01

Twinning Project Further Support to the Kosovo AssemblyPage 1

Section 1: Project data

Twinning Contract Number

KS 14 IB OT 01

Project Title:

Further Support to the Kosovo Assembly

Twinning Partners (MS and BC)

Hungarian National Assembly (MS)

Kosovo Assembly (BC)

Duration of the project:

25 months

1st March 2016 – 31st March 2018

MS Project Leader

Zoltán Horváth

BC Project Leader

Ismet Krasniqi

Section 2: Content

2A – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Regarding the mandatory results achieved, the comprehensive tasks and the intensive implementation of the activities, the Project can be considered as a great success.

All the activities were carried out and all the recommendations needed to achieve the mandatory results were elaborated as it was planned by the Twinning contract. The recommendations of the Project were also summarized and submitted to the Beneficiary Parliament in the form of an Action Plan.

Recommendations to assist the building up of a well-functioning parliament and the setting up of necessary structures and procedures in the Kosovo Assembly for a successful EU integration

In each of the project fields the work has been concluded with a package of final recommendations for concrete actions which were elaborated in close cooperation and agreement with the BC.

The final recommendation reports contain several hundreds of detailed recommendations with explanations in a customized manner.

Final findings and recommendations were published in concluding publications on the Project components.

The final recommendation reports served as a basis for the elaboration of the Action Plan facilitating the proper and timely implementation of project recommendations.

Action Plan to improve the activities of the Assembly for a successful EU integration process

Based on the detailed project recommendations, the Twinning Team – in close coordination with the BC partners – elaborated an Action Plan which establishes a prioritization of tasks and a clear differentiation between issues of political or administrative nature. The document is composed of 224 concrete actions which indicate clear deadlines and bodies responsible for implementation and wherever needed it points out if possible budgetary consequences might arise. The actions of the Action Plan were discussed with the BC Administration in three rounds and they agreed with the final version of all the proposed actions. The Action Plan not only facilitates the implementation of project recommendations, but can also serve as a tool for the Kosovo Assembly and donor organizations to identify key areas where further assistance may be needed, thus fostering an effective and actual donor coordination.

The partnership between MS and BC sides

During the whole lifecycle of the Project the partnership among MS and BC sides worked smoothly, the mutual commitment was realized in form of close and efficient cooperation. The MS and BC project partners were looking for solutions which best serve the interests of the Kosovo Assembly. MS twinning experts arrived from 11 national parliaments (Hungary, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, UK – represented by the House of Lords and Northern Ireland Assembly) and the European Parliament. Therefore all the project proposals take into consideration the best practices of EU Member States based on a broad pool of experts, and at the same time the political, constitutional and cultural traditions of the Beneficiary Country as well. The MS implementing staff was in regular contact with both the political and administrative leaderships of the BC Parliament. The involvement of key political and administrative actors and the functioning of such multilevel cooperation framework well facilitated the elaboration of tailor-made recommendations.

Overall evaluation

From the perspective of the overall objective of the Twinning Project (‘To help the Kosovo Assembly to meet the democratic standards of functionality’) it is too early to make a final evaluation on the impact of the Project in detail, but the above mentioned achievements and various further proofs introduced in this report validate the extensive success of the Twinning Project. In case of parliamentary twinning projects it must be emphasized that for the implementation of a great part of the proposals political decisions are needed which can be made usually after finalisation of the project. In the current Twinning Project the Kosovo Assembly reacted in a very responsive and committed way to the Projects’ recommendations. However, one has to be aware – and it is also reaffirmed in the Action Plan –, that in the case of the majority of listed actions the implementation of the proposals requires time: in order to implement the key project proposals usually longer period, several months, in some cases years are needed. This timeframe can still be suited to the rhythm of the accession process, therefore one can be trusting that the Kosovo Assembly will be able to fully prepare itself to EU accession activities on the basis of the project proposals.

Political endorsement of the project recommendations by the Assembly has key significance, therefore efforts should be made to ensure that the Action Plan elaborated by the Twinning Team will be discussed and endorsed by the Presidency of the Kosovo Assembly. A proper follow-up mechanism shall also be established which guarantees timely implementation of all project recommendations included in the Action Plan. The Presidency should practice political monitoring over the implementation of the Action Plan and should discuss the implementation process on a regular basis based on report from the Secretary.

From this point of view the EU side will also have an important role to play in monitoring and supporting the implementation activities. It is based on this progress that the EU Office should prepare the possible future support on behalf of the EU, thus ensuring that various EU-funded projects in the same institution are realized in a consistent manner, building upon each other’s results, guaranteeing a reasonable and prudent use of EU resources.

As a conclusion it can be stated that with the complete implementation of the project recommendations adopted in the Action Plan, the Kosovo Assembly would become capable to efficiently operate in the EU accession framework, assuming that additional crucial decisions will be taken on behalf of the executive branch and that the implementation of the recommendations will receive the necessary impetus from all side and all required resources will be mobilized.

2B – BACKGROUND

Starting points: Context of the project launching

The Project’s overall objective was to help the Kosovo Assembly to meet the democratic standards of functionality.

The Project’s purpose was to support the creation of the conditions of independent functioning of the Kosovo Assembly, to strengthen its oversight role in relation to both work of the Government and Independent Agencies; to strengthen the role of the Kosovo Assembly in EU-related issues; especially in the SAA process.

The project reflected the need for improvement of the functioning of the Parliament in a new context: the European Commission adopted the proposal for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Kosovo on 30 April 2015. The agreement, (which came into effect during the project implementation period, on 1 April 2016), is an important step on Kosovo’s path to eventual EU membership. The agreement is the first contractual relation between the EU and Kosovo. It links integration with the EU – including by establishing a free trade area – and the prospect of future EU membership to economic, political and administrative reforms. The SAA provides a framework for political dialogue and covers co-operation in sectors, such as justice, trade, education, employment, energy, environment and other policy areas.

In its Annual Action Programme for Kosovo for the year 2014, the European Commission declared that under democracy and governance, particular focus should be given to efforts to improve public administration in Kosovo, so as to enable it to transpose, apply and implement the EU acquis, especially in areas covered in the future SAA. The programme also envisaged help to strengthen the capacities of the Kosovo Assembly.

The EC’s Indicative Strategy Paper for Kosovo (2014-2020) set out the priorities for EU financial assistance for the period 2014-2020 to support Kosovo in fulfilling its European perspective. It translated the political priorities set out in the enlargement policy framework into key areas where financial assistance is most needed to meet the relevant criteria. The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II) is the main financial instrument to provide EU support to the beneficiaries in implementing reforms with a view to EU approximation.

The Declaration on Medium-Term Policy Priorities (DMTPP) of Kosovo set the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2014-2016 which created the conditions for the necessary reform of particular sectors, through which economic, social and institutional preconditions can be met in order to bring Kosovo closer to the EU. DMTPP identified public administration reform as an essential tool to reach the objective of good governance.

In 2009, the Kosovo Assembly adopted a Resolution on Kosovo’s priorities and strategies for EU integration. On the basis of this document, the Assembly has adopted annual European Integration Action Plans, reflecting the challenges identified and recommendations made by the European Commission.

In December 2013, a comprehensive Action Plan on SAA 2014 was adopted by the Government, which also served as a benchmark for the Assembly in the SAA process.

Assessment of the current situation and issues to be addressed

At the time of the preparation of the Project several observations were made in the following documents: In its 2014 Progress Report the European Commission emphasized that SAA is the first comprehensive agreement between the EU and Kosovo, providing for enhanced political dialogue, closer trade integration, including opening EU markets to Kosovo’s industrial and agricultural products, and new forms of cooperation.

With regard to the political criteria, the 2014 report underlined that the new government and the Assembly would need to re-energise Kosovo’s reform agenda. Both institutions need to build on the existing political consensus in Kosovo on EU integration. Kosovo’s government has demonstrated its capacity to coordinate its EU integration agenda, notably with regard to the SAA negotiations.

