In 15 May 2005, a memorandum establishing guidelines of cooperation between public authorities and NGOs was agreed upon. So far, 61 national NGOs have endorsed it.
The Civic Alliance Latvia (CAL) briefly summarised the positive aspects of the document:
Foreseen co-financing for Latvian NGOs from state budget to enable the use of EU funds
Preferencial tax system for NGOs giving social services
Foreseen use of EEA Grants (European Economic Area’s and Norwegian financing instruments)
Weaknesses in the document include:
Underdeveloped implementation mechanisms
No support for the proposal to shift 1% from income-tax to support activities of Latvian NGOs;
The meetings and discussions between the Prime Minister and active NGOs take place twice a year after the memorandum of collaboration was signed.
