Report | Doc. 14319 | 09 May 2017

Expenditure of the Parliamentary Assembly for the biennium 2018-2019

Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs

Rapporteur : Mr George LOUCAIDES, Cyprus, UEL

Origin - Reference to committee: Bureau decision, Reference 4271 of 23 January 2017. 2017 - May Standing Committee

Summary

The programme of activities of the Parliamentary Assembly for the biennium 2018-2019 will follow the priorities set out by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in combating the rise of populism and extremism, to deal with the crisis of refugees and migrants and to fight against terrorism. The Assembly will also strengthen its action in the area of social rights, so that the Council of Europe contributes to the building of a more harmonised social and inclusive Europe. As part of its programme of co-operation, the Assembly will continue its policy of seeking financial resources from governments and parliaments or the European Union with a view to implementing several multilateral projects aimed at promoting European and international standards focusing more particularly on terrorism, migrants, diaspora policies, hate speech and racism, and the protection of public health and that of children. Furthermore, the Assembly will develop awareness-raising activities for the parliaments on their role in the implementation of the judgments and case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

A. Draft resolution

(open)

1. In pursuance of Committee of Ministers Resolution (53) 38 on the budgetary system of the Consultative Assembly and Article 24 of the Financial Regulations, the Parliamentary Assembly issues an opinion concerning the expenditure relating to its operation. Since 2010, the Assembly has been presenting the opinion concerning its own expenditure in the form of a resolution, which in this case refers to the biennium 2018-2019. The amounts allocated to the Assembly in the ordinary budget of the Council of Europe cover its expenditure on staff and the costs associated with its own functioning and the functioning of its political groups.

2. Growing economic and social inequalities in Europe and beyond and increased poverty and social exclusion are providing fertile ground for populism, extremism, racism, xenophobia and terrorism to develop, thus undermining Council of Europe core values and principles. The Assembly believes that the Council of Europe is the European organisation best suited to countering these threats and taking up these challenges while promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

3. The Assembly fully endorses the three priority themes of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for the next biennium, namely tackling the rise in populism, dealing with the refugee and migrant crisis and combating terrorism. It believes that the upsurge in populism in Europe and beyond and the general rise in all forms of extremism that breed hatred is playing a part in destabilising our democracies. That is why the Assembly has made combating this trend the core task of its No Hate Alliance and more generally of its work for the 2018-2019 biennium.

4. In the area of election observation, the Assembly will pay close attention to the dangers of the increase in populist and extremist tendencies in election campaigns, in particular through media coverage of elections and the social media.

5. With regard to the issue of migrants and refugees, the Assembly will focus its work on migrants’ access to rights, problems in terms of reception, transit and integration and humanitarian operations relating to the migration crisis, as well as the issue of migrant children and young people.

6. The Assembly will also continue its visits to reception and detention centres for refugees and asylum seekers, as well as its campaign to end immigration detention of children. Lastly, regional political contexts will remain on its agenda in relation not only to the consequences of conflicts outside Europe but also to those remaining within Europe.

7. With regard to the fight against terrorism, the Assembly will focus more particularly on the growing number of women and girls willing to join Daesh and on the question of “terrorists acting alone”. In this connection, the Assembly calls for strengthening mutual assistance between member States in terrorist cases.

8. Among the other aspects of the fight against terrorism, the Assembly will propose activities aimed at prosecuting and punishing the crimes against humanity committed by Daesh and intends to look into states of emergency and problems of proportionality concerning the derogations granted under Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5), as well as the compatibility of Sharia law with the Convention.

9. The Assembly also wishes to strengthen its action in the area of social rights with the aim of combating the ever widening social and economic inequality in Europe. In addition, it intends to support all initiatives aimed at making the European Social Charter system the basis for the social pillar of the European Union so as to help build a more harmonised social and inclusive Europe.

10. In terms of combating corruption, the Assembly intends to strengthen the machinery for implementing the code of conduct for members of the Assembly and related sanctions, as well as the rules governing lobbying. To that end, the Assembly has stepped up its co-operation with the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) with a view to assessing the Assembly’s integrity framework and its machinery for implementing rules of conduct. Moreover, with regard to the allegations of corruption in the Assembly, on 25 April 2017, the Assembly ratified the terms of reference of the independent external investigation body.

