SPr1qg

The National Coordination of EU Policy in Latvia 89
coordination, but others are specialists who are newcomers to the EU and
sometimes even to the administration. PR staff are involved in more than
100 working groups and committees of the Council of Ministers. Around
60 in number, officials come from the line ministries, the MFA, Parliament
and the Central Bank of Latvia. The status of these civil servants and their
responsibility to the Head of the PR is governed by regulations relating to
the diplomatic service. The rotation of civil servants between the PR and the
line ministries typically lasts for three or four years. It allows the institutional
experience that has been accumulated to be kept in the system.
Executive-legislature relations have been transformed by Latvia’s relations
with the EU, confirming the deparliamentarianisation thesis developed
in relation to the older member states, despite the accountability of government
to parliament. Although the government consults parliament on EU
negotiating positions and they are formally adopted by the EAC, the deputies
and staff of the Saeima have limited resources and insufficient time to investigate
EU legislation. 13 The Parliament has given the EAC the right to represent
it in EU affairs 14 (Saeima 2001). The Committee was one of the first to be
decided by the Parliament’s internal rules and is one of the largest, responsible
for coordinating EU-related work in the Parliament and monitoring the
Cabinet. A specialized attaché in the PR maintains close cooperation with
committees in the European Parliament. Executive-legislative relations in
EU policy are managed similarly to other policy areas. However, during preaccession,
two readings were introduced rather than three for EU-related
legislation. Very close contact was kept between the EIB and the EAC, so
that Parliament was always informed about the most important proposals.
Parliamentary secretaries also met occasionally, keeping open another information
channel. EAC representatives participated in meetings of the EIC and
CSO, while the EIB representative was always present at the meetings of the
EAC. In 2001, the Parliament amended its internal rules to allow the EAC
to decide on the Latvian position prior to its approval by the government. 15
Since Latvia became a full member of the EU, the EAC, which meets
twice a week, examines the agenda of upcoming Council meetings and
13
Svendsen M.J.V. Preparing for Living with Europe: Europeanisation of the Latvian Executive.
http://www.policy.lv/index.php?id=102810&lang=en. (“Policy.lv” portāls; aplūkots 16.03.2014.).
14
The Rule Book of the Parliament of Latvia. Saeima, 2001.
15
Ibid.