The role and importance of parliamentary associations of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the formation of a system of managed interregional integration in 2000-2005.

Shirko Tatiana Ivanovna PhD in History Associate Professor of Tomsk Polytechnic University 634050, Russia, Tomsk region, Tomsk, Lenin Ave., 36 strelk-s@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The correlation of the processes and parameters of centralization and decentralization in a federal state is ensured by dividing the subjects of competence and powers between the Federation and its state-territorial entities. In Russia, centralization has traditionally been the main vector of federal policy and vertical channels of interaction between the center and the regions prevailed over horizontal ones, ensuring state control over integrative processes at all levels of government ^{[1, p. 44]}. But, in the 1990s, state institutions lost the function of controlling integration, as a result of which decentralization processes prevailed, which were formed on the basis of links of horizontal interaction between the subjects of the Federation. In order to maintain general control over the political and socio-economic situation in their macroregion and coordinate joint measures to overcome the crisis, the state authorities and administrations of the subjects of the Federation were institutionalized into associations of interregional cooperation ^{[2, p. 12]}.

The coordination of legislative activities of the parliaments of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the 2nd half of the 1990s was carried out by parliamentary associations of legislative authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. During this period, two associations were formed – the Northwestern Parliamentary Association (NWPA) and the parliamentary Association "Far East and Transbaikalia". Associations formed developed organizational structures, their main functions were the unification of regional legislation, the presentation of joint legislative initiatives, as well as the generalization of the practice of applying regional and federal laws ^{[3, p. 45]}.

A feature of the activity of parliamentary associations in the 2nd half of the 1990s. there was an organization of cooperation on issues that are not only within the jurisdiction of the subjects of the Federation, but also decision-making on issues of joint jurisdiction of the federal center and the subjects of the Federation, taking into account the possibilities of "advanced rule-making", the competence of which was confirmed by the Constitutional Court of Russia (Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated November 30, 1995 No. 16-P "In the case of checking the constitutionality of Articles 23 and 24 of the Provisional Regulations on ensuring the activities of deputies of the Kaliningrad Regional Duma, approved by the Resolution of the Kaliningrad Regional Duma of July 8, 1994" // Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation. - 1995. – No. 50. – Article 4969.). In addition, parliamentary associations have often tried to influence the content of bills and laws on issues that were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal center. The promoters of such legislative initiatives in the Federal Assembly were members of the Federation Council, who were ex officio heads of legislative authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation. All interparliamentary associations were created according to the territorial principle, had historical experience of cooperation and were committed to the openness of their associations to membership of other parliaments of the constituent entities of the Federation. Their activities were important for accumulating the interests of the subjects of the Federation and developing a common position on topical issues of legislation, socio-economic and political life of the country ^{[4, p. 15]}.

In the 2000s, the federal center changed its strategy of federal policy, restoring the status of initiator and mediator of all horizontal and vertical integrative processes. There is a reorientation towards the project of creating a federal structure combining the policy of centralization and decentralization – political powers are assigned to the federal center, and economic powers are transferred to the subjects of the Federation. Since no strategy or concept of reforms was developed during this period ^{[5, C. 31]}, the main idea of the centralizing reforms of the 2000s was the use of the potential and experience of horizontal interaction of the subjects of the Federation and the allocation of an interregional level of coordination of the activities of state authorities of the regions through the creation of federal districts as unified control centers headed by presidential plenipotentiaries and unification common approaches in relations with the subjects of the Federation. The process of interregional integration was restarted, but already under the conditions defined by the federal center ^{[6, p. 241]}. These conditions, as noted by the Minister for Federation Affairs, National and Migration Policy of the Government of Russia A.V. Blokhin, assumed the use of interregional associations as agents of federal regional policy that implement strategic goals of socio-economic development of the subjects of the Federation (Blokhin A. Federation is unity // The economy of Russia XXI century. – 2001. – No. 1. – p. 18). Therefore, the first stage of the federal reform in 2000-2005 is characterized by the building of a system of managed interregional integration based on the formation of a single vertical of executive power in the subjects of joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and its subjects. Various options for the inclusion of interparliamentary associations in the processes of regional governance and the development of federal districts are being tested, their place and role in the unified legislative process in the state, as a whole in the systems of interparliamentary and interregional integration are being determined.

