Rules of Procedure of the Assembly (January 2023)

(Resolution 1202 (1999) adopted on 4 November 1999) with subsequent modifications of the Rules of Procedure* 

Guidelines for the adoption of declarations Retour au sommaire Atteindre l'élement suivant Atteindre l'élement précédent

Guidelines for the adoption of declarations

approved by the Bureau of the Assembly on 5 March 2015

1. With regard to declarations as a communication tool of the Assembly:

1.1. the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, who “shall represent the Assembly in its external and international relations”, shall act as the spokesperson of the Assembly; he or she alone shall speak on behalf of the Assembly, in particular on topical questions which require a quick reaction or for which several committees are responsible;

1.2. committee chairpersons, rapporteurs and general rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly may, in line with the Assembly’s communication policy, speak on subjects for which the committee/rapporteur concerned is responsible provided that the President of the Assembly has not already taken a position; they may not substitute their assessment for that of the Assembly.

2. With regard to declarations as a decision-making instrument of the Assembly:

2.1. a declaration must be formally approved by, and on behalf of, an official body of the Parliamentary Assembly, i.e. the Bureau, the Standing Committee or a committee;

2.2. a declaration must concern a subject which comes within the competence of the Council of Europe and falls within the remit of the body which produces it;

2.3. by analogy with a written declaration or a motion for a text presented by members of the Assembly, it might be useful to prescribe the form of declarations (presentation in both official languages and maximum length of 300 words);

2.4. out of a concern for transparency, examination and approval of a declaration must comply with the rules below:

— it must be included on the agenda for examination and approval at the latest when the committee, Bureau or Standing Committee adopt the agenda at the beginning of the meeting;

— the draft must be distributed in the same conditions in terms of form and deadline, as any other document (Rule 47.5. for a committee, Rule 17.6. for the Standing Committee), except in urgent situations at the request of the President of the Assembly (for the Standing Committee and Bureau) or the chairperson of the committee concerned;

— approval must be by the majority of votes cast, subject to the requisite quorum (by analogy with the procedure laid down for the adoption of motions for texts by committees – Rule 25.2. );

2.5. declarations are not motions for texts (Rule 25 ) and may not be referred to committees for a report or be debated in the Assembly.