To implement and meet the obligations under the future SAA, Kosovo’s executive and the Assembly need to focus on the implementation of legislation and policies. Legislative and policy plans need to realistically reflect the resources required. The new legislature provided for a good opportunity to improve oversight of the executive and the legislative process. The Assembly’s role in supervising independent institutions and regulatory authorities needs to be strengthened.

The implementation of the strategy (2010-13) and action plan (2012-14) on public administration reform has been a major challenge for Kosovo, delivering limited results. Supported by a serious political commitment, Kosovo needs to establish a realistic strategic framework for policy making, legislative planning and the practical implementation of reforms. Completing the legislative framework for the civil service, ensuring it is depoliticised and carrying out performance appraisals of the civil service are priorities.

Regarding approximation to EU laws and standards, Kosovo institutions have demonstrated their capacity to deliver on the political priorities, such as the SAA negotiations, the visa liberalisation dialogue and the dialogue with Serbia. This was the result of strong political commitments. Delivery of results in other priority reform areas has been more uneven.

As far as the Parliament is concerned, the 2014 Country Report emphasized that the Assembly continued to support Kosovo’s efforts on European integration and demonstrated political and institutional unity on some issues of key importance, such as the dialogue with Serbia, the EULEX mandate and reform efforts. The Assembly made progress on oversight of the executive and consultation with civil society.

The report also stated that Assembly needs to build on the positive steps taken by the previous legislature. The Assembly and its committees still need to expand their cooperation with line ministries in the legislative and oversight process to improve the quality of legislation and ensure its implementation. Draft laws and amendments to legislation need better screening to ensure compliance with the acquis. The Assembly needs to further develop standards for public consultation. Further efforts by the Assembly and its committees are required to ensure control of the budget. The Assembly needs to improve the supervision of public companies, independent institutions and regulatory authorities. The new legislature needs to adopt new rules of procedure quickly. These rules need to be in line with EU best practice and be based on the recommendations of the EU-funded Twinning Light Project “Strengthening the functioning of Kosovo Assembly”. The function of the EU integration committee needs to be further enhanced to reflect its key role in Kosovo’s European integration process. The independence of the Assembly’s IT infrastructure still has not been ensured. Preparations of the annual budget need to reflect the need for budgetary independence of the Assembly. The Progress Report also stated that new legislation, including a Law on the Assembly, would be helpful in this regard. The Secretariat of the Assembly needs to continue to build its expertise on technical issues to support effective policy making and the capacity to improve scrutiny of draft legislation and its implementation. Overall, the Assembly continued to gradually develop its capacity further and improved its role in democratic governance. The new legislature provides a good opportunity to improve oversight of the executive and supervise the legislative process. It should also be a chance to clarify the Assembly’s role with regard to the supervision of independent institutions and regulatory authorities, to develop clear rules of procedure, and to improve monitoring of the budget.

With regard to the Parliament, European Parliament resolution of 11 March 2015 on the European integration process of Kosovo also highlighted the need to strengthen the oversight role of the Assembly and particularly the Committee on European Integration in the Kosovo integration process; and urged the Assembly to adopt swiftly new rules of procedure that are in line with European best practice.

The Kosovo Assembly

The Constitution of Kosovo – entered into force and effect on 15 June 2008 – stipulates that the Assembly is the legislative institution of Kosovo, directly elected by the people. Among its main responsibilities, the Assembly adopts laws, resolutions and other general acts, oversees the work of the Government and other public institutions as well as foreign and security policies.

The Assembly has one hundred twenty (120) deputies elected by secret ballot on the basis of open lists: 100 seats for all the political subjects directly voted, 10 seats set aside for the representatives of the Serb community, 10 seats set aside for the representatives of other communities (4 seats for the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, 3 seats for the Bosniak community, 2 seats for the Turkish community and 1 seat for the Goran community).

The Constitution stipulates that the Assembly shall be elected for a mandate of 4 years, starting from the day of the next constitutive session. The last parliamentary elections were held on 11 June 2017.

According to the provisions of the Rules of Procedures it is the Presidency which is responsible for the work programme of the Assembly. Parliamentary groups consist of no less than 5 %, respectively 6 members of the Assembly. The Assembly performs its activities in plenary sessions and meetings of the standing and functional committees.

At present there are 14 committees. Main committees: Committee on Budget and Finance, Committee on Rights, Interests of Communities and Returns, Committee on Legislation, Mandates, Immunities, Rules of Procedure of the Assembly and Oversight of Anti-Corruption Agency and Committee for European Integration. There are 10 functional committees: Committee on Foreign Affairs, Diaspora and Strategic Investments; Committee for Education, Science, Technology, Culture, Youth, Sports, Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Committee for Economic Development, Infrastructure, Trade, Industry and Regional Development; Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, Rural Development, Environment and Spatial Planning; Committee on Health, Labour and Social Welfare; Committee on Internal Affairs, Security and Oversight of the Kosovo Security Force; Committee on Human Rights, Gender Equality, Missing Persons and Petitions; Committee for the Oversight of Public Finances; Committee for the Oversight of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency.

The Head of Assembly Administration is the Secretary General. The Administration consists of the Office of the Secretary General, the General Directorate on Legal and Procedural Affairs, the General Directorate for Administration, Directorate for Protocol and International Relations, Directorate for Media and PR, and Directorate of Procurement.

Objectives

Overall objective

The overall objective was to help the Kosovo Assembly to meet the democratic standards of functionality.

Project purpose

The Project’s purpose was to support the creation of the conditions of independent functioning of the Kosovo Assembly, to strengthen its oversight role in relation to both work of the Government and Independent Agencies; to strengthen the role of the Kosovo Assembly in EU-related issues; especially in the SAA process.

Project’s composition

The project was composed of 5 Components:

Component 1, Improving the functioning of the legislation and enhancing the law approximation activities

Component 2, Implementing of the new legal framework of the Assembly related to the independent functioning in the areas of finances, human resources and infrastructure

Component 3, Strengthening the oversight functions of the Assembly

Component 4, Strengthening the functioning of the Committee on European Integration and the other committees related to the supervision and support of the SAA process

Component 5, Strengthening the administrative support to the MPs related to the tasks of the European integration process

Mandatory results

Results to be achieved (as in Logframe)

Result 1

Improving the functioning of the legislation and enhancing the law approximation activities

· The Law on the Assembly is properly implemented and allows for independent functioning of the Assembly.

· The functioning of the legislative process is improved.

· Legal approximation activities of the Assembly are upgraded.

· Staff is capable of applying the new rules in everyday functioning of the Assembly.

· The practice of legislative process and relevant internal procedures and regulations are brought in line with the provisions of the new legal framework.

· New manual on the legal approximation procedure for the Assembly is elaborated and practiced.

· More efficient legislative techniques are applied.

· CSO involvement in the legislative process is increased by the end of the project.

Result 2

Implementation of the new legal framework of the Assembly related to its independent functioning in the areas of finances, human resources and infrastructure

· The Law on the Assembly is properly implemented and allows for independent functioning of the Assembly.

· Kosovo Assembly improves the management of finances, human resources and IT issues.

· Staff is capable of applying the new rules in everyday functioning of the Assembly.

· The practice of the management of finances, human resources and IT issues are brought in line with the provisions of the new legal framework.

Result 3

Strengthening the oversight functions of the Assembly

· Kosovo Assembly effectively and efficiently conducts oversight functions of Government and Independent Agencies.

· More effective oversight mechanisms vis-à-vis Government are introduced compared to the baseline.

· More effective oversight mechanisms related to supervisory and regulatory bodies are introduced compared to the baseline.

· Parliament is more familiar with European standards in oversight activities

· Involvement and coordination of line Ministries and Independent Agencies

Result 4

Strengthening the functioning of the Committee on European Integration and other Committees related to the supervision and support of the SAA process

· SAA process is properly supervised and supported by the Assembly through strengthening the relevant activities of the Committees, especially the Committee on European Integration.