Interaction between the Federal Center and parliamentary associations in 2000-2005: unification of formal rules and organization of control

The task of organizing centralized control over integrative processes between the legislative bodies of the subjects of the Federation and their associations was carried out through the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly and presidential plenipotentiaries in the federal districts. And also by engaging in cooperation with the executive authorities of the subjects of the Federation in interregional associations of economic cooperation in order to implement the economic policy formed by the Government of Russia.

The Federation Council carried out direct interaction with associations in the context of the development, introduction of amendments and additions to laws under joint jurisdiction and authority and consideration of consolidated legislative initiatives of the subjects of the Federation. In order to exclude the possibility for the heads of the legislative and executive authorities of the regions to influence the federal legislative process, the procedure for its formation was changed. Now its members were representatives elected by parliaments and appointed by the heads of regions, working on a permanent and professional basis (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 05/13/2000 N 849 "On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Federal District" // Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation. – 2000. – No. 20. – Article 2112). The interaction of the legislative authorities of the regions and their parliamentary associations with the upper house of Parliament was carried out through special coordination councils. In total, two of them were created in 2002-2003 – the Council for Interaction of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation with the legislative bodies of state Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation (Council of Legislators) () and the Coordinating Council of Heads of Staff of Legislative Bodies of State Power of the Russian Federation. The Council of Legislators was created to discuss legislative initiatives submitted by the regions, and the purpose of the work of the Coordinating Council of Heads of the Apparatus of Parliaments of the subjects of the Federation was to establish a unified system of legislation in the country, optimize organizational structures and functional responsibilities of the apparatus of the chambers of the Federal Assembly and parliaments of the subjects of the Federation ^{[7, p. 82]}. The Presidium of the councils consisted of one representative from the legislative body of the constituent entity of each federal district, who were elected at meetings of the Councils of Heads of Legislative Authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation established under the plenipotentiary representative of the President. The functions of the councils in the federal districts consisted in coordinating topical issues on the federal agenda and implementing the functions of presidential representatives, including bringing regional legislation into line with the Constitution and federal laws – correcting both existing regional laws containing norms that contradict the current federal legislation of the 1990s, and correcting regional normative legal acts and the development of new ones, in accordance with federal laws adopted in 2000-2005 ^{[8, C. 90]}.

Along with the issues of legislative and broadcasting activities, another area of cooperation for parliamentary associations in the emerging system of interregional integration was to be the organization of interaction between them and interregional associations of economic cooperation in the federal districts. They were assigned the function of coordinating a unified legislative framework for the implementation of programs and strategies for the socio-economic development of the subjects of the Federation in the federal districts. In 2002 The Government of the Russian Federation has adopted a federal target program involving a number of measures aimed at reducing differences in the socio-economic development of the regions of the Russian Federation (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated October 11, 2001 No. 717 "On the Federal Target Program "Reducing differences in the socio-economic development of the Regions of the Russian Federation (2002-2010 and up to 2015)") // Collection of legislation of the Russian Federation. 2001. No. 43. St. 4100). In order to support such planning and develop strategies for the socio-economic development of the subjects of the Federation, the Ministry of Regional Development was established in autumn 2004 ^{[9, p. 35]}.

