Opinion No. 256 (2005)1
Budgets of the Council of Europe for the
financial year 2006
1.
The Parliamentary Assembly welcomes the holding in Warsaw of the 3rd
Summit of Heads of State and
Government of the Council of Europe which has reaffirmed the Council of
Europe’s central mission and role in Europe’s political and institutional
architecture. The ambitious action plan which has just been adopted
undeniably gives the Council a central position in a Europe which is to be
free of dividing lines and founded on common values, built around human
rights, democracy and the rule of law, while also finding expression in the
areas of social cohesion and cultural co-operation.
2. Obviously, this mission
cannot be properly discharged unless the Organisation is given adequate
human and financial resources.
3.
In this connection, the Assembly is concerned at the present situation
of the European Court of
Human Rights, whose funding remains glaringly inadequate in spite of the
efforts made in the last few years to keep pace with its increasing
workload. Failing adequate provisions, the Assembly fears that the Court’s
funding requirements may prejudice the needs of other Council of Europe
activities and wreck the ambitious action plan from the outset. It welcomes
the decision to establish a group of wise persons to consider the issue of
the long-term effectiveness of the Court’s control mechanism and looks
forward to receiving the group’s proposals.
4. The Assembly therefore
reiterates its request to the Committee of Ministers to discard the
principle of zero growth in real terms, which has been adopted in recent
years for the Council of Europe budget, in
favour of positive growth in real terms. It urges the governments of the
member states to continue honouring their financial obligations by giving
the Council of Europe sufficient budgetary resources to respond to the
growing challenges which it faces and achieve the objectives set at the
summit.
5. Bearing in mind that it is
politically crucial to ensure that the gap between European Union and
non-European Union states in the Council of Europe does not widen, the
Assembly asks the governments of member states to give the Organisation the
human and financial resources which are essential for it to continue and
further develop the quality and range of its assistance and co-operation
programmes.
6. The Assembly reminds the
Committee of Ministers of its statutory obligation (Article 38.e) to
provide adequate financial resources whenever it takes political decisions
which create more work for the Organisation.
7.
To make management of the Organisation’s expenditure and needs more
flexible, the Assembly asks the Committee of Ministers to consider measures,
which it proposed in its
Opinions Nos. 236 (2002),
243 (2003)
and
248 (2004), and in particular
to:
i. explore the possibility of
replacing the present annual budget with a two-year or even multi-annual
budget, following the example of countries like the United Kingdom and
other international organisations like the United Nations or the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which have
two-year budgets, or the European Union which, if the European
Constitution is adopted, envisages having multi-annual budgets. This would
enable the Organisation to plan and implement multi-annual projects with
the certainty of adequate funding;
ii.
review the criteria set out in Resolution (94) 31 whereby the contributions
of the five major
contributors were reduced to only 12.32% of the ordinary budget and to
revise the method for calculating contributions through the inclusion
of a
clause setting a minimum contribution to be paid by each member state
which would cover the actual cost of its membership. Countries unable to
meet this outlay would be granted a rebate. In this context, the Assembly
wishes to underline that any possible changes in the criteria set out
in
Resolution (94) 31 should not be used to reduce the Organisation’s
overall budget.
8. The Assembly welcomes the
signature by a significant number of member states, at the Warsaw Summit, of
three major conventions concerning the fight against terrorism and the fight
against trafficking in human beings (CETS Nos. 196, 197 and 198).
Furthermore, with regard to the increased ratification of treaty monitoring
arrangements by member states, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of
Ministers pay closer attention to the growing needs associated with these
arrangements, resulting in an additional strain on human and financial
resources.
9.
Believing that full compliance with the statutory rules on decision making
would facilitate the
taking of budgetary decisions by the Committee of Ministers and prevent
blockages, the Assembly encourages all member states to play a bigger part
in discussion of the budget and considers that the Committee of Ministers
should take decisions on adoption of the Council of Europe’s budget
by a majority, in accordance with Article 20.d of the Statute.
