Shorter speech times and other changes in the Chamber of Deputies

One of the key changes highlighted at the press conference was the shortening of speech times since April this year.

The number of public hearings was higher in 2000/2001, where 72 sessions took place, compared to 58 in the last year. However, Chamber President Claude Wiseler explained that despite fewer hearings, more projects are adopted these days, leading to the shorter speaking times.

The members of the Conference of Presidents agreed that further modernisation was required for speeches, particularly in terms of opportunities for more questions during question time.

A major success for the Chamber has been the petition tool, which saw 400 petitions submitted over the last 12 months. In contrast, the proposals for laws have been less successful, with none submitted to date.

The live broadcast of 18 Chamber committee sessions was viewed as a step in the right direction in terms of increasing transparency. Despite the fact just 10-100 people tuned in to watch the sessions live, the broadcasts are later uploaded to the archive where they can be viewed at any time, which proved particularly popular for more media-driven topics.

The Chamber President also addressed the transparency register, where MPs or fractions have to confirm interactions that took place, as well the people involved and where and when the discussion occurred. The details must be uploaded within two weeks of the meeting and the administration then has six weeks in which to publish the information.