The change in the configuration of political institutions and the definition of the place and role of parliamentary associations in them inevitably led to a transformation of the procedures for their participation in the legislative process and a modification of their functions. This happened through the transformation of the procedure for introducing legislative initiatives on subjects of joint jurisdiction and authority between the federal center and the regions – the main area of interaction between the Federal Assembly and the parliaments of the regions. Since 1994, they have been submitted directly to the Federal Assembly. From the beginning. In the 2000s, with the exclusion of the practice of "advanced rulemaking", the number of legislative initiatives from the regions increased significantly, but their effectiveness remained low. For example, in the III convocation of the State Duma (2000-2003), the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation introduced 1,469 legislative initiatives, adopted only 58, and rejected 370. In the IV convocation of the State Duma (2003-2007), the legislative bodies already introduced 1992 legislative initiatives, 145 were adopted, 915 were rejected for various reasons (Russian legislation: 20 years of development in line with the new Constitution of the Russian Federation / ed. A.A. Klishas, V.N. Pligin. M., 2013. From 136.). As noted by political scientist R. F. Turovsky, by the early 2000s, almost every second bill submitted to the State Duma was prepared with the participation of legislative bodies regions. The massive introduction of legislative initiatives was a response to the reforms carried out by the federal center – most of the amendments made corrected, clarified the adopted laws and were directed against the centralizing policy of the federal center ^{[10, p. 2]}. Therefore, in 2003, the current procedure for introducing draft laws is undergoing radical reform. A new procedure is being established for introducing draft federal laws, amendments and additions to them on subjects of joint jurisdiction through their mandatory coordination between the legislative and executive authorities of the subject of the Federation. The position of a federal subject was considered expressed if both branches of government reached consensus. The regions had only 30 days to coordinate the draft law adopted after the first reading ^{[11, p. 15]}.

But the key direction of the reform was the unification of interaction between the center and the regions, which was carried out by streamlining the process of dividing the subjects of competence and powers between the state authorities of the Russian Federation and its subjects. In 2001, the development of a unified concept for the delimitation of subjects of competence and powers between the state authorities of the Federation, its subjects and local self-government began, defining the procedure and grounds for mutual delegation of authority. As a result of the work of the special commission under the leadership of D. N. Kozak in 2003-2004, laws were adopted establishing a clear list of powers of the subjects of the Federation, which they must implement at the expense of their budgets. The remaining powers were transferred to the federal center, which could transfer them to the subjects of the Federation by providing subsidies ^{[12, p. 131]}.

Thus, the main tasks of the centralizing reforms of 2000-2005 in relation to interparliamentary associations were to limit their ability to interact directly with the federal parliament and promptly coordinate legislative initiatives. In the context of the unification of procedural and substantive rules, the subjects of competence and powers were clearly redistributed between the federal center and the regions, shifting the substantive focus from political issues to economic problems. Interparliamentary associations were formally integrated into solving the tasks defined for presidential plenipotentiaries in federal districts, and their activities in the country's parliament were limited to the work of the coordinating councils of the upper house of parliament, where the main legislative requests of the regions were accumulated.

Parliamentary associations are a popular format for organizing inter-parliamentary cooperation

At the first stage of the federal reform in 2000-2005, parliamentary associations continued to be created, but their formation clearly meets the new requirements – within certain territorial limits of federal districts and with the participation of presidential plenipotentiaries. The founding conference of the South Russian Parliamentary Association was held on April 25, 2001 in Rostov-on-Don. It was attended by 10 legislative authorities of the subjects of the Federation located within the Southern Federal District – the republics of Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia-Alania, as well as Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Astrakhan, Volgograd and Rostov regions. In the Volga Federal District, the decision to establish the Association of Legislative Bodies of State Power of the subjects of the Russian Federation was made on December 14, 2001 in Yoshkar-Ola at a meeting of heads of legislative bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation, convened by the plenipotentiary representative of the President in the Volga Federal District (Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. About the Association of Legislators of the Volga Federal District // https://www.zsno.ru/activities/inter-parliamentary-cooperation/assotsiatsiya-zakonodateley-pfo /). The founding meeting of the Association was held on May 14, 2002 in Nizhny Novgorod. The association includes 15 legislative bodies of the subjects of the Federation – the Republics of Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Mari El, Mordovia, Chuvashia, Komi-Permyatsky Autonomous Okrug, Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Penza, Perm, Samara, Saratov and Ulyanovsk regions.