10. The Assembly regrets that
current arrangements for consultation are not entirely satisfactory since
they do not allow it to influence either the overall amount or the
implementation of the budget. It accordingly considers that the time has
come to make proposals on giving it budgetary powers of the kind normally
exercised by parliamentary assemblies. In particular, it asks the Committee
of Ministers to ensure that there is genuine consultation when the budget is
being prepared. Specifically, this means that it should be consulted on the
ceiling for the next financial year.
11.
The Assembly asks the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General
to send it all the
documents it needs to assess the programmes conducted by the Council of
Europe and the implementation of the budget. In this context, it refers to
the communication from the Committee of Ministers on examination of the
budget of the Council of Europe by the Consultative Assembly (Document
342
of 9 May 1955) in which the Committee of Ministers “instructed the Secretary
General to transmit to the Assembly documentation comprising the final
audited accounts for the previous financial year and the budget for the
current financial year”.
12. The Assembly considers
that the time has also come to give it budgetary powers corresponding
to its status as the Council of
Europe’s parliamentary and political body. It considers its present
subordinate position incompatible with the principles of a genuine
parliamentary democracy. It requests that it be given at least
co-decision-making power to determine its operating budget, in accordance
with its
Recommendations 1155 (1991) and
1344 (1997).
In particular, the Assembly, basing itself on Article 41.d of the
Council of Europe’s Statute concerning amendments, which states that “amendments
to Articles 23 to 35 [on the Assembly], 38 and 39 [on finance] which have
been approved by the Committee [of Ministers] and by the Assembly shall come
into force on the date of the certificate of the Secretary General,
transmitted to the governments of members, certifying that they have been so
approved”, suggests that the Committee of Ministers add to Article
38 of the Statute, after paragraph c, a new paragraph, worded as
follows:
“The
Assembly shall determine the amount of its expenditure, the growth
rate being agreed between the Committee of
Ministers and the Assembly.”
In this connection, the Assembly points out that the
simplified procedure provided for in Article 41.d was already used
to supplement this article in 1951 and that the full procedure for
amendment of the Statute is not required.
13. As regards the 2005 ordinary
budget, the Assembly welcomes the decision of the Government of the Russian
Federation to maintain its financial contribution at the same level as those
of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, but regrets its use of
blocking tactics, which resulted in the late adoption of the budget. Having
regard to the interests at stake and to its chairmanship of the Organisation
in 2006, it trusts that the Russian Federation will not forfeit its status
as a major contributor.
14. The Assembly notes with
interest the efforts made to achieve administrative modernisation within the
Secretariat, and particularly the new presentation of the 2005 budget which
highlights objectives and results. In this connection, it would like to be
kept regularly informed of progress made and difficulties encountered in
implementing projects in the programme of activities (evaluation of
results). It also stresses that modernisation entails expenditure and
requires appropriate financial resources.
15.
By focusing on expected results, the new budget method gives the Assembly
the information it needs
to assess the soundness of the Council of Europe’s programme of activities.
This is why it would also like to receive the Secretary General’s evaluation
report for the Committee of Ministers which would allow it to assess the
validity and outcome of the Council’s various activities and make any
necessary recommendations on improving, rectifying, redirecting or even
dropping some of them, for the purpose of ensuring that the programme fully
meets the needs and expectations of member states, in keeping with the aims
of the Organisation.
16.
The Assembly unreservedly supports the action priorities aimed at maintaining
assistance to South-East
Europe and the Caucasus, as well as Moldova and Ukraine, in their democratic
and peaceful development, and contributing to the democratic rehabilitation
of the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation. Other priority areas
include promoting social cohesion, cultural diversity and intercultural
dialogue and continuing the Organisation’s fight against terrorism,
including its financing.
17.
The Assembly welcomes the furthering and deepening of co-operation with
the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union, which has led to
the completion of a number of joint programmes, particularly those conducted
in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro (including
Kosovo). It is also convinced that the Council of Europe’s field policy,
which has resulted in the establishment of Council of Europe offices and the
appointment of the Secretary General’s special representatives, has
significantly enhanced the implementation and pursuit of the Organisation’s
assistance programmes and made for better on-the-spot co-ordination between
international organisations, thereby strengthening the Council of Europe’s
co-operation with the countries concerned.
