Notes transmitted by the Parliaments represented in the  Working Group

 DENMARK

 Experiences and information penetrating to the legislative process

Legislative quality is a subject that the Danish Parliament has taken a great interest in and regards as extremely important. The working group provides an excellent opportunity to discuss this subject and learn from the experience of other countries' parliaments.
The work carried out on legislative quality in Denmark has been a collaboration between the Folketing and the government. The government, which is a coalition comprising two parties, decided on its formation in March 1998 that it should make an effort to improve legislative quality as a basis for the coalition. Focus was directed towards the subject in 1998 where, during the autumn, the Folketing was the host for a conference on legislative quality. Members of parliament and the government, including the Prime Minister, as well as other interested parties, took part in the conference.
The work of following up on legislative quality has been carried out by the government and in the Folketing.

Efforts have been concentrated on the following principal elements:

1. The government's preparation of legislation
2. Planning the work carried out in the Folketing
3. The work of committees on draft legislation, including planning this
4. More thorough treatment of EU matters at an early stage
5. The role of the Folketing in the political decision-making process

 1. The government's preparation of legislation

The Folketing's reading bills is carried out - as in other countries with parliamentary government - by and large on the basis of bills which are proposed by the government, even though members of parliament have the right to make such proposals.
In 1999, on the basis of the 1998 conference, the government issued a circular to the ministries concerning the information that should accompany a government bill when it is introduced into parliament. This information should include such aspects as a detailed account of the financial and administrative consequences for the public and trade and industry, environmental consequences and consequences with regard to Community law.
In addition the government is at present working on the preparation of detailed guidelines for those government officials in the individual ministries who are responsible for preparing bills. These include good advice on:

• The wording and structural composition of the texts of bills
• The information that must accompany bills on its introduction regarding the background for the proposal and its expected consequences, as previously mentioned
• When legislation is necessary in general and when the authorities should consider whether there are other ways of influencing the public's behaviour than through legislation
• The legal limitations on legislation, first and foremost those in the Danish Constitution, Community law and international human rights conventions
• General principles of law such as those on ex post facto statutes, the authority vested in the administration, and the penal code.

 2. Planning the Folketing's work

During recent years the Folketing has attempted to improve the planning of reading bills, both in the committees and the Folketing itself. One reason for this is to allow members and ministers more preparation time and time for readings. But it is first and foremost to provide the public with an opportunity to keep up with legislation and to have an influence on this. In Denmark it is not only the contents of legislation that are decisive for legislative quality, it is also the democratic procedure through which a law is passed that helps to provide a law with a special quality.
From January 1850, when the Folketing first assembled, up to 1948, members and ministers were only informed of what bills would be on the agenda on the day before it was introduced. A one-week plan was introduced in 1948 which, 50 years later, was extended through a preliminary proposal for a further week.
It is still being considered how work can be organised even better. The latest matter being discussed is how to avoid the considerable backlog of bills to be passed at the end of a session or immediately before a new budget year.
Recently the Folketing has passed an amendment of The Standing Orders of the Folketing stating that the period of time from proposal of a bill to the third (and final) reading must be at least 30 days. Simultaneously an agreement between the Folketing and the government has been reached concerning the political negotiations on the Finance Bill. The negotiations shall be finished earlier in order to give the Folketing more time for reading bills connected with the Finance Bill.

 3. The work of committees on draft legislation, including the committee's  planning of this

In the autumn of 1999 the committees were encouraged to discuss the organisation of their work. The point of departure for the discussions was that when organising the way the work was carried out the committees should take into account the political discussions and a thorough consideration of draft legislation. A list of subjects, which could provide the committees with inspiration, was drawn up for use in connection with these discussions.
In this way each committee discussed the way it worked.
To date the usual practice in Denmark has been that the committees receive most of the information they needed for committee readings by members asking questions to the relevant ministers and in the form of calls on the committees from interest organisations, and others.
Considerations regarding the way work is carried out in committees has led most of the committees to structure their readings of draft legislation to a greater degree than formerly, and most committees now agree on a timetable for the work concerning draft legislation. It has also become more common for committees to supplement the information they receive from ministries with information supplied by experts and from people who will be directly affected by the proposed legislation.
The committees' plans for their work are available on the Folketing's web site. It appears that the public reads these plans to a considerable extent and that calls from the public to the committees take these plans into account.
Most committees have also entered into agreements with the relevant ministries for a supply of standard material from the ministries in connection with the reading of bills in the committees. Agreements have also been reached between the ministries and the committees on deadlines for answering questions raised by the committees.
The adaptation of committee work is an ongoing process, which is left to a great degree to the individual committee. One or two annual meetings are held between the Speaker of the Folketing and the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the committees to provide a mutual orientation on developments and possible subsequent decisions that certain new procedures should be followed by all committees in the future.
An example of this is that recently it has been decided to change the wording of the committees' recommendations (reports). Some of these changes were inspired by initiatives taken by one or more committees.
The chief aims of changing the committees' recommendations are:

• To increase the information value for the public
• To make things clearer
• To increase the value of the source of law

 4. More thorough treatment of EU matters at an early stage

In Denmark the principle in connection with the treatment of EU matters is that the government must inform the Folketing's European Committee and receive a mandate from the committee before voting in the Council of the European Union.
But the European Committee wants the other committees to become involved in the work on EU matters and also that this should happen at a much earlier stage than immediately before decisions are made in the Council of the European Union. This would allow the expertise that is available in the technical committees to be drawn on in the most appropriate way.
The committees have established various consultation procedures with the relevant ministers so that they receive an orientation on the contents of draft legislation and its consequences a relatively short time after it has been introduced by the European Commission. It is then up to the individual committee to consider how the matter should be treated and whether there is a basis for the committee to make a statement to the European Committee.
Committees are also encouraged to follow the work carried out in the European Parliament, partly by collaborating with Danish MEPs, and partly by following the work carried out in the EP's committees.
The European Committee regularly holds open meetings at which EU matters are debated, as well as public hearings on green and white papers, in order to create greater openness in the Danish EU decision-making process and to encourage more debate in these areas.

 5. The role of the Folketing in the political decision-making process

A problem that has been discussed by the members of the Folketing is the fact that decisions leading to legislation are very often taken in another forum than the Parliament. That leaves Parliament to give the seal of approval to decisions made by others.
In this context it is not the problem of other supranational bodies such as the EU or others but the fact that the parliamentarians themselves lift the decision-making process out of parliament and into the hands of the government or other players.
The decision-makers could be the government and some but not all of the political parties. Or it could be the unions and the employers' organizations in accordance with a strong Danish tradition of involving these parties and giving them a very decisive influence.
The problem is that very often such agreements are not subject to the same thorough examination and preparation as other matters when transformed into legislation. That may cause unsatisfactory quality of legislation.
To a certain degree these are circumstances within the control of the parliamentarians themselves but the solution of the problem is in conflict with the political realities.