11. The Assembly will also continue to support certain awareness-raising campaigns on key themes, including in particular:

11.1. the Parliamentary Network “Women Free from Violence”;

11.2. the Anti-corruption Parliamentary Platform;

11.3. the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance;

11.4. the Parliamentary Campaign to End Immigration Detention of Children (launched in 2015).

12. In addition, following United Nations General Assembly Resolution 70/1, adopted on 25 September 2015, “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, the Assembly intends to take into account in its future work the various sustainable development goals defined by the United Nations, some of which are central to its remit and those of its committees.

13. Lastly, the Assembly will continue to carry out the activities provided for in its Rules of Procedure by holding various elections in accordance with statutory and convention requirements (Commissioner for Human Rights, Secretary General, judges of the European Court of Human Rights), promoting the various European distinctions it awards (the Europe Prize, the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, the Museum Prize) and observing elections.

14. With reference to interparliamentary co-operation, the Assembly will continue to implement various assistance and co-operation programmes suited to the needs of parliamentary institutions, in close co-operation with the committee secretariats and the Directorate General of Programmes. These co-operation activities are mainly financed through voluntary contributions from the member States and joint programmes with the European Union, in particular the South Programme (SPII) and the Eastern Partnership Programmatic Cooperation Framework (PCF), which has been extended for a three-year period ending in 2020. In addition, a number of action plans launched in 2017 will be continued in 2018-2019, in particular those concerning Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine.

15. The Assembly will also continue its policy of seeking financial resources from governments and parliaments with a view to implementing in 2018-2019 several multilateral projects aimed at promoting European and international standards through parliamentary action, focusing more particularly on diaspora policies, social rights, the No Hate Alliance and the protection of public and child health.

16. At the same time, through these various co-operation programmes, the Assembly intends to develop awareness-raising activities for parliamentarians and parliamentary officials on the question of national implementation of the judgments and case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

17. The Assembly wishes to express its sincere appreciation to those member States and their parliaments (in particular Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland) which, through their contributions, have enabled it to finance activities relating in particular to the promotion of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210, “Istanbul Convention”) and the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201, “Lanzarote Convention”) and the outreach and prestige of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.

18. As regards external communication and visibility, the Assembly will continue its modernisation efforts, through technical developments concerning its website, with the incorporation of a VOD (video on demand) system. This policy also seeks to improve integration of Assembly members, so that their work within the Assembly is given a higher profile on their own websites and those of national parliaments.

19. The Assembly thanks the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for the major renovation work in the Assembly chamber scheduled for the next biennium under the Council of Europe’s “Capital Master Plan”. The work due to take place from February 2018 to March 2019 will oblige the Assembly to hold the plenary sittings of four part-sessions elsewhere. High-level contacts have been made with the European Parliament, which has agreed to the Assembly’s plenary sessions being held in its chamber during this period, as well as the 2018 session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the World Forum for Democracy (November 2018). Nevertheless, some expenditure relating to security and organisational matters will have to be borne by the Assembly in the case of the plenary sittings to be held in the chamber of the European Parliament.

20. With regard to the budget for the next biennium, and given the member States’ current policy of maintaining zero nominal growth in their contributions to the Organisation’s ordinary budget (contributions are frozen at their current level with no adjustment for inflation), the Secretary General has asked all entities, including the Assembly, to submit budgetary proposals on the basis of the appropriations received in 2017, while taking account of the need to identify savings so as to offset the rate of increase in the ordinary budget (to offset the impact of inflation) and any salary adjustments in 2018 and 2019.

21. The Assembly will have to identify the funds needed to cover the salary adjustments for its staff within its current appropriations package. The adjustment, the level of which will be known in the last quarter of 2017, is determined by a reliable and predictable mathematical method for calculating salaries shared by the co-ordinated organisations and based on the trend in civil service salaries in eight European reference countries. Given current estimates based on the figures from previous years, it is necessary to identify savings in the order of 1.5% of the Assembly’s appropriations for the first year of the biennium, namely a total of €261 400.

