Work in the Federation Council

On December 5, 2001 Sergei Mironov was elected by the majority vote (150 votes of 156 total) to take the post of Chairman of the Federation Council, replacing his predecessor Egor Stroev. "Egor Stroev is a man who created the whole parliamentary process in Russia during the last decade. But I don't have any feeling that I'm a star, it is, in fact, quite the opposite. I feel satisfied that all the years I have studied and worked so hard are not wasted. And I am grateful to my colleagues in the Federation Council for their support", - Sergei Mironov said shortly after the election.

Right before the final vote Sergei Mironov outlined the basics of his future activities: "It is the Federation Council that should sort out and systematize the entire legal framework in Russia. And we will have to revise all the existing regulations and build a reliable law system based on them. But we should be concerned about the law enforcement practice and about the structure of our work as well".

By spring of 2002 the reorganization of the Federation Council activities was almost finished. Eighteen commissions and committees attached to the Chairman of the Federation Council were created. A different approach to the FC participation in the legislative activities of the State Duma was adopted. A better cooperation with the executive institutions and the administrative office of the president of the Russian Federation was established. Steps were taken to increase the quality of the Federation Council legislative initiatives. One of the top priority issues was still the issue of coordination of legislators' work on federal and regional levels.

On May 21, 2002 the Council on Cooperation between the Federation Council and legislative state authority bodies in the subjects of the Russian Federation (short title Legislative Council) was created. It consisted of the regional legislative assemblies leaders, and its main goal was to ensure unified legal environment throughout the Russian Federation. Its creation allowed for the system of full-scale participation of regional authorities in shaping and implementing state policies.

In order to increase the effectiveness of the Federation Council activities, in 2002 its representatives were assigned to the State Duma, the Government, General Prosecutor's office, the Accounts Chamber, Central Electoral Committee, Ministry of Justice, Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court.

The transition to a new level of cooperation between the major participants of the legislative process enabled the Federation Council to significantly increase the effectiveness of its legislative activities. During the years Sergei Mironov was the Chairman of the Federation Council, the percentage of legislative drafts set aside was constantly decreasing and amounted to 4.5 to 5% in 2002-2003 and 2 to 3% in 2004-2008 (the figure was 20 to 30% before that), and more than 98% of legislative acts approved by both chambers of the Federal Assembly took the effect.

A new strategy for cooperation development with international parliamentary organizations allowed for the appreciation of Russia's interests within international parliamentary circles and considerable growth of Federation Council authority.

On February 6, 2002 Sergei Mironov was elected Chairman of the Council of Interparliamentary Assembly of CIS member countries (IPA CIS). One of the most important lines of work for the IPA CIS was rapprochement and harmonization of CIS member countries' legislations.

During the years of its work IPA CIS adopted more than 200 documents, including Civil, Criminal, Criminal Procedural and Penitentiary Model Codes, General section of Tax model Code and several chapters of its Specific section. IPA CIS also took an active part in the development of Intergovernmental Program of CIS member countries on crime elimination, fight against international terrorism and extremism.

The Federation Council organized and hosted a number of international events important for Russia's economic development and for integration processes within CIS. In 2003 under the initiative of the Federation Council the First Urals Information Forum, later known as International, took place. Far Eastern International Economic Congress, dedicated to the cooperation with APR countries, took place in 2005 in Khabarovsk. Russia-Finland economic forum was held twice in April 2005 and October 2006.

The work of the Federation Council was appreciated internationally when it became a member of the Association of the European Senates.

Since 2001 till 2011 Sergei Mironov visited foreign countries and held meetings with heads and high-ranking members of foreign parliaments on a regular basis. During his years as Chairman of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov made more than 150 official visits to different countries of the world.

Working visits to the subjects of the Russian Federation were also an integral part of the Chairman's responsibilities. According to Sergei Mironov, those visits helped him to get a better idea of the situation in the regions, and the information he obtained was used to deal with the regional issues. In first few years of his work as the Chairman of the Federation Council, Sergei Mironov visited over 50 subjects of the Russian Federation.

Sergei Mironov was called off from his post of the representative of St Petersburg legislative assembly to the Federation Council on May 18 on the initiative of United Russia faction during the plenary session of St. Petersburg legislative assembly, and as a result he lost his position at the Federation Council as well. Right before this happened he made a very remarkable and a rather piercing public political speech.

May 25, 2011 was the day Sergei Mironov last visited the Federation Council and made a farewell speech, summing up the results of almost a decade of his work as the Chairman of the Federation Council.

"Our chamber has become a professional regional representatives' house. And the longer the Federation Council stays this way, having no political factions inside it, the better. The best way to form the Federation Council is through direct election of the senators", - Sergei Mironov said in his speech.

"I don't want to throw facts and figures in your face, I have them and I have regularly reported the results of my work to the deputies of the Legislative Assembly. Therefore, the only reason they want to call me off before my term ends is political prosecution for my beliefs", - Sergei Mironov wrote in his personal blog two weeks before he was called off from the Federation Council.

"I've always known that I'm like a red rag to a bull for the United Russia officials. I never let the party factions into the Federation Council, and I believe the mere fact that as of 2002 political party factions are prohibited from the Federation Council is a collegial achievement for me and my fellow senators in the Federation Council".