Report | Doc. 13744 | 02 April 2015
Expenditure of the Parliamentary Assembly for the biennium 2016-2017
Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs
Summary
The Parliamentary Assembly will pursue its action and continue to perform its key missions in 2016 and 2017. The principle of zero nominal growth applied to member States' contributions, if maintained for the next biennium, will oblige the Assembly to freeze part of its staff expenditure. However, the prospect of Turkey's becoming a major contributor to the budgets of the Council of Europe could offer a means of avoiding this constraint. The question of increasing the number of seats allocated to the Turkish parliamentary delegation and introducing Turkish as a new working language is also raised and should be settled by 1 January 2016; these changes will necessarily entail a reinforcement of the Assembly's financial resources.
A. Draft resolution
(open)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.
Appendix 1 – Expenditure of the Assembly
(open)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: two of these committees have 89 members (the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, which also has 84 alternates, and the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe, which has no alternates), five others have 84 members (and 84 alternates), the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs has 37 members (and no alternates) and the new Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights has 20 members (and 20 alternates). As at 1 January 2015, the secretariat comprised 85 permanent posts, 5 structural fixed-term positions, 1 fixed-term position in respect of a programme and 1 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 |
8 B2 |
Positions: |
|
4 A2/A3 |
1 B5 (programme) |
1 B3 |
3. At present, the secretariat of the Assembly is organised so that the nine Assembly committees have 49 staff working for them (including 29 A-grade and 19 B-grade permanent staff members on posts and 1 B-grade staff member on a fixed-term position).
4. The remaining 43 staff members (1 specially appointed official, 42 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 view of the current situation regarding staff expenses and in the event of the continuation of zero nominal growth in the draft budget for the 2016-2017 biennium, the Assembly is preparing itself to meet the requirement that it reduce its staff expenditure by freezing three posts or positions. However, the prospect of an increase in Turkey's contribution to the budgets of the Council of Europe gives a reason to hope that this freeze will not prove necessary and, on the contrary, that a structural reinforcement may prove possible.
Supplies, services and other operational expenditure
6. In recent years, the Assembly has made substantial savings by rationalising its work to reduce its operational expenditure. Since 2005, the Assembly's overall budget has been falling steadily in constant terms.
7. The Parliamentary Projects Support Division has permitted the development and the implementation of new assistance and co-operation programmes suited to the needs of parliamentary institutions, in close co-operation with the Assembly committees. This division is also tasked with co-ordinating, along with the Directorate General of Programmes, the implementation of interparliamentary co-operation activities funded via joint programmes with the European Union (the South Programme and the European Eastern Partnership). The co-operation activities pursued make it possible to respond to the specific needs of the parliaments of Council of Europe member States or those enjoying partner for democracy status. In 2014, the Assembly received and/or managed €329 600 in voluntary contributions for its thematic activities.
8. In parallel with the co-operation activities, the Assembly has decided to support certain awareness-raising campaigns on key themes, such as:
- the Parliamentary Network “Women free from violence” whose aim is to promote the Istanbul Convention and to assist with the organisation of events at national level and visibility events supported by network members;
- the anti-corruption platform established in April 2014 to cover the Assembly's work in this field;
- the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance, a network of parliamentarians set up in January 2015, whose members undertake to campaign against racism, hatred and intolerance, in co-operation with their national parliaments, at the national and European levels.
9. As regards external communication and visibility, the Assembly will continue its modernisation efforts, through technical developments concerning its website and a reinforced presence on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. 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 social media accounts.
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 2016 and 2017 in real terms (not including inflation, salary adjustments and the possible freezing of three posts), which includes pension contributions for staff, amounts to:
Year |
Staff |
Other expenditure |
Total |
---|---|---|---|
2016 |
€11 285 400 |
€5 318 200 |
€16 603 600 |
2017 |
€11 285 400 |
€5 318 200 |
€16 603 600 |
For information, the budget for 2015: |
|||
2015 |
€11 285 400 |
€5 318 200 |
€16 603 600 |
12. Finally, although the financial situation is difficult, the Assembly thanks the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for the work done to modernise the Assembly Chamber (in particular the replacement of the electronic voting system and the refurbishment of the presidential rostrum). It hopes that this modernisation effort will be continued in the coming years, depending on the funds available in the Council of Europe’s investment plan. This should concern in particular refurbishing of the public gallery and changing of the Assembly Chamber seats. It should also be noted that the introduction of a sixth working language for the Assembly will require some adaptation work in the Paris Office.
