TRANSPARENCY the Bulgarian and the European way Emil COHEN
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t the end of November 2005, the Dutch member of the European Parliament Els de Groen, who is wellknown in Bulgaria, sent an inquiry to the European Commission and a letter to the Bulgarian parliament on the issue of transparency in the Bulgarian National Assembly. For the readers of Obektiv it will be interesting to learn about the comparison made by Els de Groen about the way the European Parliament informs the public about its activities (in 25 languages!) and the way the Bulgarian parliament does the same. In the information era, the Internet is the main source of information. What then can one learn from the websites of the two parliaments? ABOUT THE MPS’ WORK The main duty of MPs is to draft legislative proposals and control the executive by putting forward questions. Everybody would agree that voters have the right to know what their MPs are doing - after all, they are doing it for them. The website of the European Parliament (http://www.europarl.eu.int) publishes the questions of each MP - we are talking about thousands of questions! The site also publishes the answers given by the respective members of the European Commission. The website of the Bulgarian Parliament (http://www.parliament.bg) features no such thing. The same applies to the vast number of proposed resolutions or supplements made by the 732 Members of the European Parliament. In Bulgaria, one can learn such matters only if from the TV or the press, and only if the respective initiative of the MP ·smells of scandal” so that the media would be interested. ABOUT THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEES When one opens the website of the Bulgarian Parliament, one immediately understands that the committees are something of importance. Because all draft bills are uploaded in the respective committee websites. However, what the draft bills’ original texts were, or what modifications they passed through to reach the committee and subsequently the parliamentary floor, remains completely obscure. The reason is that committee session minutes are not published. Only the minutes of parliamentary sessions are published. And everybody knows that the main lobbying happens in the committee sessions, where an MP with an interest makes changes to a draft bill that later scandalizes the public. It is true that according to the rules of parliament, committee sessions are open to the public, but how many of us (apart from accredited
journalists) can spare time in a working day to go and listen to these discussions? And getting the pass to do so is no easy thing. We can rely only on what leaks into the media. In comparison with this practice, the European Parliament website features the complete records of all committee discussions within a day or two after the sessions were held. ABOUT DRAFT BILLS A series of draft bills, for example draft bills on various ratifications, are missing from the website of the Bulgarian Parliament. You can see only their titles, but not their content. Apparently there is a presumption that such bills are boring and there is no need for them to be made public. This might have been true if it was not for the fact that among these draft bills there are some that are crucial to Bulgaria’s development in the years ahead. Yes, at least we know that we will learn about them from the media because they are important bills. I already mentioned the lack of information about the different stages of a draft bill before it is voted. ABOUT ACCESS TO MPS You can find the e-mail address of every member of the European Parliament on its website, not to mention other forms of communication. On the website of the Bulgarian Parliament, members do not even have telephone numbers under their names (even if you want to speak to some of their associates). All MPs share one address - the Parliament building - no telephone numbers, no e-mail addresses. Probably they still do not know how to use the Internet... Telephone numbers and e-mail addresses are given only for committees and the parties’ parliamentary groups. Find the MP, if you can. However if you think that the website of the Bulgarian Parliament is useful you are wrong. You will see very detailed information with visuals of all official meetings and receptions involving the Speaker and his deputies. You will also see lists of members of party groups (without any documents from the groups unless they have been made public in Parliament), with visuals but without a way to contact them. There are also lists of committees, as well as schedules for the day and the week and records of Parliament’s sessions. As mentioned above, you can find some of the draft bills, but you will find them ·well cooked”. The process of the ·cooking”, however, is unknown. No Comment, some might say regarding this situation. However we all know that when it comes to transparency and e-government, our politicians are very skillful speakers. OBEKTIV 21