22. If this sum were to be deducted from the budget on a pro rata basis for staff and operational expenditure, the Assembly would have to cut €150 000 in staff appropriations (or the equivalent of one A2/3 post and one B2 post) and €111 400 in operational appropriations.

23. The Assembly regrets the current budget policy which has the effect of financing salary adjustments through cuts in posts and positions. It should be noted that, over the last four years, the Assembly has had to reduce its staff by six posts or positions (1 A6, 1A2/3, 3 B2 and 1 C4) to cover not only the salary increases but also the technical abatements on the payroll imposed by the Committee of Ministers.

24. The Assembly reiterates its call on member States to return to zero real growth, that is to say at least to include inflation (which currently stands at 0.5% in France) in their contributions, so as to stop the erosion of the Organisation’s financial resources and hence the budget cuts affecting all Council of Europe departments which will ultimately cancel out the positive impact of Turkey’s decision to become a major contributor.

Appended to this resolution are:

i. a brief explanation of the main items of expenditure;

ii. a table setting out the Assembly’s work programme according to the results-based budgeting method.

(open)

Appendix 1 – Expenditure of the Assembly

Vote III – Staff expenditure

1. This appropriation corresponds to the basic salaries, allowances (non-recurring and periodic) and social cover of the permanent staff of the secretariat of the Assembly and of temporary staff.

2. The information provided here is based on the current structure of the Assembly comprising nine committees: the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe has 93 seats, the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy has 87 seats and the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights 86 seats. Four other committees have 81 seats. The Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs has 38 seats and the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights 22 seats. As at 1 January 2017, the secretariat comprised 83 permanent posts, four structural fixed-term positions, one fixed-term position in respect of a programme, one seconded staff member and one specially appointed official, broken down as follows:

Permanent posts
1 specially appointed official
1 A7	1 B6
1 A6	5 B5
8 A5	10 B4
11 A4	17 B3
23 A2/A3	6 B2

Positions
3 A2/A3	1 B5 (programme)
	1 B3

Seconded
1 A2/3

3. At present, the secretariat of the Assembly is organised so that the nine Assembly committees have 49 staff working for them (including 30 A-grade and 17 B-grade permanent staff members on posts, one B-grade staff member on a fixed-term position and one seconded A-grade staff member).

4. The remaining 41 staff members (one specially appointed official, 40 permanent staff members) work for the Bureau of the Assembly, the Private Office of the President of the Assembly, the Table Office, the Election Observation Division, the Parliamentary Projects Support Division, the Central Division, the Communication Division and the Information Technology Unit.

5. In addition, over the two previous biennial budgets (2014-2015 and 2016-2017) and on account of the zero nominal growth policy, the Assembly reduced the number of its posts and positions (1 A6, 1A2/3, 3 B2 and 1 C4) and its temporary staff appropriations in order to cover the technical abatements on the payroll imposed by the Committee of Ministers and the salary adjustments adopted at the co-ordinated organisations.

Supplies, services and other operational expenditure

1. In recent years, the Assembly has made substantial savings by rationalising its work to reduce its operational expenditure. In 2016, the Assembly’s overall budget increased to take account of the introduction of Turkish as a working language (as regards interpretation and translation).

2. The functioning of the Assembly covers the following range of tasks:

the holding of the ordinary session, divided into four part-sessions (taking place in January, April, June and September/October of each year);

meetings of the Standing Committee between the part-sessions, held at a frequency of three meetings per year;

meetings, at times other than the four part-sessions of the Assembly, for each of the nine general committees, the sub-committees, the ad hoc committees of the Assembly or of the Bureau;

committee or sub-committee meetings outside Strasbourg or Paris;

conferences, colloquies, seminars and parliamentary hearings;

activities coming under the Assembly’s programme of interparliamentary co-operation;

visits by rapporteurs in connection with the preparation of reports, including to countries subject to monitoring of the honouring of member States’ obligations and commitments or to the post-monitoring dialogue;

election observation.