Appendix 2 – Functioning of the Assembly
(open)
Intervention logic |
Performance indicators |
---|---|
Expected result 1 The part-sessions are efficiently organised and executed in line with Assembly members’ expectations. |
At least 70% of registered speakers have been able to take the floor. Adopted texts are transmitted to organisations concerned within the specified deadlines. |
Expected result 2 Committee meetings, hearings and conferences take place in conformity with members’ decisions. |
2016-2017: no more than 10 meetings per committee are held each year. The impact of texts adopted by the Assembly is monitored at national parliament level. |
Expected result 3 Interparliamentary co-operation, observation of elections and assistance to national parliaments are managed according to political events. |
Proposed co-operation programmes are drawn up which are designed to meet the specific needs of parliaments and attract voluntary contributions. Election observation missions are organised in accordance with decisions of the Bureau of the Assembly. |
Expected result 4 The visibility of the Assembly is improved in the different member States. |
Activities of the Assembly are reflected in the media, with at least 1 300 articles every year in the print media (according to the Directorate of Communication's press review statistics). 2% increase in the number of external users of the Assembly’s website and in the number of subscribers to its Facebook and Twitter accounts. |
B. Explanatory memorandum by Mr Salles, rapporteur
(open)1. Overview of the expenditure of the Parliamentary Assembly
- 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 the framework of 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.
- 2016: €16 603 600
- 2017: €16 603 600
The appropriations can be analysed as follows:
2016 |
2017 |
|
---|---|---|
9 932 800 € |
Permanent and temporary staff |
9 938 800 € |
4 578 200 € |
Activities |
4 578 200 € |
740 000 € |
Allocation to the political groups |
740 000 € |
1 352 600 € |
Contribution to the pensions budget |
1 352 600 € |
--------------- |
--------------- |
|
16 603 600 € |
Total |
16 603 600 € |
Appendix – Expenditure of the Assembly
(open)
Parliamentary democracy – Expenditure of the Assembly Démocratie parlementaire – Dépenses relatives à l’Assemblée |
Appropriations for 2015 Crédits inscrits au budget de 2015 EUROS |
Appropriations for 2016 Crédits demandés au budget de 2016 EUROS |
Appropriations for 2017 Crédits demandés au budget de 2017 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 |
8 639 800 € |
8 639 800 € |
8 639 800 € |
0000003 – Remuneration and accessory charges of temporary staff Rémunération et charges accessoires du personnel temporaire |
521 800 € |
521 800 € |
521 800 € |
0000046 – Remuneration of staff on position Rémunération du personnel sur fonction à durée déterminée |
488 000 € |
488 000 € |
488 000 € |
0000005 – Salary, allowances and social charges of the Secretary General of the Assembly Rémunération, indemnités et charges sociales du Secrétaire Général de l’Assemblée |
255 700 € |
255 700 € |
255 700 € |
0000016 – Recruitment, 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 |
1 352 600 € |
1 352 600 € |
1 352 600 € |
Total Staff expenditure Total Dépenses de personnel |
11 285 400 € |
11 285 400 € |
11 285 400 € |
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 € |
11 200 € |
11 200 € |
Official journeys Frais de missions |
263 100 € |
263 100 € |
263 100 € |
Representational expenditure, other official travelling expenses of members of the Assembly Dépenses de représentation, frais de déplacement des membres de l’Assemblée |
146 700 € |
146 700 € |
146 700 € |
Prepress Pré-presse |
43 900 € |
43 900 € |
43 900 € |
Interpretation Interprétation |
687 400 € |
687 400 € |
687 400 € |
Translation Traduction |
558 600 € |
558 600 € |
558 600 € |
Publishing and printing Publications et impressions |
301 500 € |
301 500 € |
301 500 € |
Outsourced production of documents Production externalisée de documents |
5 000 € |
5 000 € |
5 000 € |
Consultation of experts Consultation d’experts |
47 800 € |
47 800 € |
47 800 € |
Organisation of ad hoc conferences Organisation de conférences ad hoc |
105 700 € |
105 700 € |
105 700 € |
Modernisation of the Assembly’s equipment Modernisation de l’équipement de l’Assemblée |
89 400 € |
89 400 € |
89 400 € |
Other expenditure not specifically provided for in this vote Autres dépenses non spécialement prévues au présent titre |
7 000 € |
7 000 € |
7 000 € |
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 |
362 900 € |
362 900 € |
362 900 € |
Interpretation linked to part-sessions Interprétation liée aux parties de session |
1 130 600 € |
1 130 600 € |
1 130 600 € |
Operating and maintenance costs of the electronic voting system Coûts de maintenance et d’exploitation du vote électronique |
40 800 € |
40 800 € |
40 800 € |
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 |
459 800 € |
459 800 € |
459 800 € |
Interpretation – seminars and visits Interprétation – séminaires et visites |
77 900 € |
77 900 € |
77 900 € |
Activiy 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 |
63 000 € |
63 000 € |
63 000 € |
Official expenses of the President of the Assembly Frais de fonction du Président de l’Assemblée |
94 300 € |
94 300 € |
94 300 € |
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 |
81 600 € |
81 600 € |
81 600 € |
Total supplies, services and other operational expenditure Total dépenses de matériel et autres dépenses de fonctionnement |
5 318 200 € |
5 318 200 € |
5 318 200 € |
TOTAL Parliamentary Assembly TOTAL Assemblée parlementaire |
16 603 600 € |
16 603 600 € |
16 603 600 € |