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The National Coordination of EU Policy in Latvia 81
functioning and development of the coordination of national EU policy in
its various phases of relations with the EU. The third part explains the impact
of variables as the structure of the wider executive, non-institutional actors
within the domestic system, external pressures and foreign institutional
templates. The final part assesses the coordination system and draws recommendations
for the national coordination of EU policy.
Historical background
Following the restoration of independence in August 1991, Latvia
entered an interim period of transition and reorganisation, which lasted
until 1993, when, after elections of the fifth parliament (Saeima), the 1922
Constitution came into full effect, establishing a parliamentary system. The
Constitution of the Latvian SSR and Law dating from 1978 remained in
force, although two laws approved in May 1990 set down rules governing the
Cabinet of Ministers and public administration. In creating a new state
system, it repudiated all elements connected with the previous regime, which
the Godmanis government actively sought to eliminate. It attempted to re -
instate the institutions of the first Republic of Latvia (1918–1940) and also to
borrow from Western Europe.
Latvia has a prime ministerial political system, where the PM is accountable
to Parliament. It also has a multiparty system, where most governments
are composed of three or four parties that have tended to have an average
life of 12 months. Until the late 1990s, the administration was strongly
decentralized. Ministries enjoyed considerable autonomy, which was reinforced
by the practice of coalition government, and there was a vacuum at the
centre of government, where the role played by the EIB in EU affairs was very
much an exception. A review undertaken by Sir Robin Mountfield, former
Head of the Civil Service of the United Kingdom, diagnosed departmentalism
and a lack of coherence as problems. Among his recommendations
aimed at strengthening the centre of government was a proposal to assign a
clearer policy coordination role to the State Chancellery. 1 From the late
1990s, government made concerted efforts to rationalise the administration
1
EU-8 Public Sector Capacity in the EU 8. Report On Strategic Planning and Policy Management
in Lithuania and Latvia. Background Paper. Poverty Reduction and Economic Management
unit. Europe and Central Asia, World Bank, September 2006.