· Members of the Committee on European Integration are familiar with the challenges of the SAA process and further steps in the European Integration tasks.

· Committees understand their role in the SAA process and they are more open to be involved in tasks related to the European integration process.

· Mechanisms are elaborated for the enhanced participation of the Committee on European Integration in the SAA process

· Recommendations are elaborated for more strategic parliamentary actions to raise the general awareness on the EU integration process and the role of the Assembly in it.

Result 5

Strengthening the administrative support to the MPs related to the tasks of the European integration process

· Administration of the Assembly strategically and effectively supports the MPs through strengthened administrative structures responsible for European integration tasks and improved research activities.

· The adequate administrative set-up for effective support to the MPs in European integration tasks is elaborated.

· Staff is capable to strategically and effectively support MPs in issues related to European integration process.

· Research capabilities of the administrative staff are strengthened compared to baseline based on upgraded procedures and practices.

As during the second half of 2016 and first half of 2017 it became evident that the procedure for the adoption of the draft Law on the Assembly stopped for various political reasons, resources originally allocated for activities directly linked to the draft Law had been reallocated based on the agreements among the MS and BC partners and the EUO.

Based on the request of the BC, new activities – as the update of the strategy on international and inter-parliamentary cooperation and an activity to support the work of the SAPC – were introduced and other activities (e.g. on-the-job trainings in Component 1 or further consultations in Component 5) were extended with further expert missions.

2C – IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS

Developments outside the project

EU – Kosovo relations

The Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Union and Kosovo entered into force on 1 April 2016. (The SAA was signed on 27 October 2015 and formally concluded on 12 February 2016.) The SAA establishes a contractual relationship that entails mutual rights and obligations and covers a wide variety of sectors. It supports the implementation of reforms and gives Kosovo an opportunity to move closer to Europe.

The SAA focuses on respect for key democratic principles and core elements that are at the heart of the EU's single market. The SAA establishes an area that allows for free trade and the application of European standards in other areas such as competition, state aid and intellectual property. Other provisions cover political dialogue, cooperation in a wide variety of sectors ranging from education and employment to energy, the environment and justice and home affairs.

The European Union - Kosovo Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC) held its first meeting in Pristina, on 16-17 May 2016, under the co-chairmanship of Mr Xhavit Haliti, Vice-President of the Kosovo Assembly and Mr Tonino Picula, Chairman of the European Parliament Delegation. In its Joint Declaration, the SAPC expressed satisfaction that it is the first common body constituted under the SAA, which paves the way for the integration of Kosovo into the EU in the framework of the accession process, in particular by enhancing a political dialogue and closer trade integration; the Committee called on both parties, and in particular on the Kosovo Government, to focus on implementing the comprehensive reforms necessary to meet obligations under the SAA. The Joint Declaration also called on all political actors, especially the parliamentary political parties, to resume political dialogue and constructive engagement, in order to overcome the problems related to the functioning of the Assembly and to allow for active participation of deputies from all parliamentary political parties. The SAPC underlined the need to strengthen the Assembly’s oversight role towards the Government, including the implementation of Assembly’s resolutions and decisions. SAPC meets twice a year.

On 9 November 2016 the European Commission adopted its 2016 Enlargement Package which stated that enlargement policy continued to deliver results and reforms were moving forward in most countries, albeit at different speeds. A continued commitment to the principle of fundamentals first therefore remained essential: the Commission stated that it would continue to focus efforts on the rule of law, including security, fundamental rights, democratic institutions and public administration reform, as well as on economic development and competitiveness. A stronger role for civil society and stakeholders more broadly remains crucial.

On 9 November 2016 the European Commission's 2016 Kosovo Report was published. The report highlighted key achievements and challenges to be tackled. It was emphasized that much work is needed to overcome significant shortcomings if Kosovo is to make progress on its European path.

The Enlargement package and country reports reconfirmed the EU’s continued commitment to the principles of "fundamentals first" as essential to enlargement. These are: rule of law, including security, fundamental rights, democratic institutions and public administration reform, as well as economic development and competitiveness. Building on last year, the 2016 Enlargement strategy and the country reports continued with and expanded the strengthened reporting methodology. It offered greater comparability between the reports, allowing for an overall assessment where Enlargement countries stand on preparation for the challenges of EU membership vis a vis their neighbours.

On 11 November 2016 a new high-level dialogue between Kosovo and the European Union began when the public launch of Kosovo’s European Reform Agenda took place. The agenda listed short term priorities meant to complement the SAA. The agenda’s three “key areas” are good governance and rule of law, competitiveness and investment climate, and employment and education. Each contains subsequent action items and timelines and lists the responsible institutions. European Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that the EU had already set out 165 million euros for the agenda’s initiatives.

Monitoring of the implementation of the ERA is conducted every six months in collaboration with government, civil society, and the business community.

On 25 November 2016 the Stabilisation and Association Council between the European Union and Kosovo held its first meeting. On the meeting signature of the framework agreement on Kosovo's participation in Union programmes was welcomed. The meeting discussed reform priorities in areas including rule of law and judicial reforms, respect for fundamental rights, public administration reform, and economic reforms.

In December 2016 the European Commission adopted the 2016 Programme for Kosovo granting 70.5 million EUR to support Kosovo's European path. Under the Action Programme for Kosovo for the Year 2016, the following sectors were supported: democracy and governance, rule of law and fundamental rights, competitiveness and innovation, education, employment and social policies. The 70.5 million financial envelope included a direct budget support programme, contributing to the implementation of Kosovo's reform package: namely policy development and coordination and modernization of the public administration. This allocation was part of the 645 million euro EU financial contribution granted to Kosovo during the 2014-2020 period.

On 12 July, the 2017 Western Balkans Summit took place in Trieste, Italy. High –level representatives of the Western Balkan countries together with their counterparts from several EU Member States and high-level EU representatives discussed key areas of regional cooperation, and set out concrete measures to better connect the region's infrastructures, economies and people. Leaders from the EU and six Western Balkans countries "all confirmed the perspective of the European Union integration of the Western Balkans" at the fourth Western Balkans Summit in the framework of the "Berlin Process". These countries are themselves "determined to have a future in our Union" and "once the right reforms are passed, we will be very consistent from our side" in delivering further integration, High Representative Federica Mogherini said in public remarks following the meeting. 

On 6 November 2017, the Financial Agreement for IPA 2016 program, part one entered into force. Within this assistance, Kosovo will benefit EUR 45.5 million that will be used to finance projects in the human rights and fundamental freedoms, competitiveness and innovation, education, employment, social policies, and horizontal support in accomplishing the obligations deriving from the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.

On 6 February 2018 The European Commission adopted a strategy for 'A credible enlargement perspective for and enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans', confirming the European future of the region as a geostrategic investment in a stable, strong and united Europe based on common values. It spells out the priorities and areas of joint reinforced cooperation, addressing the specific challenges the Western Balkans face, in particular the need for fundamental reforms and good neighbourly relations. A credible enlargement perspective requires sustained efforts and irreversible reforms. Progress along the European path is an objective and merit-based process which depends on the concrete results achieved by each individual country.

Together with the Strategy, the European Commission announced six flagship initiatives - specific actions that the EU will take over the next years to support the transformation efforts of the Western Balkans in areas of mutual interest. These flagship initiatives target specific areas of common interest: rule of law, security and migration, socio-economic development, transport and energy connectivity, digital agenda, reconciliation and good neighbourly relations.

Concrete actions in these areas are foreseen between 2018 and 2020. The European Commission proposes to gradually increase funding under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) until 2020 in so far as reallocations within the existing envelope allow. In 2018 alone, €1.07 billion of pre-accession assistance for the Western Balkans is already foreseen, on top of almost €9 billion from the 2007-2017 period.

The Strategy also emphasizes the need for the EU to be prepared to welcome new members once they have met the criteria.

