For debate in the Standing Committee — see Rule 15 of the Rules of Procedure

Doc. 9984

21 October 2003

Increase of the number of seats of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by member states of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee)

Report

Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities

Rapporteur: Mr Einarsson, Sweden, Group of the Unified European Left

Summary

This report has been elaborated following the adoption by the Parliamentary Assembly of Order N° 585 (2003) on the progress of the Assembly’s monitoring procedure. It proposes the changes of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure and its ancillary texts necessary to align the number of seats of the Monitoring Committee with that of the other large committees.

I.       Draft resolution

1.        The Parliamentary Assembly refers to Order N° 585 (2003) on the progress of the Assembly’s monitoring procedure as well as to the report on which it is based (Doc. 9651).

2.        It recalls that when the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by member states of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) was set up in 1997 it was given the same number of seats as the larger Assembly committees then operational. Furthermore, it refers to Assembly Resolution 1220 (2000) on the reform of the Assembly’s working methods and its committee structure. Then, the number of members of the Assembly’s large committees, including the Monitoring Committee, rose from 66 to 76.

3.        The Assembly further recalls that, unlike other Assembly committees, members of the Monitoring Committee are nominated by the Bureau of the Assembly on the basis of the candidatures proposed by the political groups (Rule 43.3. of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure) and are submitted to the Assembly for ratification. Therefore, the number of seats on the Monitoring Committee is not automatically increased on the occasion of the accession of new member states to the Council of Europe. This requires a specific decision of the Bureau of the Assembly. The Assembly notes that since 2001 the membership of the Monitoring Committee has not been increased.

4.        The Assembly supports the proposal made in Order N° 585 (2003) to bring into line the number of seats on the Monitoring Committee with that of the Assembly’s other large committees, which currently amounts to 82.

5.       It consequently decides

i. to replace in Rule 43.1.10. of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure the words “(76 seats)” by “(82 seats)” and in Rule 43.3. the words “76 members” by “82 members”;

ii. to amend or update correspondingly the number of members of the Monitoring Committee mentioned in the ancillary texts of the Rules of Procedure.

6.        Furthermore, the Assembly invites the Bureau of the Assembly to discuss, following accession of new member states to the Council of Europe, its consequences for the number of seats of all Assembly committees (including the Monitoring Committee) and to inform the Assembly of any decisions taken by means of the Progress Report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee.

II.       Explanatory memorandum by the rapporteur

A.       INTRODUCTION

1.       On 31 January 2003 the Parliamentary Assembly adopted Order No. 585 (2003) on the Progress of the Assembly’s Monitoring Procedure. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this order are worded as follows:

2.       The report on which Order No. 585 is based (Doc. 9651, paragraph 42) recalls that in the past the number of seats of the Monitoring Committee had been aligned with that of the other major Assembly committees. Furthermore, given the numerous requests from Assembly representatives and substitutes to become active members of the Monitoring Committee, the report points to the possibility to increase the current number of seats by one third.

B.       CURRENT COMPOSITION OF GENERAL COMMITTEES OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

3.       The system presently in force is based on Assembly Resolution 1220 (2000) on the reform of the Assembly’s working methods and its committees’ structure. The report on which Resolution 1220 is based (Doc. 8750) aimed in particular at increasing members’ participation in committee meetings, at reducing expenditure and at ensuring that any Assembly member should have the possibility to be a member of at least one committee. Furthermore, the report confirmed the division of the Assembly committees, which were reduced from fourteen to ten, into two categories:

-       eight large committees (then 76 members), among which the Monitoring Committee,

-       two smaller committees (then 46 members).

      In other words, the principle of that reform was that all general Assembly committees would have 76 members, except the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities and the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, which would have 46.

C.       THE AUTOMATIC INCREASE OF THE NUMBER OF SEATS OF ASSEMBLY COMMITTEES IN THE CASE OF ACCESSION OF NEW MEMBER STATES

4.       According to Article 6 of the Council of Europe’s Statute, before issuing invitations under Article 4 or 5 of the Statute, the Committee of Ministers shall determine the number of Representatives on the Parliamentary Assembly to which the proposed Member shall be entitled and its proportionate financial contribution. This number of Representatives is proposed by the Assembly and accepted by the Committee of Ministers.

5.       One consequence of the admission of a new member State is that its name is automatically included in Rule 43.2. of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure which lists the number of seats on nine Assembly committees to which the various parliamentary delegations of member states are entitled to. Depending on the number of its Representatives in the Assembly, the new member State shall be added to one of the groups of countries mentioned in Rule 43.2. having an identical number of Representatives in the Assembly (e.g. the groups of countries with between two to five seats, or with six and seven seats).

6.       The Parliamentary Assembly has not established a specific procedure with respect to the consequences for the composition of Assembly committees of the accession of a new member state to the Council of Europe. In the past, generally the Bureau of the Assembly was informed of the automatic adaptations of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure due to the accession of a new member state and this was also recorded in the progress report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee.