The fundamental documents of the parliamentary associations include the JURPA agreement, which enshrines the mutual obligations of the parties (the Charter of the South Russian Parliamentary Association. Regulations of the South Russian Parliamentary Association; Regulations on Committees of the South Russian Parliamentary Association. Maykop: [B. I.], 2008. p. 4) and the agreement of the Volga Region Association, containing agreements between its participants (Agreement on the establishment of the PFD Association// https://www.zsno.ru/activities/inter-parliamentary-cooperation/assotsiatsiya-zakonodateley-pfo /), in addition to fixing the territorial affiliation of the parliaments of the subjects of the Federation to the federal district, the status of membership in associations was determined. Delegations from the legislative body of a federal district constituent entity were members of the PFD association, and the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation could be members of the JURPA. However, parliaments of other subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as subjects (territories) bordering the Russian Federation within the Southern Federal District, could become associate members of the JURPA with the right of advisory vote. Only observers could participate in the Association of Legislative Bodies of State Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation of the Volga Federal District.

The fixation of the mandatory conditions for the formation of associations affected the substantive content of the goals of the two associations in different ways. In the agreement of the Volga Association, which was under the full control of the representative of the President, the emphasis was on coordinating legislative activities and creating a unified legal framework for the implementation of state tasks and ensuring security in the Volga region – in line with the policy declared by the federal center. In the JURPA agreement, the goal was formulated broadly and generally corresponded to the purpose of creation defined in the NWPA agreement (NWPA Formation Agreement dated November 17, 1994 https://www.vologdazso.ru/interaction/paszr/pravopaszr.php?ID=141888 ) – development of coordinated approaches to the implementation of constitutional and economic reforms, ensuring the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and solving other important issues of common interest (Agreement on the formation of the JURPA dated April 25, 2001 // https://www.kubzsk.ru/yrpa/statutory-documents/786 /).

Accordingly, the content of the tasks of the associations differed. In the agreement of the Association of Parliaments of the Volga Federal District, the tasks clearly corresponded to the legislative functions of parliaments and the tasks defined for the representatives of the president: bringing the legislation of the subjects of the Volga Federal District into line with the Constitution and federal legislation in the "shortest possible time", developing coordinated bills in the field of local government and economic cooperation, forming a coordinated legislative initiative in the Federal Assembly. The tasks of the JURPA's activities contained a wide context and focused on the organization of cooperation in various spheres of public life and on a wide range of issues.

The JURPA declared itself an advisory and advisory body, and the Association of the Volga Region – only an "advisory institute". Therefore, the organizational structures enshrined in the founding documents of the two associations differed from each other. Using the experience of colleagues from the North-West and the Far East, YURPA formed an extensive internal structure consisting of conferences, standing committees, and a Council organizing the work of the association. The association was headed by a chairman who was elected once a year. The main form of organizational activity of the PFD association was a meeting, and the Coordination Council was to carry out the organization of activities. The association was headed by a coordinator who was elected for two years. Despite the declared organization of the Volga Region Association, its coordinating council never began to operate, and all the main functions, according to the regulations on the Association of 2005, were performed by the coordinator: he formed a work plan, a draft agenda of the meeting, analyzed and summarized the progress of implementation of decisions taken at the meeting of the association, etc. ^{[13, C. 2]}. In the same Provision, in fact, the refusal of membership of the delegations of the parliaments of the constituent entities of the Federation was recorded – instead, the composition of the association of parliaments of the Volga region was formed only from the heads of legislative bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation of the Volga Federal District. Thus, the composition of the association was actually reduced to the scale envisaged for the creation, according to the agreement on the formation of the Association of 2002, of the Coordinating Council and fully corresponded to the composition of the Council of Heads of Legislative Authorities, formed under the representative of the President in the Volga Federal District. The situation is about the same with the possibility fixed in the agreement to form the working bodies of the association, which have not been formed. In addition, the Association Regulations stipulated the mandatory presence at meetings of the plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District, his staff, and heads of state authorities. The representative of the President was also given the right to initiate extraordinary meetings of the association.

The activities in 2000-2005 were continued by those operating since the late 1990s. The North-Western Parliamentary Association (NWPA) in the North-Western Federal District and the parliamentary Association "Far East and Transbaikalia" in the Far Eastern Federal District. In the new political and regulatory conditions, associations are adapting their organizational framework to the possibilities of rapid response and rapid coordination of their positions in front of the federal center. The Far East and Transbaikalia Association, the only one of all interparliamentary associations that had the status of a legal entity and a single coordination center in Khabarovsk, is significantly increasing its activity by organizing joint consultations and meetings of the control and accounting bodies of the legislative bodies of the parliaments of the Far East and Transbaikalia and other structural divisions of their apparatus. As working bodies in the association, "round tables" are being created to discuss and work out specific working issues (Information on the work of the parliamentary association "Far East and Transbaikalia" in 2003-2004 // https://pa-dv.ru/activities/otchety/266 /).