3. In 2018-2019, the Assembly will continue to carry out its priority tasks and pursue its objectives:

strengthening the Assembly’s political relevance and effectiveness;

establishing a sound ethical framework for its members with the support of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and ensuring effective compliance with it;

raising the profile of the work of the Assembly and of its members;

improving Assembly members’ participation, while reinforcing interaction between the Assembly and national parliaments;

strengthening the capacity for interparliamentary co-operation throughout Europe, including co-operation with national parliaments holding partner for democracy status and with the European Parliament and other European Union institutions;

helping national parliaments to check the conformity of legislation with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) more effectively and strengthen their ability to monitor the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

4. During the next biennium, the Assembly will also implement a number of activities directly related to the three priority areas of action of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe: combating populism, the migration issue and terrorism.

5. The rise in populism, corruption and political governance are among the priority themes for several committees for the 2018-2019 biennium (Honouring of Obligations and Commitments, Political Affairs and Democracy, Equality and Non-Discrimination, Culture, Science, Education and Media, and Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs), with several reports planned in this connection.

6. The migrant issue will remain a priority for the Assembly, which in 2018 and 2019 will continue its work on migrants’ access to rights, problems in terms of reception, transit and integration and humanitarian operations relating to the migration crisis.

7. In addition, the Assembly will continue to give close consideration to all other issues, in particular social rights. In this context, it intends taking account in its work of the sustainable development goals defined in Resolution 70/1, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2015, on “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

8. In the area of election observation, the Assembly will pay close attention to the dangers of the increase in populism and extremism in connection with electoral legislation and its implementation and during election campaigns, in particular through media coverage of elections and the social media.

9. With regard to its assistance and co-operation programmes, the Assembly will continue to implement activities suited to parliamentary institutions’ needs and linked to the Council of Europe’s priorities, in close co-operation with its various committees. The programmes cover the following areas: sexual violence against children, violence against women, the No Hate Alliance, the campaign to end immigration detention of children, the anti-corruption platform and implementation of several action plans (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Ukraine). Most of the co-operation activities are funded with extrabudgetary resources. In 2016, the Assembly received €751 691 in extrabudgetary contributions (voluntary contributions and joint programmes with the European Union) for its various thematic activities (campaigns, action plans and parliamentary dimension of joint programmes).

10. The Assembly will also continue to support its political groups through their allocation, which is based on a lump sum for secretarial assistance paid to each of the existing groups along with an additional per capita amount which varies according to their membership.

11. To sum up, the draft budget for 2018 and 2019 in real terms (not including inflation, salary adjustments and the possible freezing or abolishment of posts or positions), which includes pension contributions for staff, amounts to:

Year	Staff	Other expenditure	Total
2018	€11 312 600	€6 113 700	€17 426 300
2019	€11 312 600	€6 113 700	€17 426 300

For information, the budget for 2017:

2017

€11 434 600

€6 113 700

€17 548 300

12. This sum of €17 548 300 corresponds to the 2017 budget adopted by the Committee of Ministers, including the additional appropriations granted for the remuneration of a national civil servant seconded to the Assembly for 2017. It does not take account of a reduction of €81 000 in staff expenditure to cover the 2017 salary adjustment.

Adjusted 2017 budget (following reduction of the staff appropriations to cover the 2017 salary adjustment):

2017

€11 353 600

€6 113 700

€17 467 300

(open)

Appendix 2 – Functioning of the Assembly

Intervention logic	Performance indicators
Expected result 1 The part-sessions were provided with an efficient secretariat in line with Assembly members’ expectations.	Percentage of registered speakers able to take the floor (target 70%) (68.18% in 2016).
Expected result 2 Committee meetings, hearings and conferences were provided with an efficient secretariat in conformity with members’ decisions.	– Number of meetings per committee held each year (target no more than 10 per committee) (70 in 2016 for 9 committees). – Number of conferences and hearings organised with committee meetings.
Expected result 3 Parliaments of relevant member States have benefited from interparliamentary co-operation programmes implemented to respond to specific needs and priorities of the Council of Europe and national parliaments.	– Number of seminars/conferences held in connection with Assembly co-operation programmes.
Expected result 4 The Assembly and parliaments of relevant member States have received observation reports which evaluate parliamentary or presidential elections and include targeted recommendations.	– Number of election observation mission reports adopted by the Assembly. – Evidence of improvement (change in national law and practices) following previous visits.
Expected result 5 Public opinion in member States has been informed of the activities of the Assembly and of its members through traditional and social media.	– Number of articles published in print media in which activities of the Assembly are reflected (target: 2 500) (3 758 in 2016). – Percentage increase in the number of external users of Assembly’s website (target 2% increase) (2 454 000 pages viewed in 2016). – Number of interviews via the Media box (target: 100) (240 in 2016).

