Recommendation #1 - Establish What Rules Govern the Parliamentary Crisis Committees It will be important for each Parliament to choose whether such a committee is an additional actor to the decisionmaking process or if it substitutes for the parliamentary plenary or other decision-making bodies, each option comes with its own pros and cons.
The crisis committee needs to be set up at the beginning of the legislative cycle and then rendered dormant until a crisis hits. It is key to clarify and negotiate ahead of time the composition of the parliamentary crisis committee – in particular looking to balance participation from both members of the executive and opposition.
Furthermore, it is recommended to seek out and make use of any existing parliamentary rules on the involvement of citizens and experts in decision making and use these as a blueprint.
Once the composition is settled, the extent of the Committee's scope and powers as well as the detail as to how it interacts with the citizen platform (how often, at what stage?) need to be defined and clearly communicated. There are existing protocols in parliaments that determine the governance of such "special committees" - these can be used as a blueprint and adapted.
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Finally, establish the timeframe for the committee's activity. Crises are composed of different phases - the immediate urgency, followed by the management of the mid-term impact of the crisis. Define at what point and why this committee should come into being, and whether its powers change according to the phase of the crisis we are in. The protocol for the crisis committee should be linked to existing state of emergency regulations to ensure a coherent framework.