In response to the centralization policy of the center, the NWPA actively positions itself as an independent association. In the new edition of the Regulations of the NWPA in 2004, it is clearly stated that the association is an independent, self-governing association of legislative bodies of the subjects of the Russian Federation, without taking into account its affiliation to a certain federal district and interacts with the Federation Council, associations of economic cooperation and other assemblies, parliamentary associations in Russia and abroad, without mentioning the representative of the president (Transcript XXIV Conference of the NWPA dated November 1, 5, 200-2 // https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/b7f/b7f12bd7f5abc8d53bd5505a2ab7fe4c.pdf ). At the same time, the association actively invited the Legislative Assembly of the Kirov Region to cooperate and join the association, whose representatives have repeatedly attended conferences of the NWPA, and in general, in developing legislation, the Kirov region was guided by documents and model laws adopted by the association (Transcript of the XXVIII conference of the PAZSR dated November 19, 2004 https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/95b/95bec63d8cb19529173d696d29c268d3.pdf ). To give formal and symbolic weight to the status of an independent association, the association establishes a certificate of honor and a book of honor, as well as develops the emblem of the association (Transcript of the XXI NWPA Conference dated May 17, 2001 // https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/d0b/d0ba664617691028a78c2af4067cbdaa.pdf ). Organizationally, for quick decision–making, the NWPA creates a single coordinating center - the Presidium of the Association, which includes the chairmen of the parliaments of the NWFD, which, as in the case of the PFD Association, fully corresponds in composition to the Council of Heads of Legislative Authorities of the Constituent Entities of the Federation created under the representative of the President (Transcript of the XXVIII conference of the PAZSR dated November 19 2004 https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/95b/95bec63d8cb19529173d696d29c268d3.pdf ). The position of deputy chairman of the association is also being introduced and the activities of the coordinating council of heads of staff of the association's members, established in 1998, are being terminated, since the same council with similar goals was established under the Federation Council. The reduction of opportunities for submitting legislative initiatives on subjects of joint jurisdiction to the Federal Assembly intensifies the process of developing interparliamentary cooperation of the NWPA. On November 19, 2004, at the XXVIII conference, the association recreated the committee on Interparliamentary Cooperation and decided to rename the NWPA into the "Parliamentary Association of the North-West of Russia" (PAZSR). This was done in order to emphasize in the name that the association belongs to the Russian Federation for conducting international parliamentary activities (Transcript of the XXVIII conference of the PAZSR dated November 19, 2004 https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/95b/95bec63d8cb19529173d696d29c268d3.pdf ).

Thus, in the beginning. In the 2000s, parliamentary associations of the Southern and Volga Federal Districts were established in accordance with the formal requirements imposed by federal authorities – within the boundaries of the federal districts being formed. But at the same time, significant differences are found in the organizational foundations of the two associations. YURPA is guided by the experience of the NWPA and the Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia and creates a developed structure to ensure its activities on all issues. For the Volga Region Association, the organization's priority was to focus on the implementation of the goals and objectives of the presidential Plenipotentiary representative in the Volga Federal District and the implementation of coordinating legislative and broadcasting activities. By 2005, in response to the centralizing policy of the federal center, in order to increase the efficiency of activities and interaction with representatives of the president and resolve the main issues of cooperation with the Federal Assembly, the associations are optimizing their structures. The main management of associations is concentrated in the organizational bodies of associations consisting of the heads of legislative authorities of the subjects of the Federation.