Intervention logic

Performance indicators

Expected result 1

The part-sessions were provided with an efficient secretariat in line with Assembly members’ expectations.

Percentage of registered speakers able to take the floor (target 70%) (68.18% in 2016).

Expected result 2

Committee meetings, hearings and conferences were provided with an efficient secretariat in conformity with members’ decisions.

– Number of meetings per committee held each year (target no more than 10 per committee) (70 in 2016 for 9 committees).

– Number of conferences and hearings organised with committee meetings.

Expected result 3

Parliaments of relevant member States have benefited from interparliamentary co-operation programmes implemented to respond to specific needs and priorities of the Council of Europe and national parliaments.

– Number of seminars/conferences held in connection with Assembly co-operation programmes.

Expected result 4

The Assembly and parliaments of relevant member States have received observation reports which evaluate parliamentary or presidential elections and include targeted recommendations.

– Number of election observation mission reports adopted by the Assembly.

– Evidence of improvement (change in national law and practices) following previous visits.

Expected result 5

Public opinion in member States has been informed of the activities of the Assembly and of its members through traditional and social media.

– Number of articles published in print media in which activities of the Assembly are reflected (target: 2 500) (3 758 in 2016).

– Percentage increase in the number of external users of Assembly’s website (target 2% increase) (2 454 000 pages viewed in 2016).

– Number of interviews via the Media box (target: 100) (240 in 2016).

B. Explanatory memorandum by Mr George Loucaides, rapporteur

(open)

1. This report gives a comprehensive overview of the Parliamentary Assembly’s expenditure for the budget years 2018 and 2019. The Assembly’s expenditure is included in the “Democracy” chapter of the ordinary budget of the Council of Europe. This covers all costs inherent in the Assembly’s functioning, including expenditure on staff and costs associated with the functioning of the political groups. The budgetary appropriation does not, however, cover telephone bills, office supplies and equipment or other consumables, which are items of expenditure common to all departments within the Organisation.

2. The proposals regarding the amount to be allocated to the Assembly for 2018 and 2019 have been made in accordance with the decision to draw up the budget and programme of the Council of Europe on a biennial basis for these two years.

3. The functioning of the Assembly covers the following range of tasks:

the holding of the ordinary session, divided into four part-sessions (taking place in January, April, June and September/October of each year);

meetings of the Standing Committee between the Assembly’s part-sessions, held at a frequency of three meetings per year;

meetings, at times other than the four part-sessions of the Assembly, for each of the nine general committees, the sub-committees, the ad hoc committees of the Assembly or of the Bureau and specialised working parties;

committee or sub-committee meetings outside Strasbourg or Paris;

conferences, colloquies, seminars and parliamentary hearings;

activities coming under the Assembly’s programme of interparliamentary co-operation;

visits by rapporteurs in connection with the preparation of reports, including to countries subject to monitoring of the honouring of member States’ obligations and commitments or to the post-monitoring dialogue;

election observation.

4. For 2018-2019, the Assembly’s priority tasks and its objectives are as follows:

strengthening the Assembly’s political relevance and effectiveness;

establishing a sound ethical framework for its members with the support of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and ensuring effective compliance with it;

raising the profile of the Assembly;

improving Assembly members’ participation, while reinforcing interaction between the Assembly and national parliaments;

strengthening the capacity for interparliamentary co-operation throughout Europe, including co-operation with national parliaments holding partner for democracy status and with the European Parliament and other European Union institutions;

helping national parliaments to check the conformity of legislation with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) more effectively and strengthen their ability to monitor the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

5. Lastly, during the next biennium, the Assembly will implement a number of activities directly related to the three priority areas of action of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe: combating populism, the migration issue and terrorism.

6. The rise in extremism and populism, corruption and political governance are already among the priority themes for several committees (Honouring of Obligations and Commitments, Political Affairs and Democracy, Equality and Non-Discrimination, Culture, Science Education and Media, and Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs), with several reports planned in this connection.

