A platform for dialogue and civic engagement in decision making will be constituted at Parliament level. Under a draft decision, the aim of creating such a platform is to broaden the participation of civil society and other interested sides in the decision-making process and to encourage citizens’ civic initiatives, IPN reports.

The legislative proposal was registered in Parliament by a group of MPs. The authors said the improvement of the legal framework of cooperation of the legislative body with civil society and other interested sides is necessary so as to facilitate the citizens’ access to legislative acts and information of public interest. They also followed the European Commission’s recommendations concerning the institutionalization of a platform for dialogue and civic engagement in decision making.

The draft decision defines the basic notions and principles of dialogue and civic engagement in decision making, which are designed to ensure better understanding of the implications of civil society and other sides interested in modern, democratic decision-making processes in Parliament.

The objectives are to broader represent in Parliament the opinions of different groups of interested sides, to develop participatory democracy and the decision-making process and to ensure a more efficient and sustainable dialogue between the standing commissions and representatives of the interested sides.

The draft decision institutionalizes a series of rights and obligations of Parliament and the interested sides that take part in the dialogue and the Memorandum that represent a mechanism of cooperation designed to contribute to strengthening the institutional or administrative capacities of the legislature by providing expertise, training, technical assistance, consultancy and other assistance services and to disseminating information about the European integration process in Moldova.

The draft decision is to be debated in Parliament.