The main activities of parliamentary associations in the context of the formation of managed interregional integration

The introduced organizational and substantive restrictions significantly reduce the problematic field of legislation for regional parliaments, and, accordingly, the list of problems discussed at meetings of parliamentary associations. Decision-making on issues within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federation is almost completely excluded. Instead, the associations send appeals to the President, the Government, the heads of the State Duma and the Federation Council, which express the consolidated positions of the subjects of the Federation on the most pressing issues. Such an important issue, for example, was the implementation of budget policy and the formation of inter-budgetary relations. On February 1, 2001, at the XX NWPA conference, in its address to the President, the chairmen of the Federation Council and the State Duma, stated that the federal center is pursuing a contradictory policy on the redistribution of budget funds, the essence of which lies in the discrepancy between the volume of allocated financial resources, real powers, and responsibility for their implementation (Transcript of the XX NWPA Conference dated February 1, 2001 G. // https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/7aa/7aa2d93fe58bc55e4fe59b60bf6c58cc.pdf ). The issues of minimum budget security, the formation of the revenue base of regional budgets, the differentiation of tax and expenditure powers, compliance with legislation in the formation of the federal budget – all this was constantly in the focus of attention of the JURPA and the Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia (Information on the work of the parliamentary association "Far East and Transbaikalia" in 2003-2004. // https://pa-dv.ru/activities/otchety/266 /).

Within the joint competence of the center and the regions, the main activity of interparliamentary associations was to develop a common position on key issues of current legislation implementing federal and administrative reforms and establishing a common management system in the country. In 2000-2005, all four associations summarized the experience of application, and also developed proposals for amendments and additions to 184-FZ "On General Principles of Organization of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Bodies of State Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation", adopted in 1999 (See, for example: Meetings of the Association of Legislative (Representative) Bodies state authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation of the Volga Federal District // https://www.zspo.ru/upload/raznoe/Assoziaziya/Hronologiya_50.pdf ; Information about the work of the parliamentary Association "Far East and Transbaikalia" in 2003-2004. // https://pa-dv.ru/activities/otchety/266 /)

The criticism of the associations was caused by the overregulation of many issues, as well as the contradictions between the norms of the laws. In 2002-2003, due to the introduction of amendments and additions to 184-FZ in the context of the implementation of the federal reform, criticism from parliamentary associations increased. It concerned the issues of determining the economic basis for the activities of public authorities of the subjects of the Russian Federation; establishing a new procedure for concluding agreements on the delimitation of powers; determining the procedure for the participation of public authorities of a subject of the Russian Federation in the consideration by the State Duma of draft federal laws on subjects of joint jurisdiction; fixing the principles of financial support for the exercise of powers of public authorities of a subject of the Russian Federation on subjects of joint jurisdiction, as well as the general principles of the division of powers between federal public authorities and public authorities of the subject of the Russian Federation (See, for example: Information on the work of the parliamentary association "Far East and Transbaikalia" in 2003-2004. // https://pa-dv.ru/activities/otchety/266 / ; Transcript of the XX NWPA Conference dated February 1, 2001// https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/7aa/7aa2d93fe58bc55e4fe59b60bf6c58cc.pdf ). Having failed to meet the understanding of federal legislators, the NWPA at the XXVI conference on January 29, 2004, supported the proposal of the Assembly of Deputies of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug to submit a request to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation to verify compliance with the Constitution of a number of norms of Federal Law No. 95-FZ of July 4, 2003, which amended and supplemented the Federal Law of October 6 1999 No. 184-FZ "On the general principles of the organization of legislative (representative) and executive bodies of State power of the subjects of the Russian Federation" (Minutes of the XXVI meeting of the NWPA Conference dated January 29, 2004 // https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/86d/86d7fa78f5246bc7a112e689a54ab620.pdf ).