7. In the area of election observation, there will be a particular focus on the dangers of the increase in populism and extremism in connection with electoral legislation and its implementation and during election campaigns, in particular through media coverage of elections and the social media.

8. With regard to migration issues, the relevant committee is intending to continue its work concerning migrants’ access to rights, problems in terms of reception, transit and integration and humanitarian operations relating to the migration crisis. It will also focus more closely on other specific issues, in particular migrant children and young people, through a new sub-committee, as well as visits to reception and detention centres for refugees and asylum seekers.

9. The other committees (Political Affairs; Legal Affairs; Social Affairs; Culture, Science, Education and Media; and Equality) intend to address the issue of the fight against terrorism. In particular, they will focus on the growing number of women and girls willing to join Daesh and on strengthening mutual assistance between member States in terrorist cases.

10. All other issues, in particular social rights, will also be on the agendas of the various committees, which will seek to take account in their work of the sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations in Resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015 on “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

11. For the last two biennia (2014-2015 and 2016-2017), the Committee of Ministers has imposed zero nominal growth on the Council of Europe. If Turkey had not decided in 2015 to become a major contributor and pay an additional amount of almost €20 million into the Council of Europe budget from 2016, the Council of Europe would be in a very difficult situation. In particular, this increase in the budgetary resources has enabled the Council of Europe to draw up a major medium-term investment plan, the Capital Master Plan, involving the renovation of buildings and technical installations so as to ensure business continuity in a safe and sustainable working environment.

12. Under the Capital Master Plan, the wholesale renovation of the Assembly chamber is planned. The work will be carried out from April 2018 to February 2019 and will oblige the Assembly to hold the plenary sittings of four part-sessions elsewhere. High-level contacts have been made with the European Parliament, which has agreed to the Assembly’s plenary sessions being held in its chamber during this period, as well as the 2018 session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the World Forum for Democracy (November 2018). Nevertheless, some expenditure relating to security and organisational matters will have to be borne by the Assembly in the case of the plenary sittings to be held in the chamber of the European Parliament.

13. Lastly, it should be pointed out that over the last two biennia, the Assembly has made substantial savings in staff expenditure with the abolishment of six posts or positions (one A6 director post, one A2/3 administrative officer post, three B2 assistant posts and one C4 usher post) and reduced its temporary staff appropriations in order to cover the technical abatements on the payroll imposed by the Committee of Ministers and the salary adjustments adopted at the co-ordinated organisations.

14. To sum up, the draft budget for 2018 and 2019 (see appendix for details of expenditure) in real terms (taking account of the reduction in staff appropriations to cover the 2017 salary adjustment) amounts to:

2018: €17 426 300

2019: €17 426 300

The appropriations can be analysed as follows:

2018		2019
€10 000 500	Permanent and temporary staff*	€10 000 500
€5 373 700	Activities	€5 373 700
€740 000	Allocation to the political groups	€740 000
€1 312 100	Contribution to the pensions budget	€1 312 100

€17 426 300	Total	€17 426 300

* excluding appropriations for a seconded civil servant

15. In the event of a reduction in its staff-related appropriations, the Assembly will be obliged to make further changes to its working methods, procedures and structure so as to sustain the relevance and effectiveness of its activities.

Appendix – Expenditure of the Assembly

(open)