The Strategy underlines that all Western Balkan countries have the chance to move forward on their respective European paths. The Commission assesses all the countries in a fair and objective manner on the basis of their own merits and at the speed at which they achieve progress. As far as Kosovo is concerned, the Strategy declares that the country has an opportunity for sustainable progress through implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and to advance on its European path once objective circumstances allow.

On 28 February 2018 EU high-level delegation headed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, High Representative Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn visited Kosovo as part of the series of the visits of this delegation to the Western Balkan countries which gave clear signals that enlargement policy continues to be a priority for the European Union.

The delegation met President Hashim Thaci, Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli, and Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and discussed the new EC Strategy on Western Balkans. EU high delegation also participated in a public event organized at the Town Hall of Prishtina with the participation of civil society organizations, students and journalists.

During a joint press conference with President Hashim Thaci, President Juncker reiterated the main messages outlined in the new Commission Strategy on the Western Balkans. Mr Juncker underlined the importance of reforms in the fields of rule of law, functioning of the judicial system and fundamental rights; and emphasized that ratification of border demarcation with Montenegro and the fight against organized crime are key preconditions for visa liberalization.

On 21 March the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro was ratified by the Kosovo Assembly. In a joint statement, High Representative/Vice President Federica Mogherini, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos and Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn welcomed the ratification as a real achievement very much in the spirit of good neighbourly relations as well as of the new Commission Strategy for the Western Balkans. The statement reiterated that the ratification is the fulfilment of one of the key criteria for Kosovo's visa liberalisation as well.

Political context

On 7 April 2016 the official inauguration ceremony of the new President Hashim Thaçi took place in the plenary hall of the Kosovo Assembly, while on 8 April a public inauguration event was held in the central square of Prishtina and in the presence of over 1000 guests from Kosovo and abroad. The inauguration ceremony of President Thaci was boycotted by opposition political parties.

The outgoing President Atifete Jahjaga, who concluded her five year mandate, gave the new President Hashim Thaci the Constitution of the Republic, to mark in this manner "the symbol of honor of the Office of the President of Kosovo."

The new president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, vowed to defend the Constitution which he called "a symbol and a founding element of Kosovo's statehood."

On 7 and 8 May 2016 the congress of the bigger coalition party PDK elected unanimously Kadri Veseli, President of the Kosovo Assembly as the President of the party for a 4-year term.

During 2016 and first months of 2017, the continuous boycott of the Assembly proceedings by the opposition political parties and the non-presence of some of the MPs of the ruling coalition, not only effected the parliamentary debates, but also negatively influenced the functioning of the Assembly itself.

Further to a motion of no confidence against the government, the Kosovo Assembly was dissolved on 10 May 2017. As a consequence, early parliamentary elections were held on 11 June.

On 8 July, after the confirmations from Election Panel on Appeals and Complaints and by the Supreme Court that these institutions do not have any case to decide on, Central Election Commission certified the final results of Early Elections on Appeals and Complaints for Assembly of Republic of Kosovo.

In her statement related to the elections, Ms Nataliya Apostolova, Head of EUO/EUSR reminded that Kosovo faces many challenges, from high unemployment and low performing education system, to corruption and weak rule of law, which remain an impediment to attracting sustainable investment to develop the economy. It is therefore crucial that the political leaders take these challenges seriously, form a strong government and embark upon the reforms that the people demand.

Head of EUO/EUSR reiterated that through the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and related instruments, the EU provides a political, economic and legislative framework for reforms to take root. Through its IPA support, the EU provides generous financial assistance to support these efforts and enhance improvements throughout Kosovo.

After long discussions among the poltical parties, on 7 September 2017, the continuation of the constitutive session of the new Kosovo Assembly was resultful and Kadri Veseli (Democratic Party of Kosovo) was approved as the new Speaker of the Assembly. On 9 September Ramush Haradinaj was elected as the new Prime Minister, nominated by the PDK-AAK-NISMA-AKR (PANA) coalition.

Parliamentary committees were set up and started functioning in the course of October 2017.

Project developments

Methods of achievement of the mandatory results

The Project was implemented in the following components:

Component 0 had the objective on one hand to inform the stakeholders, media and the public about the purposes, method, working process and results of the twinning activities in order to give visibility to the project.

Component 1 was conceived to improve the functioning of the legislation and enhancing the European legal approximation activities. Activities of this Component focused on facilitating the performance of the duties of MPs and the Assembly administration as well as on the improvement of the skills of the staff in the field of codification and law approximation with the EU acquis. The Beneficiary received continuous professional support in a cross-cutting way from the point of view of more efficient legislative and EU legal approximation activities and issues related to the autonomous functioning of the Assembly.

Component 2 activities focused on facilitating the activity of the Assembly administration in the fields of finances, human resources and infrastructure. It is evident that a more autonomous functioning of the Assembly requires the modification of the tasks and working methods of the Assembly administration in the field of the budgetary and financial management, the management of human resources and the IT infrastructure. Therefore activities of this Component focused on 1. the budgetary planning procedure and public procurement practices; 2. the management of human resources; and 3. the IT independence process and further development of the e-parliament system.

Component 3 activities focused on the strengthening of the oversight function of the Assembly at the level of plenary session and committees to achieve a structured and regular monitoring mechanism. As a cross-cutting issue, it was also examined how the civil society could be involved in the oversight activities. The recommendations of this Component were elaborated based on the best practices of EU Member States, with particular attention on the experiences of the new Member States in the parliamentary oversight of the accession process.

Component 4 supported the Assembly in strengthening the functioning of the Committee on European Integration and the other committees related to the supervision and support of the SAA process. The committees need efficient mechanisms and methods for fulfilling properly theirs tasks related to policy making, EU legal approximation and oversight of the Government and other relevant stakeholders, including the cooperation and coordination among the players in the SAA process. Special attention was paid to the assistance to everyday professional activities of the staff members supporting the work of the Committee on European Integration. Component 4 also concentrated on enhancing the role of the Assembly in raising the general awareness on the EU integration process through the involvement of the civil society, as it is a key issue in the success of the SAA process.

Component 5 aimed to strengthen the administrative support to the MPs related to the tasks of the European integration process. Without trained, motivated and well-structured administrative background, MPs cannot perform their EU-related duties successfully. The purpose of Component 5 was to have on one hand capable and well organized administrative structures specialized in European integration, and on the other hand thoroughly planned activities to be implemented as these are both inevitable preconditions for a smooth parliamentary integration process.

Since MPs have to rely on independent analysis in performing their tasks especially related to the European integration process as well as to the legislative and oversight capacities, Component 5 also focused on the improvement and enhancement of research activity as a key background support instrument for MPs. Strategic guidance of MPs can be ensured through strengthened administrative structures responsible for European integration matters and improved research activities.

The overall objectives and purposes of constituting components in the Twinning Project were met. The work concluded in all the Components led to the achievement of mandatory results set out in the Twinning Contract.

Methodology

The current Twinning Project built on the results of former twinning projects implemented also by the Hungarian National Assembly: Twinning Project “Support to Kosovo Assembly” (2011-2013) which had covered wide variety of fields to enhance the legislative and administrative capacities of the Assembly and to strengthen its role in the EU integration process; and Twinning Light Project “Strengthening the functioning of Kosovo Assembly” (2014) which had elaborated a new legal framework for the independent functioning of the Assembly.

Each component of the current Twinning Project was further divided into sub-components focusing on concrete professional fields of parliamentary activities.

The implementation followed a similar methodology in each Sub-Component:

The current project was implemented in five components with similar methodology: first the Twinning Team analysed and assessed the current situation, then implemented a tailor made training programme. Based on the assessment and training results, guidelines and recommendations were elaborated to introduce new or modified structures, procedures and methods in order to establish and strengthen European standards in the operation of the Assembly. Guidelines and recommendations were always discussed with relevant political and administrative stakeholders of the BC in the form of roundtables and interviews.

