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Resolution 1107 (1997)

Committee structure of the Assembly

Author(s): Parliamentary Assembly

Origin - Assembly debate on 27 January 1997 (lst Sitting) (see Doc. 7723Doc. 7723, report by the Committee on Rules of Procedure, rapporteur: Mr Laakso). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 January 1997 (lst Sitting).

1. The Assembly considers that the enlargement of the Council of Europe, in terms of its membership and mandate, calls for an adaptation of its committee structure with a view to rationalisation and simplification.
2. As regards the number of committees, the current structure of thirteen general committees is to be preserved subject to one modification: the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries shall cease to exist as almost all European states are already members of the Organisation or are likely to become so in the near future. Relations with the remaining European non-member states shall be maintained by the Political Affairs Committee.
3. On the other hand, the Assembly has decided to create a new general committee on the honouring of obligations and commitments by member states of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee).
4. In the interest of rationalisation, the categories of committees, at present four, shall be reduced to two. The following committees shall each have sixty-five seats: Political Affairs; Economic Affairs and Development; Social, Health and Family Affairs; Legal Affairs and Human Rights; Culture and Education; Science and Technology; Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities; Migration, Refugees and Demography. The following committees shall each have forty-five seats: Rules of Procedure; Agriculture and Rural Development; Parliamentary and Public Relations; Budget and Intergovernmental Work Programme (for the allocation of these seats, see below). Given the specific nature and composition of the Monitoring Committee, its membership is determined by a different system outlined in Resolution 1115 (1997).
5. As regards the number of vice-chairmen of committees, the Bureau of each committee shall consist of a chairman and three vice-chairmen.
6. Concerning the number of sub-committees and in accordance with Rule 46, paragraph 2, of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure, committees with sixty-five seats are authorised to set up a maximum of three, whereas committees with forty-five seats shall set up a maximum of two.
7. In accordance with Rule 43, paragraph 3, ad hoc committees shall be set up only in exceptional circumstances to deal with specific situations.
8. The Assembly underlines that the adapted structure places no additional burden on the budgets of national parliaments and will rather tend to bring about a reduction of expenses.
9. The Assembly consequently decides to amend as follows its Rules of Procedure:
10. In Rule 43, to replace paragraphs 1 and 2 by the following text:
10.1. " At the beginning of each Ordinary Session the Assembly shall set up the following general committees:
10.1.1. Political Affairs Committee (65 seats);
10.1.2. Committee on Economic Affairs and Development (65 seats);
10.1.3. Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee (65 seats);
10.1.4. Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (65 seats);
10.1.5. Committee on Culture and Education (65 seats);
10.1.6. Committee on Science and Technology (65 seats);
10.1.7. Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities (65 seats);
10.1.8. Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography (65 seats);
10.1.9. Committee on Rules of Procedure (45 seats);
10.1.10. Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (45 seats);
10.1.11. Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations (45 seats);
10.1.12. Committee on the Budget and Intergovernmental Work Programme (45 seats);
10.1.13. Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) (65 seats 
			(1) 
			Plus the ex officio members.).
10.1.14. France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United Kingdom shall have three seats in each of the first eight committees and two seats in the next four committees.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine shall have two seats in each of the first eight committees and one seat in the next four committees.
Albania, Andorra, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Norway, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" shall have one seat in each of the first twelve committees. 
			(2) 
			For the composition of the Monitoring Committee, see Resolution 1115 (1997).
10.2. In Rule 43, after paragraph 2, to add the following new paragraph:"3. In accordance with Resolution 1115 (1997), the Assembly shall set up a committee on the honouring of obligations and commitments by member states of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee)."
10.3. In Rule 45, paragraph 3, to replace the words "two vice-chairmen" by the words "three vice-chairmen"
11. This resolution shall enter into force on the last day of the second part of the 1997 Ordinary Session of the Assembly (25 April) except for the composition of the bureau of each committee (chairman and three vice-chairmen) which shall enter into force immediately.