The Speaker of the Parliament, Dimitar Glavchev, has signed a Co-operation Agreement between the 44th National Assembly and the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria. The ceremony took place at the 12th annual meeting of local authorities in Albena resort. Dimitar Glavchev congratulated the participants in the event at the plenary session entitled “Partnerships between authorities: a key for successful development”

In the implementation of the Agreement I would like to see the agenda of the municipalities more actively involved in the legislative process because local self-government provides space for building trust and development of democracy, said the Speaker of the Parliament. Dialogue with the National Association of Municipalities is among the priorities of the 44th National Assembly, he emphasised and expressed confidence that the National Assembly and the Association have to work together towards a new, improved and effective model of interaction between the local and legislative authorities in the interest and prosperity of the country and all citizens.

The Agreements envisages regular joint discussion meetings at the National Assembly on topics of priority for the municipalities and important legislative initiatives. Joint meetings between the Standing Committees at the Parliament and the National Association and participation of MPs in meetings of the Standing Committees at the National Association are also laid down in the document.

The National Assembly and the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria will work to improve the interaction of the standing parliamentary committees in debating bills related to the work of the local authorities. This will be achieved through timely notification of the National Association about legislative initiatives by MPs, reports of the standing committees, opinions of MPs and third parties and active involvement of representatives of municipalities in the work of the committees at the National Assembly. It is envisaged that the Association should support parliamentary committees and individual MPs in drafting ex-ante and ex-post evaluations of the impact of projects concerning the local authorities, as well as conduct surveys in the municipalities on request by the committees.

The Agreement provides for the development and implementation of constant dialogue between the MPs and the mayors and municipal councillors in their constituencies.

The 12th annual meeting of the local authorities, organised by the National Association of Municipalities, was attended by more than 500 mayors, chairs of municipal councils and experts from more than 150 municipalities. Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev spoke in the session on partnerships between the authorities.