At the end of each activity, a report was written by the twinning experts to explain and compose the results of the given stage of the process.

Complete sets of recommendations or final guidelines for improvement in 12 fields were elaborated and presented.

All recommendations were synthesized in a comprehensive Action Plan, indicating also clear deadlines and bodies responsible for implementation. This document aims also to serve as a guiding tool for future donor assistance activities.

Practical manuals were elaborated to assist the Assembly administration in carrying out their tasks related to European legal approximation and codification.

A draft Strategy for international and inter-parliamentary cooperation was prepared.

More than 40 trainings, on-the-job trainings, workshops and coaching type activities were conducted and relevant training manuals were elaborated. The training manuals are meant to fulfil the purpose of a long-term learning tool on the subject matter both for those who took part at the seminars and workshops and also for those who could not attend the training sessions in person.

Various publications were issued.

All materials were translated into the official languages and distributed to the BC partners via hard copies and electronic means.

Besides trainings in the Kosovo Assembly, the Twinning Project also offered opportunities for staff members to have insights into the functioning of several EU Member State national parliaments (Polish Sejm, The UK House of Lords and House of Commons, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Hungarian National Assembly) and the European institutions in Brussels by organizing study visits and internship programmes.

Milestones of the project implementation

Kick Off Event of the Twinning Project

The official opening ceremony of the twinning project took place on 12 April 2016 at the Kosovo Assembly with the participation of Mr. Xhavit Haliti, Deputy Speaker of the Kosovo Assembly, Mr. István Jakab, Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly and Mr. Thomas Gnocchi, Head of Political, Economic and European Integration Section of the EU Office in Kosovo. The event was attended by the members of Presidency and MPs representing all parties of the Kosovo Assembly, the Secretary General of the Assembly, the MS Project Leader and the Component Leaders from both sides as well as representatives of EU Office in Kosovo and international donor organisations. The ambassadors of EU member countries were also invited. The official opening was followed by the interest of the representatives of the national media which resulted in an intensive media coverage about the project.

By welcoming the Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, Mr. Jakab and his delegation to Kosovo, Mr. Haliti emphasized the excellent relations between the two countries and their respective parliaments, expressing the highest appreciation for the two previous twinning projects in support of the Kosovo Assembly. Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly, István Jakab assured his Kosovar counterpart that Hungary is a firm supporter of Kosovo in the European integration process. He emphasized the importance of implementation of the SAA for Kosovo and its economy. Mr Thomas Gnocchi underlined that with the SAA, the Assembly will have an enhanced two folded role: in one way vis-à-vis the European Parliament the Kosovo Assembly will have its say when assessing the progress made with regard to the SAA, and secondly towards Kosovo institutions, primarily in overseeing and guiding the Government for implementation of the obligations deriving from the SAA. Mr Gnocchi invited all ruling and opposition parties to engage with the twinning project in making Kosovo Assembly stronger.

Mid-Term Evaluation

In March 2017, on the initiative of the Cabinet of the Speaker, a joint meeting was organized with the participation of the Members of the Presidency and Chairpersons of Committees of the Kosovo Assembly where the Twinning Team had the opportunity to present the results of the first year of the project and to inform political stakeholders about the forthcoming events. The Twinning Team also took note of requests raised by the Committee Chairpersons during the meeting. Most of these requests were related to specific laws in which the Committee Chairpersons asked for support especially concerning the relevant EU best practices and questions related to codification and law approximation issues. These fields could be covered to a large extent by the Medium Term Expert of the project therefore in these cases no reallocation was necessary. Direct contacts were established between the Twinning Team and the Committees, and twinning experts regularly received invitations to committee meetings.

A Mid-Term Summary of the Twinning Project was published in 3 languages and distributed to stakeholders within and outside the Kosovo Assembly

Official Closing Event

On 21 February 2018 the official closing event of the Twinning Project took place in the premises of the Kosovo Assembly. The Activity had the objective to provide information to the stakeholders, media and the general public about the results of the twinning project. High-level political authorities from BC and MS partners and the EU Office, MS and BC Project Leaders, RTA, RTA Counterpart, all Component Leaders, colleagues from the Kosovo Assembly and donors supporting the Kosovo Assembly participated in the ceremony.

The ceremony was opened by the Secretary General of the Assembly and BC Project Leader, Mr Ismet Krasniqi, who shortly presented the project and its very positive effect on the capacity building of the Assembly.

President of the Kosovo Assembly, Kadri Veseli said that the day of the closing event was a special one to the Assembly, as, after a two-year intensive work, the project was successfully concluded. Through this project, the Kosovo Assembly has taken a significant step in the field of institutional and legal reforms and in the successful European integration process of Kosovo. The President of the Assembly thanked the European Union for supporting the project and also the Hungarian National Assembly for its implementation. The President emphasized that all the areas in which this project provided support are of decisive importance for the advancement in the EU integration process. The President underlined that the Republic of Kosovo remains fully committed to fulfilling the vision of its citizens to be part of the European Union.

The Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly, Mr Istvan Jakab emphasized that Hungary is an important supporter of Kosovo on its way to the European Union and already the third twinning project was concluded by the Hungarian Parliament which brought outstanding results in the Kosovo Assembly. Mr Jakab mentioned that upon the request of the Hungarian National Assembly, ten EU Member State national parliaments and the European Parliament also joined the project, therefore a uniquely complex project team consisting of outstanding parliamentary experts with real parliamentary know-how was provided for the Kosovo Assembly. Mr Jakab emphasized that the project recommendations were summarized in an Action Plan which establishes a prioritization of tasks and a differentiation between issues of political or administrative nature. Mr Jakab suggested that the Presidency of the Kosovo Assembly should endorse the Action Plan to ensure its proper implementation.

Head of the European Union Office in Kosovo, Ms Nataliya Apostolova, said that the European Union's strategy, published in February 2018, highlights the priorities that the aspiration of integration and necessary reforms must pass. In this regard, the main burden would fall to the Assembly, which should build consensus among the political parties. Ms Apostolova emphasized that the Twinning Project has come up with concrete recommendations on how the Assembly can increase its capacity to meet the criteria for EU membership. Head of EUO/EUSR underlined that the EUO will continue to support the Kosovo Assembly and will monitor the implementation of project recommendations.

Public conference on project results

In addition to the official closing event, on the initiative of the EUO a public conference on project results was also organized on 21 March 2018 with the objective to present the project recommendations in detail to stakeholders of the Kosovo Assembly and also to its external partners, including civil society organizations and donors supporting the work of the Assembly.

Recommendations of the project components were presented by key twinning experts, followed by Q&A sessions on each topic. The conference provided a great forum for a detailed and substantial discussion on the project results, their proper implementation and follow-up among key twinning experts and relevant BC and external stakeholders.

Ongoing projects of other donor organizations

Besides the twinning project, Kosovo Assembly was also supported by various donors during this period:

Activities of NDI (National Democratic Institute) focus on the Office of the Speaker; monitoring of the implementation of the Rules of Procedures and the Code of Ethics; establishment of the Budget Analysis Unit; increasing transparency. NDI has also actively participated in the elaboration of a new draft Rules of Procedure. NDI, with the financial support of USAID, assisted the Assembly in the elaboration and launching of the Legislative Tracking System on the website of the Kosovo Assembly.

GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) runs a project to improve parliamentary control of public finances and transparency of the public finance system, focusing on the Committee on Budget and Finance and the Committee for the Oversight of Public Finances. GIZ also supported the setting up of SAPC in 2016. During April and May 2017 the GIZ carried out further activities with the aim to support the work of both the SAPC and the Committee on European Integration as well, which also continued in January 2018.

OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Mission in Kosovo has provided support to the Presidency of the Assembly and parliamentary committees in the fields of human rights, transparency, cooperation with civil society organizations and oversight.

UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) has supported the elaboration of the Strategic Plan of the Assembly for the period 2016-2020. It has also provided help to parliamentary committees in monitoring the implementation of laws especially in the fields of social development, women’s rights and issues concerning the youth.

Joint meetings organized by the Kosovo Assembly with the participation of various donors occurred randomly. Therefore the Twinning Team created its own contacts with other donors to establish mutual information channels striving to maximize the efficiency of donor assistance and to avoid unnecessary repetitions and overlaps.

Summary table on project implementation

Number of implemented

activities

Q1

(March – May 2016)

Q2

(June – August 2016)

Q3

(Sept – Nov 2016)

Q4

(Dec 2016 – Feb 2017)

Q5

(March – May 2017)

Q6

(June – August 2017)

Q7

(Sept– Nov 2017)

Q8

(Dec 2017 – March 2018)

TOTAL

COMPONENT 0

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

4

COMPONENT 1

0

1

7

1

2

2

1

3

17

COMPONENT 2

3

1

1

1

4

0

3

0

13

COMPONENT 3

2

1

2

1

0

1

1

1

9

COMPONENT 4

1

1

5

4

6

2

6

3

28

COMPONENT 5

0

2

5

2

3

3

2

4

21

TOTAL

8

6

20

9

15

8

13

13

92

 

Number of Side letters

2

0

3

1

3

3

3

1

16

 

Number of Addenda

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

Project visibility

Two public media events were organized in the framework of the project, the Kick-off Meeting and the final Closing Event. Both on the Kick-off and the Closing Events Members of Parliament, EU diplomatic corps and media representatives participated in high number showing the high political interest towards the project on behalf of the MS, BC and EUO.

General information and summaries on the Twinning Project were available on the website of the Kosovo Assembly, under the title IPA Twinning Project. About the most important events of the Project news items were published with photo documentation.

All reports, recommendations, training manuals and other training materials were translated into both Albanian and Serbian and distributed to the beneficiary partners via electronic means and hard copies continuously, during the whole implementation period of the project.

During the implementation period, several information documents were elaborated, published and distributed by the Project in three languages (English, Albanian, Serbian), such as:

1. Introductory leaflet on the Project

2. Mid-term summary of the implementation of the Twinning Project

3. Concluding information leaflet on the Twinning Project

4. Fact Sheet on Project Achievements

5. Brochure, poster and presentation on the role of the Kosovo Assembly and its Committee on European Integration in the SAA process

6. Concluding recommendations on improving the legislation and enhancing the European legal approximation

7. Concluding recommendations on financial and budgetary, human resources and IT system management

8. Concluding recommendations on strengthening the oversight functions of the Assembly

9. Concluding recommendations on strengthening the functioning of the Committee on European Integration and the other committees related to the supervision and support of the SAA process

10. Concluding recommendations on strengthening the administrative support to the MPs related to the tasks of the European integration process

All the concluding information materials were distributed in hard copies in March 2018 to each Member of Parliament, the Secretary General, the RTA Counterpart, component coordinators, all staff members who had participated in project activities, the EU Office, other donor organisations and relevant civil society organizations.

Several other visibility materials (roll-up banners, folders, notebooks, business cards, bags and pens) were prepared and used in the course of the project implementation.

2D – ACHIEVEMENTS OF MANDATORY RESULTS

The Project provided all deliveries needed for the achievement of the mandatory results. All the necessary recommendations were elaborated and all the necessary training activities were delivered.

As during the second half of 2016 and first half of 2017 it became evident that the procedure for the adoption of the draft Law on the Assembly stopped for various political reasons, resources originally allocated for activities directly linked to the draft Law had been reallocated based on the agreements among the MS and BC partners and the EUO.

Therefore, in line with the request of the BC, new activities – as the update of the strategy on international and inter-parliamentary cooperation and an activity to support the work of the SAPC – were introduced and other activities (e.g. on-the-job trainings in Component 1 or further consultations in Component 5) were extended with further expert missions. In other cases, the content of some activities was tailored and adapted to the current needs of the Kosovo Assembly.

In line with the twinning approach, the Beneficiary partners (Secretary General as BC Project Leader and BC Component Leaders – Directors and Senior Officials of the Administration) were continuously consulted during all activities. All reports (assessment, training, guidelines and recommendation reports) were submitted to the Secretary General and BC Component Leaders for comments and remarks, and finalized based on their feedback. All documents were formally and unanimously voted by the BC on the Steering Committee Meetings at the end of each quarter.

For each Component and mandatory result, the Twinning Project has undertaken the necessary analysis and assessment of the current situation in the Kosovo Assembly and provided its recommendations for achieving the stated mandatory results together with the necessary tools and knowledge for their implementation.

Some of the recommendations can be implemented in the short run, while others require longer period of time with important budgetary and human resources consequences. That is why the recommendations of the Project were summarized in an action plan, defining the concrete implementation deadlines and implementing actors to fully put the mandatory results in practice.

The main achievement of the Twinning Project is the Action Plan which intends to serve as a roadmap to guide and enhance the activities of the Kosovo Assembly in the SAA process. It contains 224 concrete actions for the Kosovo Assembly, defining for each action (recommendation) the format, the responsible body, the deadline for implementation and reference to possible budgetary consequences (where relevant). The Action Plan is a summary of all project recommendations, establishing a prioritization of tasks and a differentiation between issues of political or administrative nature. 

The Action Plan was elaborated based on the previously approved recommendations, in three parts (starting from September 2018) also in continuous consultation with the BC partners. Each part was submitted electronically to the BC partners for feedback and the complete version of the Action Plan was finalized on the basis of their remarks and comments after oral discussions in each action wherever it was necessary. Thanks to this thorough procedure the final version of the Action Plan fully enjoys the agreement of the BC Administration. For the full implementation of the Action Plan, however, support from political level is also needed. Therefore it is proposed that the Presidency of the Assembly should endorse the Action Plan and regular follow-up procedure is required for the monitoring of its implementation by the Presidency and also by the EU Office.

The Action Plan not only facilitates the implementation of project recommendations but could also serve as a tool for the Kosovo Assembly and donor organizations to identify key areas where further assistance may be needed, thus fostering an effective and actual donor coordination.

In order to facilitate the transfer of the Twinning Project’s findings and recommendations and the commitments what the Kosovo Assembly took, they were translated into local languages and presented and distributed to the Members of Parliaments and parliamentary administration right before the end of the Project. Thus, the Assembly is aware of all the important tasks ahead and the Project’s proposed solutions for these challenges.

Below is presented an overview on the Components’ activities leading to the achievement of the mandatory results, and a brief explanation on them.

Thoroughly detailed findings and recommendations are presented in the Concluding Recommendations of each Component which form part of the project documentation. They provide specific concluding findings and recommendations on all the results, the gained knowledge and the precise changes to be introduced in the organization, tasks, responsibilities and functioning of the BC institution in the respective fields.

COMPONENT 0

PROJECT KICK-OFF AND CLOSING EVENTS AND EVALUATION CONFERENCES

In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:

No.

Date

Year

Activity

0.1

2 – 4 March

2016

Introductory coordination meetings and roundtables of MS and BC teams

0.2

11 – 14 April

2016

Kick-off event

0.3

19 – 21 February

2018

Closing Event

0.4

19 - 22 March

2018

Public Conference on project results

The objective of this Component was on one hand to inform the stakeholders, media and the public about the objective, method, working process and results of the twinning activities in order to give visibility to the project. On the other hand it provided important impetus to the achievement of the project results by discussing the developments with the political and administrative leadership of the Kosovo Assembly, representatives of the government, other donor organizations supporting the Assembly and civil society organizations, this way also promoting and facilitating the implementation of project recommendations.

COMPONENT 1

Improving the functioning of the legislation and enhancing the law approximation activities

In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:

No.