D.       REPERCUSSIONS OF THE ACCESSION OF A NEW MEMBER STATE IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE MONITORING COMMITTEE

7.       A new situation has arisen with respect to the Assembly’s committee system due to the creation in 1997 by Resolution 1115 of the Monitoring Committee. Differently form other Assembly committees, which are composed of members appointed by the national parliamentary delegations (Rule 43.6.) according to the key for member states fixed in Rule 43.2., the members of the Monitoring Committee are nominated by the Bureau of the Assembly on the basis of candidatures proposed by the political groups (Rule 43.3). These nominations are submitted to the Assembly for ratification.

8.       The different procedure of appointment of its members has led to diverging views on the need for automatic adjustments of the Monitoring Committee’s membership in case of the accession of a new member state.

9.       When the Monitoring Committee was set up in 1997, it was deliberately given the same number of seats (65)1 as the larger Assembly committees then operational (see paragraph 6 of Resolution 1115 (1997)).

10.       In April 1999, after the accession of Georgia to the Council of Europe, the number of members of the Monitoring Committee was increased by one unit, as was done for the other large Assembly committees.

11.       On 22 January 2001, Assembly Resolution 1220 (2000) on the reform of the Assembly’s working methods and its committees’ structure entered into force. Then, the number of members of the Assembly’s large committees, including the Monitoring Committee, rose from 66 to 76 seats (see paragraph 3 above).

12.       After the accession of Armenia and Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe on 25 January 2001, the number of members of the large committees was raised to 79. In accordance with Rule 43.6. of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, the Bureau received the political groups’ candidatures with a view to adjusting the composition of the Monitoring Committee for the 2001 parliamentary year. At its meeting on 26 January 2001, the Bureau appointed some members to fill vacant seats on the Monitoring Committee but that was done for a membership of 76.

13.       On 13 March 2001, the Bureau examined a note by the Secretary General of the Assembly on the composition of the Monitoring Committee and agreed that

-       the current membership of the Monitoring Committee should be maintained at 76 seats;

-       there would be no automatic increase of its seats when the membership of other “large committees” was raised;

-       the Bureau could, however, consider such an increase of the Monitoring Committee’s seats upon request (AS/Bur (2001) PV 3).

E.       PROPOSALS

14.       The request of the Monitoring Committee, approved by the Assembly in Order 585 (2003), that its membership be brought into line with that of the Assembly’s other major committees is justified. It corresponds in particular to the division of Assembly committees into two categories, namely eight large committees (currently 82 members) among which the Monitoring Committee and two smaller committees.

15.       It is true that other options (for instance the possibility to appoint alternates to the Monitoring Committee but to diminish the number of its seats) could also be discussed. However, this is not covered by the terms of reference given to the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities by Order No. 585 (2003).

16.       The proposed increase of its seats will also allow the Monitoring Committee to better cope with the numerous requests from Assembly representatives and substitutes to become active members of it. As a consequence, Rules 43.1.10. and 43.3. of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, and the ancillary texts to the Rules should be amended and/or updated.

17.       Following accession of new member states to the Council of Europe, the Bureau of the Assembly could automatically discuss its consequences for the number of seats of all Assembly committees, including the Monitoring Committee; Assembly members would be informed of decisions taken by the Bureau by means of the Progress Report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee.

F.        FINAL REMARKS

18.       On 25 June 2003, the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities approved the afore-mentioned proposals and forwarded them to the Bureau of the Assembly, with a request to receive further instructions from it. Thereupon the Bureau authorised the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities to elaborate the present report.

19.       On 30 September 2003, the Committee adopted the draft resolution contained in this report and agreed to submit it to the next meeting of the Standing Committee (Maastricht, 25 November 2003).

20.       The proposed new provisions should enter into force upon their adoption by the Standing Committee.

Committee responsible for the report : Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities

Reference to committee: Order No 585 (2003) of the Parliamentary Assembly adopted on 31 January 2003 and Bureau decision of 27 June 2003

Draft resolution adopted by the committee on 30 September 2003

Members of the committee: Mr Holovaty, (Chairperson), MM. Vis, Olteanu, Mrs Posada (Substitute : Barquero Vazquez), (Vice-Chairpersons), MM. Akçam, Aliyev, Mrs Auken, MM. Bernik, Budisin, Calmes, Vanhecke (Substitute: Mr Timmermans [Art.46.7. of the Rules of Procedure]), Collavini, Mrs Doktorowicz, MM. Dule, Flajolet, Frankenhauser, Gedei, Gligorić, Gonzi, Himmer, Höfer, Jung Armand, Jurgens, Kaikkonen, Kroupa, Lydeka, Magnusson, Maissen, Malins (Substitute: Cox), Mrs Mintas-Hodak, MM. Miššík, Monsen, Occhetto, Penchev, Pererira Coelho, Mrs Pericleous-Papadopoulos, Mrs Pétursdóttir, MM. Riccardi, Rustamyan, Salaridze, Sharandin, Stepaniuc, Taliadouros (Substitute: Liapis), Wright, Zernovski

N.B. The names of members who took part in the vote are printed in italics.

Secretary of the committee: Mr Heinrich.

1 It is to be noted that in addition to the appointed members of the Monitoring Committee, the Chairpersons of the Political Affairs Committee and of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights are ex officio members.