Proposals to amend the draft law "On the General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation", and then amendments and additions to the already adopted law, were no less actively discussed and sent to the Federal Assembly. The deputies considered that the main main problem in the implementation of 131-FZ was the lack of an order for the delimitation of state and municipal property, the low efficiency of the current order for the delimitation of land ownership, the contradiction between the norms of federal legislation and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation regarding the creation of municipal enterprises, institutions and business partnerships, the problems of forming municipal budgets, the organization of local self-government in BUT, organization of local self-government in hard-to-reach territories, etc. (See e.g.: XXVII NWPA Conference of September 10, 2004 // https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/74d/74df6f2736a58c31b2735cefc9a5358b.pdf ) The formation of a consolidated opinion on legislative initiatives and the adoption of statements and resolutions on this issue at meetings of associations seemed important for members of parliamentary associations. This was supposed to indicate a unified verified position of the legislative authorities of the regions and serve as a weighty argument when submitting initiatives to the Federal Assembly, which was repeatedly stated, for example, at the NWPA and JURPA conferences (See, for example: Transcript of the XX VIII NWPA Conference dated November 19, 2004 https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/95b/95bec63d8cb19529173d696d29c268d3.pdf ).

The federal center's allocation to parliamentary associations of the problem of organizing interaction with interregional economic cooperation associations and the development of uniform legislation in the field of economic policy implementation in the federal district met their interests. NWPA has repeatedly made attempts to establish cooperation with the interregional economic association "North-West". At the XVIII conference of the association, on February 17, 2000, its chairman G. D. Khripel proposed to implement a phased "unification of the activities" of the two associations, the essence of which was to participate in the work of the economic association and the organization of cooperation in all areas. At the XX conference, in February 2002, by the decision of the association "On forms of interaction with the Association for Economic Cooperation "North-West", a draft joint activity of the two associations was discussed (Transcript of the XX conference of the NWPA dated February 1, 2001 //https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/95b/95bec63d8cb19529173d696d29c268d3.pdf ).

And on November 15, 2002, the economic association was sent a proposal for a joint discussion of the draft law "On general principles of the organization of legislative (representative) and executive bodies of State power of the subjects of the Russian Federation" at one of its meetings. But it was only in 2004 that an intermediate result was achieved: a general coordinating council was created, which included the heads of executive and legislative bodies of the subjects of the Federation ^{[14, p. 43]}. The practice of joint discussion and adoption of "coordinated decisions" with the interregional Association for Economic Cooperation "Far East and Transbaikalia" of laws and the need to amend and supplement them has become widespread in the association "Far East and Transbaikalia". But the most active cooperation with executive authorities took place in the Volga Region Association, at whose meetings issues of implementation and legislative support of priority national projects in the Volga Federal District were discussed (). Despite repeated attempts to establish cooperation between parliamentary associations and economic cooperation associations, this has not been achieved in any of the federal districts. As noted by E. M. Buchwald, O. N. Valentic, the reason for this situation was due to the lack of elaboration approved in 2001. The Government of the Russian Federation has a federal target program, within the framework of which joint efforts of interregional associations were encouraged to reduce differences in the socio-economic development of the regions of the Russian Federation, and the lack of mechanisms for solving specific specific regional problems ^{[8, p. 31]}.

In addition to issues that were in the sphere of common interests of interparliamentary associations, each of the associations focused on areas of activity reflecting the specific conditions of the federal district. In the Volga Association, which was under the full control of the representative of the President, the practice of discussing the initiatives of the president contained in the messages of the President of Russia to the Federal Assembly and developing a joint socio-economic policy in the region on this basis became widespread. The Association of the North-West was engaged in international parliamentary activities, actively cooperated with the Northern Council (Transcript of the XXVII conference of the NWPA dated September 10, 2004 from https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/74d/74df6f2736a58c31b2735cefc9a5358b.pdf ). On November 19, 2004, the NWPA adopted an appeal to the Chairman of the Federation Council with a request for assistance in strengthening and developing international parliamentary cooperation with the European Union (Transcript of the XXVIII PAZSR Conference dated November 19, 2004 https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/95b/95bec63d8cb19529173d696d29c268d3.pdf ).