Date

Year

Activity

1.1

Assisting the implementation of the new legal framework of the Assembly related to the legislative process

1.1.1

Coaching to the introduction and application of the new Law on the Assembly, the related modification of the Rules of Procedure and other relevant legal issues – due to the fact that the law and related regulations had not been adopted, a new Activity (Activity 1.1.6) was introduced

1.1.2

20-23 June, 13-16 September

2016

Workshops on practical aspects of law drafting (2 parts)

1.1.3

17-21 October

24 – 28 April

2016

2017

On-the-job training on codification and legal analysis (practical exercises of codification tasks) (2 parts)

1.1.4

24-28 October

2016

Guidelines and workshop to improve the involvement of the civil society in the legislation with special regard to the EU matters

1.1.5

22 – 26 January

2018

Roundtable discussions and recommendations on further improving the legislative process

1.1.6

27 November – 1 December

2017

On-the-job training for Committee staff on preparation of legal opinions (new Activity based on the request of the BC)

1.2

Enhancing the EU legal approximation activities of the Assembly

1.2.1

19 – 23 September, 4 – 7 October

2016

Drafting a manual on the legal approximation procedure for the Assembly

1.2.2

21-25 November

27 February – 03 March

29 May – 2 June

13-17 November

29 January – 2 February

2016

2017

2017

2017

2018

On-the-job training and coaching to legal approximation (practical exercises of approximation tasks) (5 parts)

1.2.3

11 – 14 October

1 – 4 November

23 – 26 January

10 – 13 July

2016

2016

2017

2017

Practical workshops on the transposition of the EU acquis (4 parts)

1.3

Activities of the Medium-Term Expert (MTE) for legislative and legal approximation support in Component 1

Continuously, throughout the whole implementation period of the project

Mandatory Result 1 - Improving the functioning of the legislation and enhancing the law approximation activities

· The Law on the Assembly is properly implemented and allows for independent functioning of the Assembly.

· The functioning of the legislative process is improved.

· Legal approximation activities of the Assembly are upgraded.

· Staff is capable of applying the new rules in everyday functioning of the Assembly

· The practice of legislative process and relevant internal procedures and regulations are brought in line with the provisions of the new legal framework

· New manual on the legal approximation procedure for the Assembly is elaborated and practiced.

As it was highlighted earlier, during the project implementation period it turned out that for various political reasons the Law on the Assembly and the connecting modifications of the Rules of Procedures were not going to be adopted. Therefore, in agreement among the BC and MS partners and the EU Office, activities closely related to the adoption of the new legal framework had been reoriented, based on the requests of the BC to best serve the needs of the Kosovo Assembly.

Component 1 aimed to improve the functioning of the legislation and enhancing the European legal approximation activities. Activities of this Component focused on facilitating the performance of the duties of MPs and the Assembly administration as well as on the improvement of the skills of the staff in the field of codification and law approximation with the EU acquis. The Beneficiary received continuous professional support in a cross-cutting way from the point of view of more efficient legislative and EU legal approximation activities and issues related to the autonomous functioning of the Assembly.

Legislation is getting more and more complex, new legal regulations and amending rules create multiple layers and rapid changes in the legislation. Improving the legislative procedure and strengthening the administrative capacities result in better law-making as part of the rule of law and in good governance taking into account the guiding principles of the quality of legislation and the best practices of legislation in EU Member States and at EU level.

The recommendations of this Component are formulated on the basis of roundtable discussions, and on the experiences gained by the Twinning experts in the course of continuous on-the-job trainings, workshops and coaching type activities on codification and legal analysis and on European legal approximation organised during the implementation period of the current Twinning Project. They also take into consideration as a reference the relevant documents prepared in the framework of the previous Twinning Projects supporting the Kosovo Assembly, implemented also by the Hungarian National Assembly (Twinning Project “Support to Kosovo Assembly” implemented in 2011-2013 and Twinning Light Project “Strengthening the functioning of Kosovo Assembly” implemented in 2014).

In order to improve the legislative procedure the modification of provisions in Chapter XIII of Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo are suggested (detailed and finalized recommendations can be found in activity report 1.1.5). The proposals intend to enhance the quality of legislation and are justified by the quantity and intensity of the current legislative obligation on the Assembly. They cover all stages of the legislative procedure.

Special emphasis has to be put on allocating necessary timeframe for the procedural steps and the adequate preparation of the committee meetings and the readings. The legislative procedure after the first and prior to the second reading should be streamlined with special regard to the more precise definition of the subsequent stages of the procedure including the reporting obligations of committees in detail. As far as the amendments are concerned, it is indispensable to formulate them adequately, clearly showing the proposed changes in the text as well as to provide reasoning. The separation of the voting on amendments and the final vote on the entire draft law into two consecutive plenary sessions would leave sufficient time for the deliberation of the effect of adopted amendments on the full content of the draft law.

In parallel with the improvement of the legislative procedure the capacities of the Assembly administration have to be strengthened to ensure high quality support to legislation. For this purpose, the Directorate for Legal Standardization, Approximation and Harmonization is suggested to be restructured and staffed significantly with lawyers specialised in different legislative areas and fields of EU aquis. Within this directorate a new organisational unit responsible for general legal issues and codification should be established to support the legislative work through the entire length of the legislative procedure. A separate organisational unit should be responsible exclusively for the approximation of national law with the EU acquis along the entire legislative procedure within the same directorate.

These changes require the redefinition of tasks and involvement of the reorganised Directorate for Legal Standardization, Approximation and Harmonization and the Directorate for Support of Parliamentary Committees in different phases of the legislative procedure. Furthermore, the precise division of duties among the staff members of both directorates is of utmost importance.

The prerequisite of increasing the quality of legislation at the parliamentary phase is the significant development of the quality of draft laws submitted by the Government. The Assembly should be provided with more well-founded background documents for deliberation of the draft laws, a comprehensive explanatory memorandum and – in regard to the European legal approximation – detailed information on the obligations stemming from the SAA and the table of concordance.

In order to increase the transparency of the legislation and the efficiency of the legislative activity the draft law, the amendments and the documents supporting the legislative procedure should be accessible through the e-parliament and the legislative tracking system.

In this Component, Manual on legal analysis and on preparation of documents supporting the legislative procedure and Manual on European legal approximation and on preparation of documents supporting the legislative procedure were elaborated. Both manuals describe in detail a step by step legal analysis of draft laws and the amendments, as well as the method of European legal approximation at each stage of the legislative procedure. They also focus on how to present the results of legal analyses and of the examination of EU law transposition in different documents supporting the legislative procedure. These manuals can be used by all relevant staff members of the Assembly Administration as a guiding tool in their everyday professional activity. The manuals aim at increasing the quality of legislation through conducting thorough analysis and elaborating adequate support materials prior to the committee meetings and readings at the plenary sessions.

COMPONENT 2

Implementation of the new legal framework of the Assembly related to its independent functioning in the areas of finances, human resources and infrastructure

In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:

No.

Date

Year

Activity

2.1

Assisting the budget planning procedure, the implementation of the budget and related financial procedures

2.1.1

10-13 May

18 – 21 April

2016

2017

Coaching to the budget planning procedure and the introduction and application of the new legal framework of the Assembly (2 parts)

2.1.2

20-23 November

2017

Guidelines to develop the practice of public procurement

2.1.3

23 – 26 May

2017

Recommendations on further developing the budgetary and financial procedure

2.1.4

25-28 September

2017

Dissemination workshop and guidelines on budgetary decentralization (new Activity based on the request of the BC)

2.2

Assisting the functioning of the HR management of the Administration

·

13-16 June

2016

Coaching to the introduction and application of the new legal framework related to HR management

·

30 October – 2 November 20-23 November

2017

Recommendations to adapt internal regulations on the organization and responsibilities and other relevant rules of the Administration to strengthen its independent functioning

2.3

Assisting the IT independence process and the development of the e-Parliament system

2.3.1

4-8 April, 26 – 30 September

2016

Coaching to the implementation of the IT Action Plan for independent functioning

2.3.2

23-26 May

2016

Guidelines for developing parliamentary audio-video system

2.3.3

28 November – 2 December

2016

Guidelines for developing e-parliament system

2.3.4

13 – 15 March

2017

Training on e -parliament system (new Activity, based on the request of the BC)

2.4

8 – 12 May

2017

Study visit to the UK Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly on the independent functioning of the parliament

2.5

Activities of the Medium Term Expert in Component 2 for implementing the new legal framework of the Assembly related to its independent functioning in the areas of finances, human resources and infrastructure

Continuously, throughout the whole implementation period of the project

Mandatory Result 2 - Implementation of the new legal framework of the Assembly related to its independent functioning in the areas of finances, human resources and infrastructure

· The Law on the Assembly is properly implemented and allows for independent functioning of the Assembly.

