Government hails launch of Legislative Monitoring Committee

©DR

Conscious of the need for better coordination of legislative work between the Government and the National Council, Minister of State Pierre Dartout announced during the budget sessions in 2022, in response to a wish expressed by the members of the National Council, that a special joint consultation body dedicated to “monitoring legislative procedures” would be reactivated.

Previously used in 2009 to streamline the legislative process, this kind of discussion space aims to strengthen institutional dialogue and ensure that bills submitted to the National Council progress smoothly, notably through better prioritisation, so that they can be adopted by the National Council.

 “We must always do a better job of coordinating between ourselves in service of the common good; this is all the more vital since, as you are aware, we are facing some important deadlines,” Pierre Dartout reminded his audience again during the swearing in of the new National Council on 16 February.

The first meeting of the new Legislative Monitoring Committee was held on Tuesday 14 March, 15 days prior to the opening of the spring session. A second meeting was held on 23 March. Similar meetings will be held before the autumn session and whenever deemed necessary, at the request of the National Council or the Government.

During the first meeting, the Government and the National Council were able to agree the procedures for the Committee’s organisation and operation, address issues relating to methodology and share their legislative priorities.

In this respect, the spring session is expected to be particularly busy, since the Government has shared its wish to see several bills currently with the National Council for review included on the agenda for the scheduled public sessions.

In addition, and always with a view to improving institutional dialogue, the Government informed the National Council that it would soon be receiving several bills designed to introduce amendments to the relevant legislation in response to the recommendations of the Moneyval Report, a key priority.

The legislative work in this area will be highly demanding from a technical point of view and will require full coordination between the two institutions to achieve the objective of giving the Principality a legal framework that is in line with international standards by the end of the spring session.