All-party conciliar organisations
An all-party conciliar organisation (Esperanto: Ĉiuj partioj konsilia organizaĵo (ĈPKO)) is a group in the National Council of Entropan, composed of members of the National Council from most/all political parties. All-party conciliar organisations are formal cross-party groups of members of the National Council, with official websites and organisational statuses given by the Speaker of the National Council, that meet at least triannually to discuss their particular area of concern, to explore relevant issues relating to their chosen topic.
Formation
At the beginning of each Conciliar session, Members of the National Council wishing to form particular all-party conciliar organisations put in requests into the Order Paper, with the scope of the topics covered by the organisation, the name of the organisation, and its logo included on a digital submission directly to the Speaker. At the inaugural Address, the Speaker reads out a prepared statement of the governing coalition or party's agenda for the upcoming session, the list of formed Commitees, and the list of all-party conciliar organisations that have been requested to be formed by MNCs is read out. Within a week after the Address, the Ministry of Online Affairs is responsible for setting up individual websites for the ĈPKOs. After the Address, MNCs can then voluntarily join or leave ĈPKOs whenever they'd choose to do so, by sending a request form to the Speaker.
During the following Conciliar session, ĈPKOs can also be formed at the start of the first General Questions held every month, where MNCs can request the formation of ĈPKOs on the Order Paper, to the Speaker of the National Council.
Every ĈPKO must hold at least 3 meetings every year, one of which must be an annual general meeting, and one of which must be an inaugural election of officers. ĈPKOs cease to exist when the National Council is dissolved for elections, and must be reconstituted.
The official register of APPGs is updated every month. As of October 2023, there are 983 ĈPKOs.
Functions and covered topics
All-party conciliar organisations are groups of MNCs that discuss a particular topic of concern, and who explore relevant issues relating to their topic. They examine issues of policy relating to particular areas, discussing new developments, holding inquiries into the matters, and inviting experts, stakeholders, and government ministers to speak at their meetings. ĈPKOs have no formal place in the legislature, but rather are used to develop understanding in regards to particular issues.
They can be based on countries, such as the ĈPKOs on Tumland and Hapatmitas, on regions of countries, such as the ĈPKOs on the San Carlos Islands or Arstotzka, or based on particular subjects, such as the ĈPKOs on whistleblowing or taxis.
Examples
Some examples of subject-based ĈPKOs include:
- Adult education
- Autism
- Cameras and video technologies
- Climate change
- Dark skies
- Drug policy reform
- Fire safety and rescue
- Fisheries
- Foreign development
- Gambling
- Human rights
- Infrastructure
- Legal aid
- Life sciences
- Manufacturing
- Media freedom
- Nuclear energy
- Obesity
- Opera
- Pensions
- Radiotherapy
- Religion in the media
- Single parent families
- Tennis
- Theatre
- Video games
- Writers
- Youth employment
- Zoos and aquariums
Influence
ĈPKOs have large degrees of influence over governmental policy, most publishing policy plans or inquiries with policy recommendations on their websites that then are translated to policy proposed in the National Council. Examples of this include:
- The All-party Conciliar Organisation on Rakeo's 2022 manifesto, entitled "Justice for Rakeo", which led to the Government of Entropan recognising the Rakeoian Government-in-Exile as the legitimate government of Rakeo, and Chairperson Håkon Martinsen officially applying for honorary citizenship and embarking on a diplomatic trip to meet with the Government-in-exile's leaders.
- The All-party Conciliar Organisation on Commercial Sexual Exploitation's 2022 report "Pornography regulation: the Case for Reform", which recommended policies that would increase regulations on providers of pornographic content, which then got packaged into the Sexual Exploitation (Justice) Act 2023, which provided heavy regulations on pornographic companies, including requiring those companies to mandate IDs for people wishing to view content on their websites.
- The All-party Conciliar Organisation on Gambling Related Harm's policy plan, released in 2023, which recommended policies to regulate the gambling industry including stake limits and affordability checks for gambling operations, which directly caused the proposal of the Gambling Bill 2023, a regulation overhaul currently going through the Amendments phase in the National Council.
- The All-party Conciliar Organisation for Dark Skies' 2023 policy plan, entitled "Ten policies for Dark Skies", whose members used the policy proposals in the policy plan aimed at reducing light pollution to co-write the currently proposed Dark Skies Bill, currently at Committee phase, which, if passed, would add dramatic regulations to reduce lighting an incentivise reducing light pollution at local levels, and would give a cross-ministerial "Minister for Dark Skies" that would oversee planning and policies that would concern dark skies.
In the Entropanian school curriculum, the National 5 qualification for Modern Studies includes a topic in the "Democracy in Entropan" Unit, which is about the influence of All-party conciliar organisations on the National Council. A common question asked in exam papers is "Explain, in detail, why All-party conciliar organisations are very powerful".
Criticism
In early 2022, the Committee on Governmental Transparency launched an inquiry into concerns that ĈPKOs were being used to bypass lobbying rules, following reports that lobbyists were acting as secretariats and so gaining access to legislators. This inquiry concluded on 21 January 2023, with its concluding statement that lobbying groups, including from overseas countries such as Montcrabe, were using ĈPKOs to bribe and coerce politicians. The Anti-Corruption Act 2023 acted upon the recommendations of the inquiry, with ĈPKOs having to register the exact interests of all extra-conciliar people called upon by them, with threats of governmental sanctions, fines, and potential imprisonment if these people end up being from lobbying groups that are not non-profit, or from hostile state actors.
