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Recommendation 2124 (2018)
Modification of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure: the impact of the budgetary crisis on the list of working languages of the Assembly
1. The Parliamentary Assembly is deeply
concerned about the financial situation of the Council of Europe and
regrets Turkey’s decision to end its status as a major contributor
to the Organisation’s budget and the speed with which this decision
has been implemented, depriving the Organisation of the time needed
to make the necessary adjustments.
2. Referring to Resolution
2208 (2018) “Modification of the Assembly’s Rules of
Procedure: the impact of the budgetary crisis on the list of working
languages of the Assembly”, the Assembly informs the Committee of Ministers
that, among the measures which it is forced to take because of the
drastic reduction of its budget for 2018 and 2019, it has decided
to reduce the number of its working languages, as the relevant expenses
are no longer covered in the Assembly’s budget by the payment of
the corresponding funds from the Council of Europe’s ordinary budget.
3. In this connection, the Assembly refers to the clear position
which it took in Recommendation 2072 (2015) on
the allocation of seats in the Parliamentary Assembly with respect
to Turkey, making the introduction of Turkish as a working language
in the Assembly strictly conditional upon the Committee of Minister’s
decision to allocate, in the biennial budget for 2016-2017 and in
subsequent budgets, the necessary and adequate financial allocations
to the Assembly.
4. The Assembly has serious questions about the nature of the
“exceptional circumstances” which, under the Committee of Ministers’
decision of 10 November 1994 (95th session), enable the Committee
of Ministers to exonerate the Russian Federation from its financial
obligations to the Organisation for two years, the Russian Federation
having frozen all payments to the Organisation since July 2017.
The reasons given by the Russian Federation to absolve itself from
its commitments do not in any way tally with such circumstances.
5. Given the Organisation’s critical budgetary situation, the
Assembly is surprised that the Committee of Ministers, the Council
of Europe’s decision-making body, has not ensured compliance with
the provisions of the Statute of the Council of Europe (ETS No.
1) and specifically reminded the Russian Federation of the terms of
Article 39 of the Statute, according to which member States’ contributions
to the Organisation’s budget must be paid to the Secretary General
“not later than six months” after notification of the amount. The
Assembly urges the Committee of Ministers to take the necessary
measures, for which it alone is responsible, namely the implementation
of Article 9 of the Statute.
6. Referring to the position it took in Opinion 294 (2017) on the budget
and priorities of the Council of Europe for the biennium 2018-2019,
the Assembly expects the Committee of Ministers and member States
of the Council of Europe to resolutely support the capacities and
resources of the Council of Europe. The Assembly deplores the fact
that the passive attitude of some member States led the Committee
of Ministers to maintain zero nominal growth when adopting the Council
of Europe’s 2018-2019 budgets, while only a minority of them are
blocking the decision to return to zero real growth, which is vital
to halt the erosion of the Organisation’s financial resources.
7. The Committee of Ministers must meet its obligations and defend
the Council of Europe: the member States must be ready to pay the
price for having an efficient Organisation that is unique in its
areas of responsibility. It believes that if one or more States
fail to meet their obligations, the others must jointly ensure the
funding of the Organisation’s basic expenses and, in any case, guarantee
the long-term operation of the two statutory organs, the European
Court of Human Rights, the Office of the Council of Europe Commissioner for
Human Rights, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of
the Council of Europe, the major partial agreements and the convention
monitoring bodies.
8. Given the seriousness and the exceptional nature of the budgetary
crisis facing the Council of Europe, the Assembly expects the Committee
of Ministers to:
8.1. formally call
on the Russian Federation to honour without delay its financial
obligations and pay the sums which it owes the Organisation; in
this connection, it believes that the reasons given by the Russian
Federation to absolve itself from its commitments do not in any
way tally with “exceptional circumstances” and that the Committee
of Ministers should remind the Russian Federation of the need to
honour its financial obligations, in accordance with Articles 9
and 39 of the Statute of the Council of Europe;
8.2. review the decision which it took at its 95th session
(10 November 1994) concerning the application of Article 9 of the
Statute with all the diligence, urgency and thoroughness which the
situation demands, and establish compliance by the member States
with the common deadline of six months provided in Article 39 as
the basis for imposing sanctions on member States which fail to
meet all or a substantial portion of their financial obligations;
8.3. with a view to sound risk management, and in order to
ensure greater budgetary predictability and stability, revise the
Council of Europe’s Financial Regulations and introduce precise
rules on member States acceding to or withdrawing from the status
of major contributor, in particular by introducing a minimum period
for holding that status, of at least six years (three biennial budgetary exercises),
and a waiting period following notification of a decision to withdraw
from the status, which must not come into effect until at least
one year later;
8.4. raise the rate of default interest payable by defaulting
member States to a level sufficient to have a genuine deterrent
effect.
9. The Assembly urges the Committee of Ministers and all member
States to make available to the Organisation, in a reserve account,
the unspent balance which may be identified at the closing of the
2017 accounts, instead of returning to States the unspent amounts
resulting from savings relating to the measures implemented across
the Council of Europe in the second half of 2017. The Assembly points
out in this connection that if the Russian Federation were to pay
its unpaid contribution to the 2017 budget, the sums in question
would not be paid into the Organisation’s 2018 budget but would
be counted as part of the unspent balance for 2017. The use of funds
put in reserve would remain subject to the decisions of the Committee
of Ministers on the basis of proposed allocations submitted by the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
10. The financial future of the Council of Europe depends heavily
on the Committee of Ministers: this is a unique opportunity for
member States to confirm their support for an irreplaceable Organisation.
The Council of Europe has a cost; it also has a price: for certain
States a few million euros less is the price of abandoning and breaking
with the commitment to support the principles and values of the
Council of Europe. The Assembly therefore invites the Committee
of Ministers to place this matter high on the agenda of its 128th
ministerial session (Denmark, 18 May 2018).