Environmental issues continued to be relevant for the associations. For example, the Parliamentary Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia focused on the environmental problems of the Amur River, and also discussed the problems of zoning the North of Russia, support for small peoples of the North (Information on the work of the parliamentary association "Far East and Transbaikalia" in 2003-2004 // https://pa-dv.ru/activities/otchety/266 /). The NWPA has repeatedly appealed to the President and the Government in connection with the unsatisfactory state of enterprises dealing with radioactive waste and the situation in the North-Western region with the processing and disposal of industrial toxic waste (Transcript of the XXIV conference of the PAZSR dated November 15, 2002 https://www.vologdazso.ru/upload/iblock/b7f/b7f12bd7f5abc8d53bd5505a2ab7fe4c.pdf ). The issues of the organization of agriculture, and in general, the agro-industrial complex and forestry were discussed by the Volga Association, JURPA, associations of the Far East and Transbaikalia. In addition, the South Russian Association focused on discussing the most important issues for the south of Russia on migration, the use of marine and river water resources, and the development of fisheries (YURPA Bulletin. – 2011. – № 1-2 (11) – P. 12).

Presidential plenipotentiaries took part in the work of all four associations, but with varying degrees of intensity. In the NWPA and the Association of Parliaments of the Far East and Transbaikalia, visits to conferences and meetings of associations by representatives of the President were not systematic. The work of these associations was characterized by the presence of chief federal inspectors for the subjects of the Federation, experts from the Federation Council and the State Duma. In JURPA, each of the conferences was usually opened by the plenipotentiary or his deputy, in the Volga Association, the participation of the president's representative in the work of the association was mandatory.

It can be concluded that the prohibition of regional interference in federal competence and the redistribution of powers between the center and the regions on subjects of joint jurisdiction limit the possibilities of parliamentary associations in legislative broadcasting and coordination of legislative initiatives. During this period, the key areas of activity for interparliamentary associations are the development of legislative proposals, amendments and additions to legislative acts implementing administrative and federal reforms in the country and defining the configuration of the overall management system. A decrease in the number of issues related to general political topics can be recorded in the agendas of meetings of associations. The activities of the associations focus on discussing issues reflecting the real problems of a particular subject of the Federation and the federal District as a whole.

Conclusion

In 2000-2005, at the first stage of the federal reform, the policy towards the legislative authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation and their parliamentary associations was associated with giving the processes of interregional integration in Russia a systematic and manageable character under the conditions determined by the federal center ^{[15, p. 98]}. During this period, attempts were made to use the already established format of interregional associations – parliamentary associations and their integration potential to implement the tasks of the current federal agenda. The purpose of the policy regarding parliamentary associations was to exclude their influence on the competence of the federal center, the possibility of defending a consolidated position before the President and the Federal Assembly and inclusion in a joint orderly legislative process on subjects of joint jurisdiction of the center and the subjects of the Federation by establishing cooperation with the Federation Council through advisory councils and general coordination of their activities through authorized representatives in federal districts, both in the subjects of joint jurisdiction and in the subjects of their own jurisdiction of the subjects of the Federation. In the context of the formation of the vertical of executive power in the subjects of joint jurisdiction, it was assumed that parliamentary associations would be involved in cooperation with executive authorities and interregional associations of economic cooperation to develop programs for the socio-economic development of federal districts. 

Education in 2001-2002 The South Russian Parliamentary Association and the Association of Legislative Bodies of State Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation of the Volga Federal District complied with the requirements imposed by federal authorities - they were established within the territorial limits of federal districts and under the control of the presidential plenipotentiary representative. But in its organization and activities, YURPA was guided by the experience of the NWPA (PAZSR) and the Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia, and the Volga Association, which was under the control of the presidential plenipotentiary representative in the Federal District, was focused on the implementation of its functions and the implementation of legislative activities. The NWPA (PAZSR) and the Association of the Far East and Transbaikalia, which have been operating since the early 1990s, in response to the substantial and organizational limitations of their activities, are trying to adapt their structures to the centralizing policy of the federal center.

The activities of the associations focus on the powers under the joint jurisdiction of the center and the regions and relate to topical issues of redistribution of powers between the center and the regions, their financial support, the organization of local self–government - the main issues of building a unified management system in the country. In general, the integration potential of parliamentary associations in 2000-2005 remains quite high, they are included in the process of interregional integration controlled by the federal center. But at the same time, the task of their integration with interregional associations of economic cooperation in the process of developing strategic economic policy in the federal districts is not realized. The failures of the federal reform form the tasks for the federal government authorities to implement its next stage in relation to interregional cooperation associations.