The visit was realised as a sub-activity of component 5 “Increasing the National Assembly’s transparency and inclusion of the civil sector in parliamentary activities and adoption of laws, as well as strengthening parliamentary capacities for the purpose of satisfying the citizens’ needs and demands”.
The purpose of the visit was to learn more about the Hellenic Parliament’s work related to said activities, especially as regards processing civic requests, proposals and petitions, and included a presentation of best European practice conducted in the European parliaments’ committees and support services. The Greek experts presented and briefed the National Assembly Service staff on the petition processing system at the Hellenic Parliament comparing it with the legal grounds for processing used at the National Assembly and the most up-to-date system used in European, the so-called e-petitions system where the citizens send their requests, proposals and petitions directly via the parliaments’ website.
The National Assembly Service staff also learned about the duties and scope of the staff working on the parliamentary TV channel, and the activities conducted to keep the public informed about the work of the Hellenic Parliament and to boost public outreach. On the occasion, the delegation also attended the meeting of the Youth Parliament, simulation of a plenary session for high-school students, as well as a series of cultural and historic exhibitions organised for the same purpose.
The delegation of the National Assembly Service also met and exchanged experiences with their colleagues from different parliamentary directorates and sectors, including the Directorate supporting the work of the standing committees and special standing committees, Sector for parliamentary work, Directorate for parliamentary control, the parliament’s scientific service and the library. The delegation also met with the Hellenic Parliament’s Secretary General who shared his pleasure at the implementation of the Twinning project and the two parliaments’ cooperation, sure that both sides would greatly benefit from the exchange of experience and best practice in the work of parliamentary committees and services.