Member Roman was the main guest speaker in the Strengthening the Rule of Law: Regulatory Governance for Greater Transparency and Accountability event in Tunis (30-31 May) organised by the Government of Tunisia (Prime Ministry) and the MENA-OECD Governance Programme, where he shared lessons from the Club de Madrid Shared Societies project, such as the importance of an inclusive and participatory consultation process for Constitution-making and institutional reform.
As per the OECD background information for the event: following popular movements in early 2011 demanding democracy and a fairer economy, Tunisia and Egypt have embarked on a democratic transition which includes a comprehensive revision of their institutional and constitutional setting. Substantial legal reforms have already taken place in order to prepare the electoral processes, which will result in the midterm in new constitutions and a systematic process of legal reform. This process requires the mobilisation of new capacities and the introduction of new regulatory instruments and tools, which can be facilitated by having access to international good practice and experience.
To identify needs and discuss the support of the international community to this process, an ad hoc meeting of the MENA-OECD Working Group on Regulatory Reform was held on 18 April 2011 in Paris. Participants supported the creation of a Task Force on Legal and Constitutional Reform as a technical platform which would mobilise the expertise required for this complex process.
Club de Madrid Member Petre Roman shared his experience, with Tunisian and Egyptian delegates, as the first Prime Minister after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. The participants at the Task Force on Legal and Constitutional Reform were particularly interested in how the transitional government in Romania led by Member Roman dealt with the challenges of the post-autocratic regime, from the revolution to the democratic elections.
On the second day, Member Roman delivered a keynote speech on balancing power between the executive and parliament for rule of law in the new constitutional arrangements and participated in the afternoon in the session: Regulatory Governance for greater Transparency and Accountability for Rule of Law.