Parliamentary democracy – Expenditure of the Assembly *Démocratie parlementaire – Dépenses relatives à l’Assemblée*	Appropriations for 2017 *Crédits inscrits au budget de 2017* EUROS	Appropriations for 2018 *Crédits demandés au budget de 2018* EUROS	Appropriations for 2019 *Crédits demandés au budget de 2019* EUROS
HEAD 0310 – Functioning of the Assembly *CHAPITRE 0310 – Fonctionnement de l’Assemblée*
Staff expenditure / Dépenses de personnel
0000001 – Remuneration of staff recruited on established posts Rémunération du personnel recruté dans le cadre des emplois permanents	8 742 300 €	8 742 300 €	8 742 300 €
0000003 – Remuneration and accessory charges of temporary staff Rémunération et charges accessoires du personnel temporaire	642 700 €	570 700 €	570 700 €
0000046 – Remuneration of staff on position Rémunération du personnel sur fonction à durée déterminée	401 400 €	401 400 €	401 400 €
0000005 – Salary, allowances and social charges of the Secretary General of the Assembly Rémunération, indemnités et charges sociales du Secrétaire Général de l’Assemblée	258 600 €	258 600 €	258 600 €
0000013 – Placement of national civil servants on secondment Fonctionnaire mise à disposition	50 000 €	n.a.	n.a.
0000016 – Arrival and departure expenses – Home leave Frais de recrutement à l’arrivée et au départ – congé dans le pays d’origine	27 500 €	27 500 €	27 500 €
0000379 – Contribution to the Pension budget Contribution au budget des pensions	1 312 100 €	1 312 100 €	1 312 100 €
Total Staff expenditure *Total Dépenses de personnel*	11 434 600 €	11 312 600 €	11 312 600 €
Supplies, services and other operational expenditure / Dépenses de matériel et autres dépenses de fonctionnement
Activity 1 General operational expenditure *Activité 1 Dépenses opérationnelles générales*
Equipment – telecommunication costs Equipement – dépenses de télécommunications	11 200 €	15 000 €	15 000 €
Official journeys Frais de missions	229 400 €	290 000 €	290 000 €
Representational expenditure, other official travelling expenses of members of the Assembly Dépenses de représentation, frais de déplacement des membres de l’Assemblée	138 400 €	120 000 €	120 000 €
Prepress Pré-presse	40 900 €	25 000 €	25 000 €
Interpretation Interprétation	990 900 €	990 000 €	990 000 €
Translation Traduction	597 700 €	597 000 €	597 000 €
Publishing and printing Publications et impressions	271 400 €	220 000 €	220 000 €
Outsourced production of documents Production externalisée de documents	5 000 €	5 000 €	5 000 €
Consultation of experts Consultation d’experts	67 000 €	50 000 €	50 000 €
Organisation of ad hoc conferences Organisation de conférences ad hoc	88 700 €	80 000 €	80 000 €
Modernisation of the Assembly’s equipment Modernisation de l’équipement de l’Assemblée	80 300 €	120 000 €	120 000 €
Other expenditure not specifically provided for in this vote Autres dépenses non spécialement prévues au présent titre	17 900 €	17 900 €	17 900 €
Activity 2 Expenses linked to the session *Activité 2 Dépenses liées à la session*
Expenses linked to part-sessions Dépenses liées aux parties de session	349 600 €	351 000 €	351 000 €
Interpretation linked to part-sessions Interprétation liée aux parties de session	1 500 000 €	1 600 000 €	1 600 000 €
Operating and maintenance costs of the electronic voting system Coûts de maintenance et d’exploitation du vote électronique	40 800 €	45 000 €	45 000 €
Activity 3 Co-operation and monitoring *Activité 3 Coopération et suivi des engagements*
Co-operation (including observation elections) and monitoring Coopération (y compris observation des élections) et du suivi des engagements	479 500 €	430 000 €	430 000 €
Interpretation – seminars and visits Interprétation – séminaires et visites	221 900 €	166 500 €	166 500 €
Activity 4 Expenditure of the Presidency *Activités 4 Dépenses de la Présidence*
Expenditure pertaining to the Private Office of the President of the Assembly Dépenses du Cabinet du Président de l’Assemblée	65 400 €	65 400 €	65 400 €
Official expenses of the President of the Assembly Frais de fonction du Président de l’Assemblée	80 900 €	89 900 €	89 900 €
Activity 5 Political Groups *Activité 5 Groupes politiques*
Allocation to Assembly’s political groups Dotation des groupes politiques de l’Assemblée	740 000 €	740 000 €	740 000 €
Activity 6 European Prizes *Activité 6 Prix européens*
European prizes expenditure Dépenses liées aux prix européens	96 800 €	96 000 €	96 000 €
Total supplies, services and other operational expenditure *Total dépenses de matériel et autres dépenses de fonctionnement*	6 113 700 €	6 113 700 €	6 113 700 €
TOTAL Parliamentary Assembly *TOTAL Assemblée parlementaire*	17 548 300 €	17 426 300 €	17 426 300 €