Should health education or politics and law be taught at school as separate mandatory subjects? How to strengthen the feeling among Latvian children and youths currently living abroad that they belong in Latvia? Should the state develop special support programmes for youth enterprises? Should information about advantages and risks related to introduction of the single European currency be disseminated also at schools? These were only some of the questions addressed by the 3rd Youth Parliament on 26 April.

“By using modern tools of communication and efficiently channelling information, parliaments can develop a continuous, open and honest dialogue with society more easily. Social networks and live broadcasts of plenary sittings are needed; however, it is not enough. I am certain that it is important to have direct contact with people, to hear society’s voice, opinions and attitudes towards local and global events,” emphasised Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Monday, 22 April, when addressing other Speakers of the Parliaments of the European Union at their annual Conference.

On Friday, 12 April, Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis, Chairman of the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee of the Saeima; Saulius Bucevičius, Chairman of the Committee on Rural Affairs of the Seimas; and Kalvi Kõva, Chairman of the Rural Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu, signed a declaration on the joint position of the Baltic States regarding reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union.

On behalf of the Latvian parliament, Speaker Solvita Āboltiņa sent a letter to the Speaker of the House of Lords and the Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland expressing condolences on the passing away of Margaret Thatcher.

On Thursday, 4 April, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the Law on Application of Taxes in Free Ports and Special Economic Zones. Amendments stipulate that licenced capital companies and free port administrations are entitled to direct tax relief until 31 December 2035.

On Wednesday, 3 April, the Mandate, Ethics and Submissions Committee agreed to support and forward for plenary review the draft decision which would task the Ministry of Justice with elaborating and submitting to the Saeima the Draft Law on Responsibility for Breaking the Oath of a Member of the Saeima.

“Latvia and Turkey have developed versatile bilateral relations, which are reflected by a frequent exchange of high-level visits, growing mutual trade, as well as good cooperation in education and culture. I am sure that this visit will significantly contribute to our bilateral political dialogue and encourage a more dynamic cooperation between our entrepreneurs,” Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, stressed on Tuesday, 2 April, when meeting in the main building of the Saeima with the President of the Republic of Turkey Abdullah Gül.

For the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima, the winter session’s central event was the annual foreign policy debate held in the Saeima. The Committee also devoted a lot of time to preparing the draft law on the ratification of the Revised European Social Charter. This was emphasised by Ojārs Kalniņš, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee, when evaluating the Committee’s work during the winter session.    

Cooperation in research requires strategic agreement on priority research areas to be developed in each of the Baltic States. That was the shared opinion of the Baltic Assembly delegates and representatives of research and innovation on Friday, 22 March, when during a parliamentary seminar held by the Education, Science and Culture Committee of the Baltic Assembly they discussed strengthening cooperation among the Baltic States in research and innovation as part of the BIRTI (Baltic Innovative Research and Technology Infrastructure) project.