On June 1, the monthly CSO meeting, organized by the Civic Alliance - Latvia, took place, during which the current events in the CSO sector were discussed, paying special attention to two new regulatory enactments.
Kristīne Zonberga, Director of the Civic Alliance - Latvia, informed the participants of the e-meeting about the upcoming changes in the law On Measures for the Prevention and Suppression of Threat to the State and Its Consequences Due to the Spread of COVID-19 , which will come into force on the day following after its announcement (the exact date when the draft law will be considered in the Parliament is not yet known). One of the most significant improvements is that the period during which associations and foundations will be able to ask for a discount or reduction in the rent of premises, or adjustments to financing agreement, including by applying downtime, has been extended until 31 December. The Budget and Finance (Taxation) Commission of the Parliament supported the pushing of the draft law to be considered by the Parliament as a matter of urgency. Here you can see the support mechanisms available to CSOs until the end of the year, if the draft law is approved by the Parliament.
The participants of the e-meeting also discussed the conceptual report developed by the Ministry of Justice “Assessment of the possibility of implementation of the institute of regulations of a Minister”. Representatives of CSOs agreed that such regulation, which provides that the minister can issue a single normative act, can lead to ignoring the public participation in the drafting of regulatory acts. Participants agreed that such regulation can only be accepted if public participation in sectoral ministries is significantly improved and the availability of information on the process of drafting laws and regulations and the possibility of involvement in it is improved.
Those present were also introduced to the following current events:
• K. Zonberga, informed about the current actions of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Finance, taken to mitigate the consequences of the emergency situation caused by the virus Covid-19. The CSO vision of the necessary support programs was presented. As part of the programs, it was envisaged that “downtime benefits” could also be replaced, as the CSOs actually could not qualify for during the state of emergency. Unfortunately, there was no support for the program in the working group for the time being.
• CAL prepared and sent out a survey to local governments on project competitions for CSOs. The survey will show what financial support will be available to associations and foundations.
• A week ago, CAL sent sectoral ministries and the State Chancellery a request for information on the development of guidelines and the involvement of CSOs in their development. The list of sectoral policy guidelines for the 2021-2027 planning period can be found here.
• After the CSO e-meeting in April this year, CAL sent the opinion expressed by the CSOs to the Ministry of Finance regarding the new Accounting Law. No response from the Ministry has been received.
• The agenda of the meeting of the Parliament Committee of State Administration and Local Governments on the issue of prevention of conflicts of interest of local government officials, included also the matter of conflicts of interest in the work of local government deputies, however, the meeting did not take place, as only 2 deputies were present. The meeting was postponed indefinitely.
• The Parliament's Sustainable Development Commission currently is examining NAP 2027. It was planned to review the options for making changes to the content of NAP 2027 taking into account the impact of the Covid-19 virus, but as a result it was decided not to do so, but rather to create an annex — a statement from the Parliament.
The meeting is financially supported by the Social Integration Fund from the resources of the Latvian state budget allocated by the Ministry of Culture.
