The workshop was attended by MPs, National Assembly Support Service staff, representatives of the Government, independent state authorities, organisations and bodies and NGOs.

The gathering was opened by Dr Fotis Fitsilis, Twinning project’s standing advisor, while Elena Kanellopoulou, component leader and special advisor to the Hellenic Parliament’s Scientific Council, provided an introduction to the topic of the workshop. The participants also discussed specific issues relating to the assessment of the reports of independent state authorities, organisations and bodies by the National Assembly.

They suggested recommendations on how to improve the cooperation between the National Assembly and independent state bodies. Among other things they suggested that independent state bodies should be well-acquainted with the National Assembly Rules of Procedure and use them more often when forwarding initiatives to the National Assembly. On the other hand, the parliamentary committee members should be aware of the provisions of articles 74 and 241 of the National Assembly Rules of Procedure and use them more often so as to request proposals, comments and opinions of independent state bodies. These articles of the National Assembly Rules of Procedure allow them to request the presence and/or expert opinion of independent state bodies

The committees were also suggested to ask the independent state bodies to conduct reports on issues of interest to the MPs. On the other hand, the independent state bodies were recommended to take it on themselves to draft more special reports so as to inform the MPs on particularly problematic areas and urgent issues which would in turn reduce the size of the annual reports. The suggested recommendations also state that all and any intensified communication between the National Assembly and independent state bodies would prove mutually beneficial.