President of Latvia has prepared a legislative package, which includes changes in the Cabinet of Ministers law (Cabinet Structure Law), to bring the public administration into the 21st century. On 1 October, President of Latvia welcomed the Speaker of the Saeima Ināra Mūrniece and leaders of the Saeima parliamentary groups to the Riga Castle for a discussion about the legislative initiative proposed by Egils Levits.
‘As a modern European country, Latvia must be able to keep up with the fast-changing environment and trends of the 21st century. A public administration suited for the 19th and 20th century is no longer fit to solve these challenges,’ Egils Levits believes.
President of Latvia stressed that traditional top-down government departments narrowly focused on their field of responsibility are underperforming in the area of good governance and progress in critical areas of social well-being, and closer inter-departmental cooperation is key. Some of the policy areas where closer synergies need to be built include demographics, child rights and family policies, information and communication technology governance, digital transformation and governance, national information space, national greening agenda, sustainability and others.
According to President Levits, changes in the Cabinet of Ministers law will allow appointing state ministers who would work with the Cabinet and would be politically accountable for horizontal priorities that are significant for the future of Latvia and its society. Prime Minister would suggest and members of the Cabinet would appoint state ministers responsible for policies in those focus areas (horizontal priorities).
Political mandate of these state ministers would be valid for the duration of government term or a specific time period, which is required to coordinate a socially and strategically important policy or solve a challenge that extends beyond the scope and capacity of traditional ministry agenda.
According to the draft law, state ministers would be allowed to table horizontal priority coordination proposals to the Cabinet, oversee and lead the implementation of horizontal initiatives. Such mandate does not include voting rights available to Cabinet members.
President Levits believes that these changes would improve the governance and make Cabinet more efficient and productive in achieving national goals.
He also mentioned that most European Union member states have opted for similar hybrid government models to better suit the needs of the 21st-century Europe. On top of the traditional ministers and their departments (foreign, home and justice, etc.), they also have ministers without portfolios, government ministers who work directly under the prime minister, state ministers, minister delegates and similar positions. Germany, France, Estonia, Denmark, Slovenia, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Sweden are just some of the countries with mixed governments. These special or support ministers do not have their departments like their more traditional colleagues, but they are a part of the traditional government or prime minister’s team.
President will hand over his legislative proposals regarding the Cabinet Structure Law to the Saeima in near future. Once adopted, they would come to force after the next general elections.
President of Latvia also mentioned that legislative proposal containing changes in the Law on Financing of Political Organisations (Parties) is still being fine-tuned after the latest comments from the experts. Their proposals are currently integrated in the finalised package.