Association of the Secretaries General of Parliaments

- October session 2016, Geneva -

General Debate: The role of Parliament in international negotiations

Contribution by Mrs. Cristina Ionescu, Deputy Secretary General

of the Senate of Romania

Along with the recognition, by all States and the world’s democratic bodies, of the status of civil society as a non-state actor, and following the horizontalization of relations between the political decision-makers and citizens, the Parliament of Romania - « the supreme representative body of the people » and « the sole legislative authority of the country» - has assumed with enhanced responsibility its tasks in the field of foreign policy and, particularly, the mission to reinforce the democratic control of international relations.

Legal provisions in this domain are contained mainly in:

The Constitution of Romania (2003) – which enshrines the right of the President, in his capacity as representative of the State in foreign policy matters, to conclude international treaties on behalf of Romania, provided that they are negotiated by the Government, and with the obligation to submit them to Parliament for ratification.
The Law 590/2003 on the treaties - which establishes precise rules and procedures allowing the parliamentary engagement throughout the lifecycle of the treaty, beginning with the early negotiations stage and the conclusion of the treaty, continuing with its entry into force and implementation, and the effects it produces, and until its possible renegotiation or termination.
Law 373/2013 on the cooperation between Parliament and Government in European Affairs - which sets up mechanisms enabling the Parliament of Romania to effectively participate in the European Union decision-making process and in monitoring the transposition of national legislation into European law.

This general legal framework, together with the Rules of the Senate/ the Chamber of Deputies, allows for a (pro)active involvement of Parliament in intergovernmental negotiations, in particular by the means of parliamentary control, through concrete activities, such as:

- examination and vote, in plenary joint sitting of the two Chambers, on the Programme assumed by the Government;

- presentation in Parliament of the legislative priorities of the Executive, at the beginning of each parliamentary session;

- written and oral questions/interpellations;

- hearings of Government members/representatives in the parliamentary committees;

- debates and vote for the adoption of the draft laws for the ratification of treaties/ international agreements, both in the specialized committees and in plenary session;

- notification of the Constitutional Court in order “to adjudicate on the constitutionality of treaties or other international agreements”;

- field monitoring activities performed by the parliamentary committees;

- special meetings of the legislative with the executive, with the participation, as the case may be, by representatives of the local authorities, the businesses/academic sectors and the civil society;

- the inclusion of parliamentarians in the governmental/presidential delegations attending various international meetings/summits devoted to issues that require measures and regulations at regional/global level.

With regard to the above mentioned aspects, some clarifications must be brought:

1. The Constitutional revision of 2003 strengthens the powers of the Senate in the field of foreign policy by designating it as the Decisional Chamber for the draft laws on the ratification of treaties or other international agreements and on the legislative measures deriving from their implementation;

2. The main role in this legislative area is played particularly by the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies and, as regards the EU legislation, by the European Affairs Committees of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies;

3. In order to better address international issues of major national interest, the Parliament may create special committees. An example in this respect is the Special Joint Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate for Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area.

4. With a view to strengthening and better harnessing Romania’s privileged bilateral relations with other States, and enlarging the sphere of action of governmental cooperation agreements, the Senate has concluded protocols at parliamentary level (ex: Agreement of cooperation between the Senate of Romania and the Senate of France; Memorandum of cooperation between the Senate of Italy and the Senate of Romania; Protocol of cooperation and partnership between the Parliament of Romania and the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova).

As regards the parliamentary approach to the European and Euro-Atlantic Affairs, it should be stressed that the review of the first Constitution adopted after the fall of communism and Romania’s return to an authentic democratic regime[1], was initiated precisely in order to fill the legislative gap in relation to Romania’s accession to the Constituent Treaties of the European Union (in 2007) and the Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (in 2004), and to establish the principles of cooperation among State institutions in European affairs.

Thus, the 2003 Constitution stipulates that Romania's accession „shall be carried out by means of a law adopted in the joint sitting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, with a majority of two thirds of the number of deputies and senators”; and “the Government shall send to the two Chambers of the Parliament the draft mandatory acts before they are submitted to the European Union institutions for approval”. According to Law 373/2013, both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies may decide to start the procedure for parliamentary scrutiny on any document under negotiation at the level of EU institutions. The respective decision adopted by the Senate /the Chamber of Deputies / the Parliament is transmitted to the Government who includes it in the negotiation mandate.

At the same time, in accordance with the procedure for parliamentary scrutiny over Romania’s representation in the European Council, the draft negotiation mandate - which the Government must submit to Parliament before the meeting -, is examined and the proposals adopted by parliamentarians are included in this mandate.

An example of pragmatic approach and substantive involvement of the Romanian Senators in issues related to negotiations at European level consists in the actions undertaken by the Senate for a better knowledge and evaluation of the stage of negotiations and the impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership on the Romanian economy.

Given that, beyond the political and geostrategic interests of the European Union as a whole, the contents of the Treaty will have a significant impact on the interests of each Member State, the Senate took steps in order to create an open space of dialogue on this subject with the government and the civil society.

In this regard, the three roundtables organized by the European Affairs Committee enjoyed a broad national and international participation and were instrumental in enhancing direct knowledge of the concerns of business sector and the civil society on this issue. Moreover, in the follow-up of these meetings and in consultation with the ministry in charge, a procedure was established that allows parliamentarians to deepen their knowledge on the aspects under negotiation between the European Commission and the US Government, under confidentiality terms required by the classified documents.

Finally, I would like to make some personal considerations related to the topic of our debate:

As interdependence and globalization evolve irreversibly towards globalism, and given the fact that, once ratified by Parliament, treaties become, according to the Constitution, part of the national law, lawmakers see themselves faced with a dual challenge. They are required to approach foreign policy issues not only from an individual perspective stemming from their mandate and political beliefs, but also from a collective perspective, at multilateral level, within the delegations to international organizations /meetings.

In fact, parliamentary involvement in multilateral negotiations – which are meant to solve problems of regional and global interest, inherent to the social, political and economic evolution of humanity, is more direct, more concrete and more visible for citizens than the role of parliament in bilateral negotiations, which, given their specificities (emergency, a predominantly technical and/or secret nature) limit parliamentary interventions in the phases preceding the finalization of documents.

At the same time, one should not lose sight of the fact that the success of a State in international negotiations is due largely to the ability and competence of negotiators. For those countries that skillfully negotiated their situation, fights that were lost disastrously on war theatres around the world turned into more than acceptable defeats, and vice versa. We must not forget that a treaty or international agreement can make the difference between war and peace, between development and underdevelopment, between prosperity and poverty.

Therefore, the involvement of Parliament in international negotiations and, particularly, the decision to include parliamentarians in governmental negotiating teams, require a special attention, especially as regards the establishment, in full respect of the Constitution, of relevant detailed parliamentary procedures, and, equally important, the provision of a solid training in this field, while ensuring the parliamentarians’ accountability commensurate with the importance of the mission entrusted to them.