The recently formed Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue (Ministerul pentru Consultare Publică şi Dialog Civic - MCPDC) in Romania has opened a public consultation to ask citizens about its organisation and operational responsibilities.
According to Fundatia (Foundation), a national NGO monitoring Open Government in Romania (for example, it monitors the implementation of the OGP Action Plan) this public consultation is the first of its kind in the country.
The MCDPC was formed last November, following a Romanian government decree which called, among other measures, for the ministry to be set up. According to a press release published on the government’s website, the ministry will operate as “a specialised body of central public administration in establishing and promoting a rigorous framework of public consultation with civil society.”
“Develop and apply government-wide democratic tools of dialogue”
According to the Fundatia website, the public consultation started on the social network Facebook. The Ministry also published a document on Google Document to share it with citizens. It stated that the responsibility of the MCDPC is to “develop and apply government-wide democratic tools of dialogue and civic participation in order to shape priority government policy formulation and implementation through active consultation with civil society and citizens” and to “evaluate the results of the implementation of the Partnership for Open Government (Open Government Partnership) and draw on that for the period June 2016 - June 2018, including a National Action Plan for a government that is more open, more accountable, more effective (…)”. Fundatia asked that the latter be modified , Ovidiu Voicu, director of the Public Policy Department of Fundatia, said on the website.
Last week, the Ministry for Public Consultation and Civic Dialogue (MCPDC) organised a public debate to discuss the budget draft law for 2016, as the nineoclock.ro website said. This represents a first step towards an Open Budget approach.