Written declaration No. 462 | Doc. 12418 | 18 October 2010

Council of Europe reform: participation of civil society in danger

Signatories: Mr Paul WILLE, Belgium ; Ms Fátima ABURTO BASELGA, Spain, SOC ; Mr Artsruni AGHAJANYAN, Armenia, NR ; Ms Meritxell BATET, Spain, SOC ; Mr Telmo CORREIA, Portugal, EDG ; Mr Miljenko DORIĆ, Croatia, ALDE ; Ms Lydie ERR, Luxembourg, SOC ; Mr Bill ETHERINGTON, United Kingdom ; Mr Joseph FALZON, Malta, EPP/CD ; Mr Valeriy FEDOROV, Russian Federation, EDG ; Mr Tamás GAUDI NAGY, Hungary, NR ; Mr Aristophanes GEORGIOU, Cyprus, UEL ; Ms Svetlana GORYACHEVA, Russian Federation, SOC ; Mr John GREENWAY, United Kingdom ; Ms Annette GROTH, Germany, UEL ; Mr Mike HANCOCK, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Norbert HAUPERT, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Ms Olha HERASYM'YUK, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Françoise HOSTALIER, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Rafael HUSEYNOV, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Mr Jean HUSS, Luxembourg, SOC ; Ms Francine JOHN-CALAME, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Virág KAUFER, Hungary, SOC ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Tiny KOX, Netherlands, UEL ; Mr Jaakko LAAKSO, Finland, UEL ; Mr Geert LAMBERT, Belgium ; Mr Aleksei LOTMAN, Estonia, UEL ; Mr Dirk Van der MAELEN, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Christine MARIN, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Bernard MARQUET, Monaco, ALDE ; Ms Christine McCAFFERTY, United Kingdom ; Sir Alan MEALE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr José MENDES BOTA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr João Bosco MOTA AMARAL, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Hermine NAGHDALYAN, Armenia, ALDE ; Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands ; Mr Joseph O'REILLY, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Ms Elsa PAPADIMITRIOU, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Dimitrios PAPADIMOULIS, Greece, UEL ; Mr Valery PARFENOV, Russian Federation, EDG ; Mr Ivan POPESCU, Ukraine, SOC ; Mr Christos POURGOURIDES, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Mr Gabino PUCHE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Lluís Maria de PUIG i OLIVE, Spain, SOC ; Mr René ROUQUET, France, SOC ; Ms Marlene RUPPRECHT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Giacinto RUSSO, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Armen RUSTAMYAN, Armenia, SOC ; Mr Marc SPAUTZ, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Ms Karin STRENZ, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Valeriy SUDARENKOV, Russian Federation, SOC ; Ms Elke TINDEMANS, Belgium ; Mr Latchezar TOSHEV, Bulgaria, EPP/CD ; Mr Mustafa ÜNAL, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Betty WILLIAMS, United Kingdom ; Ms Renate WOHLWEND, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD ; Ms Gisela WURM, Austria, SOC ; Mr Jordi XUCLÀ, Spain, ALDE ; Ms Naira ZOHRABYAN, Armenia, ALDE

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

The undersigned members of the Parliamentary Assembly:

• honor the Council of Europe institutional structure, the “quadrilogue” guaranteeing the synergy between the highest levels of decision-making, citizens and the grass-roots of the society;
• underline the role of the International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGO) Conference in this structure as a voice of people in Europe of all political outlooks and all social and cultural origins;
• are concerned about the Council of Europe planned financial reform, proposed within the framework of 2011 budget, foreseeing over a 50% reduction in the INGOs Conference budget (which represented 0,52% of the 2010 global budget);
• underline that such budgetary cuts would sacrifice the Conference of INGOs activities and means of subsistence;
• urge the Committee of Ministers to consider other means of rationalisation and saving and to review the draft budget for 2011 accordingly.