18. The Assembly considers the
signature of a joint declaration between the Council of Europe and the OSCE
on co-operation and complementarity between the two organisations as a step
in the right direction. In this context, it strongly encourages the
Committee of Ministers to continue intensifying and rationalising
co-operation between the Council of Europe and the OSCE, with a view to
generating new synergies and co-ordinating their respective activities more
effectively and to draw up an outline agreement for this purpose.
19.
While welcoming the European Commission’s decision to appoint a Strasbourg-based representative to the
Council of Europe, the Assembly further recommends that the Committee of
Ministers develop the closest possible links with the European Union, as
well as more diversified forms of co-operation, especially as regards
intergovernmental and assistance programmes. In particular, it thinks it
vital that the Council of Europe’s Secretary General and the Committee of
Ministers open negotiations with the European Commission on an institutional
partnership, giving the Council of Europe a unique and special link with the
European Union and allowing it to work with the latter as a full partner.
Such a link is fully justified not only by the Council of Europe’s
pan-European dimension but also by the wealth of experience and expertise
it has built up over a long period in dealing with the democratic, human
rights
and rule of law issues which underpin the types of programme on which it
co-operates with the European Union.
20. In this context, the
Assembly welcomes the guidelines on the relations between the Council of
Europe and the European Union as defined in the action plan adopted at the
Warsaw Summit and the decision taken by heads of states and governments of
member states to instruct Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister and
Minister of Finance of Luxembourg, to draw up, in a personal capacity, a
report on relations between the Council of Europe and the European Union on
the basis of the decisions taken at the summit.
21. Finally, the Assembly
encourages the Committee of Ministers to continue to make provision for the
field mission reserve which enables the Council of Europe to react swiftly
to unforeseen political developments.
22.
The Assembly notes with satisfaction the progress made in the reform
of human resources policy and
particularly the emphasis on skills management, career development and
mobility, not forgetting the integration of people with disabilities. It
recommends that the Council of Europe pay special attention in its future
recruitment policy to the principles of equal opportunity and fair
geographical distribution which is based on member states’ mandatory
contributions.
23.
The Assembly also notes with satisfaction the decisions taken to assist
the early departure of permanent
staff members. It accordingly proposes that the Committee of Ministers adopt
a standing arrangement available to all staff for early termination of
service and suggests that the existing appropriation in the ordinary
budget
be made an item of recurrent expenditure in order to speed up the turnover
of the Organisation’s human resources and promote systematic and
efficient redeployment of staff.
24.
The Assembly also asks the Committee of Ministers to increase the aggregate
financial resources
allocated to staff members’ training which amount to only 0.5% of the
Organisation’s payroll. Here it should be pointed out that in many member
states the financial resources allocated to this head of expenditure
represent 1% to 2.5% of the total wage bill.
25.
In view of the ongoing negotiations on future salary adjustments for
all six co-ordinated
organisations – the Council of Europe, the European Centre for Medium-Range
Weather Forecasts, the European Space Agency, NATO, the OECD and the Western
European Union – the Assembly urges the governments of Council of Europe
member states to participate fully in the work of the Co-ordinating
Committee on Remuneration as the appropriate forum for discussion of all
questions relating to the remuneration of staff of the co-ordinated
organisations. In this connection, the Assembly restates its view, already
set out in Recommendation 1488 (2000),
that an objective and mathematical method for salary adjustments must be
established in order to enable the secretaries general of these six
international institutions to recruit, retain and motivate highly trained,
competent and independent staff. It is therefore crucial that staff
remuneration remain competitive with regard to three recruitment markets,
namely the private sector, national civil services and international civil
servants, also taking the European Union into consideration.
1. Text adopted by the Standing Committee acting on behalf of the
Assembly on 6 June 2005 (see
Doc. 10558, report of
the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, rapporteur: Mr Rigoni).