· Kosovo Assembly improves the management of finances, human resources and IT issues

· Staff is capable of applying the new rules in everyday functioning of the Assembly.

· The practice of the management of finances, human resources and IT issues are brought in line with the provisions of the new legal framework.

As it was highlighted earlier, during the project implementation period it turned out that for various political reasons the Law on the Assembly, the connecting modifications of the Rules of Procedures and related internal regulations were not going to be adopted. Therefore, in agreement among the BC and MS partners and the EU Office, activities closely related to the adoption of the new legal framework had been reoriented, based on the requests and needs of the BC.

Component 2 activities focused on facilitating the activity of the Assembly administration in the fields of finances, human resources and infrastructure. It is evident that a more autonomous functioning of the Assembly requires the modification of the tasks and working methods of the Assembly administration in the field of the budgetary and financial management, the management of human resources and the IT infrastructure. Therefore activities of this Component focused on 1. the budgetary planning procedure and public procurement practices; 2. the management of human resources; and 3. the IT independence process and further development of the e-parliament system.

The financial and budgetary, the human resources and the IT system management are the most important aspects of the functioning of budgetary institutions. In all these fields the relevant documents prepared in the framework of the previous Twinning Projects supporting the Kosovo Assembly (Twinning Project “Support to Kosovo Assembly” implemented in 2011-2013 and Twinning Light Project “Strengthening the functioning of Kosovo Assembly” implemented in 2014) were taken into consideration as a reference.

In the field of financial and budgetary management the activities focused on the budget decentralization as an instrument of good public management which would increase efficiency and effectiveness through delegation of responsibility in the management of the Assembly. The present legal circumstances allow for and welcome budget decentralization. It is a good public practice to develop budgets to a point near to where planning decisions are prepared and near to where daily/frequent decisions related to its execution are taken.

The nature of decentralization of the budget of any institution is to divide it into parts which each link closely to a well-defined set of activities. Decentralization is a delegation where responsibilities linked to the execution of the said budget parts (parts of line items) are delegated to a designated budget holder. The budget holder leads the budget planning process and carries the responsibility for the effective and efficient management of budgetary means. All budget holders are still accountable to the head of institution (chief administrative officer). The head of institution remains overall responsible for the institutions budget and its execution.

Decentralization could be based on an internal, virtual structure, where defined parts of the Assembly budget for certain economic categories or even specific line items are delegated to the selected budget holder(s) while the rest of the budget would remain central. The delegation should be brought into effect from the beginning of a coming fiscal year. The services of internal audit, Certifying Officer and Directorate for Procurement would remain common services. Based on the experiences gained from a first phase of decentralization, the Assembly Administration should later evaluate and consider the benefit of further decentralization.

As far as public procurement management is concerned recommendations were elaborated in relation to its three main stages, namely planning, procurement procedure and contract management recommendations were elaborated to enhance the current practices.

Analysis of training needs of the Assembly Administration was based on a thorough survey conducted with the participation of staff members and managers of the institution. An extensive individual questionnaire was sent to staff members to gain insight on their experiences and needs, and answered almost by half of them. An institutional questionnaire was prepared requesting general information and a further questionnaire was sent to directors asking for information on the systematic training needs of their respective organizational units. In addition, interviews were organised as a seconder source of information focusing on current circumstances and internal procedures in place. The priority fields identified have to be complemented with those concrete actions which were defined by the Twinning Project in relation to different duties of the Assembly administration.

Within the administration, management of training activities is – according to the legal rules in force – dealt with by the Directorate for Personnel that belong to the General Directorate of Administration. Within the Directorate for Personnel, there is a Unit for Training and Development of Human Resources. The Directorate for Budget and Payment is responsible for administrative management of the budget allocated to training activities. The Senior Officer for Donor Coordination and Relations with the Civil Society also has a role, since she is acting as liaison with relevant donors. As for the practice, processes concerning the organization and execution of training activities and especially the decision-making have to be streamlined and effective processes should be introduced to ensure balanced and objective human capacities development for the whole administration. Coordination of the provided support by the different donors should be ensured and duplication of trainings should be avoided.

The annual training strategy of the Assembly is prepared on the basis of individual evaluations of the colleagues, taking place at the end of each year. This training strategy should ideally be based on a multiannual strategic plan, but following the previous strategic plan for 2013-2016 no new strategy plan was prepared for the upcoming period. It leaves room for less structured and more ad hoc management of training activities. This fact also has negative effect on the long term training strategy since there are no overall objectives defined concerning the desired developments of the human capacities of the Assembly administration. The suggested methodological guidance should be applied in the course of preparation of both documents.

The Action Plan for the development of information technology system of the Assembly was elaborated within the framework of Twinning Light Project “Strengthening the functioning of the Kosovo Assembly” implemented in 2014. It describes the most important requirements of the IT development and specifies the necessary measures for its realization in four main directions. In the course of the current Twinning Project the IT Action Plan was updated based on the evaluation of its implementation.

The development of e-parliament was finished and the application was installed. It works even if there are some difficulties and problems with its everyday usage. In order to evaluate full capacity of the system, it would be important that all organizational units start to input descriptive data and documents into the system.

In order to make e-parliament system functional and to use its capacities in wide extent there is a need for awareness-raising, allocation of tasks and responsibilities, coordination and process control of e-parliament system, trainings, monitoring, support and maintenance. In addition, some necessary improvements should be ensured in urgency for appropriate functioning of the system. The automated connection between the content of e-parliament and internet website should be developed.

In connection with the development of parliamentary audio-visual system, building digital archive of the plenary session broadcast and broadcasting committee meetings were specified and dealt with in detail.

COMPONENT 3

Strengthening the oversight functions of the Assembly

In the frame of this Component the following activities took place:

No.

Date

Year

Activity

3.1

Strengthening the parliamentary oversight of Government activities

3.1.1

18-22 April

2016

Assessment of the current parliamentary oversight of Government activities

3.1.2

25-27 May

2016

Training on EU best practices in oversight activities of the plenary

3.1.3

29 June – 1 July

Training on EU best practices in oversight activities of the committees

3.1.4

26 – 30 September

Guidelines to improve the parliamentary oversight of Government activities

3.1.5

21 – 25 November

201

Roundtable discussions on the guidelines and recommendations to improve the parliamentary oversight of Government activities

3.2

Developing the mechanism for efficient monitoring of the Independent Agencies

3.2.1

(2 parts)

16 – 20 January

30 January – 3 February

2017

Assessment of the current monitoring of the Independent Agencies

3.2.2

14 – 16 June

2017

Training on the EU best practices in monitoring of Independent Agencies

3.2.3

11-15 September

2017

Guidelines to develop the mechanisms for efficient monitoring of the Independent Agencies and their reporting practices

3.2.4

15 – 19 January

2018

Roundtable discussions on the guidelines and recommendations to develop a manual on efficient monitoring of the Independent Agencies and their reporting practices

3.3

Activities of the Medium Term Expert in Component 3 for strengthening the oversight functions of the Assembly

Continuously, throughout the whole implementation period of the project

Mandatory Result 3 - Strengthening the oversight functions of the Assembly

· Kosovo Assembly effectively and efficiently conducts oversight function