Parliamentary Assembly Assembl�e parlementaire

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Expenditure of the Assembly for the financial year 2005

Doc. 10130
7 April 2004

Report
Committee on Economic Affairs and Development
Rapporteur: Mr J�n Figel, Slovakia, Group of the European People’s Party

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I.          Draft Opinion [Link to the adopted text]

1.         During the last three years, the Parliamentary Assembly has proved that it is committed to conducting the financial management of its limited appropriations with a commendable sense of economy and efficiency, while increasing the range of its activities, including those related to assistance programmes to national parliaments and the observation of elections in several member states. Yet, following the accession of new member states and the reform of 2001 which has expanded the terms of reference of its ten parliamentary committees, these cost-savings efforts have placed an enormous strain on its over-stretched human resources who have seen a significant growth in their workload, deriving from the steep increase in the number of representatives and substitutes, of reports dealing with a wider variety of fields and of activities initiated by parliamentarians and political groups.

2.         The Assembly therefore regrets that member governments have not agreed to its 2004 budgetary proposals and have continued to ignore basic staffing and operational expenditure requirements of the Organisation’s parliamentary organ, at a time when the European Union’s enlargement make it more important than ever for the Council of Europe to assert itself and consolidate its political action.

3.         The Assembly hopes that the Committee of Ministers will meet its modest budgetary proposals for the year 2005, representing an increase of € 57 500 (less than 1%) in real terms over its 2004 appropriations. These resources, which are particularly reasonable in relation to the Council of Europe’s general budget (some 8%), are necessary not only to ensure its smooth functioning in the medium term but also to continue to carry out its expanded monitoring procedures and to pursue its political initiatives. In this context, the Assembly encourages all its members to take action in their respective national parliaments in support of an increase in its financial and human resources.

4.         It points out that, given the Assembly’s responsibility for pursuing the enlargement process in the coming years, the Committee of Ministers should increasingly concentrate on ensuring that the Organisation as a whole has the financial means to continue to perform its role as guarantor of democratic security and stability on the continent, a mission which fully justifies a weightier financial commitment from its member states.

5.         The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers carefully consider the possibility of financing the Assembly’s investment priorities, which could be staggered over a three-year period, including conversion work on the Chamber in order to create access for people with disabilities, the creation of a separate access to the public gallery for visitors, the installation of a permanent TV camera system and enlargement of the parliamentarians’ bar area. It should also consider the possibility of installing a new, reliable voting system, as the present one has grown obsolete and is increasingly expensive to maintain.

6.         Considering the Organisation’s ongoing budgetary constraints, the Assembly has decided to limit its staffing requests for the year 2005 to two main priorities: one upgrading from A4 to A5 and one internal transfer of an A2/A3-grade staff member to join the secretariat of the Interparliamentary Co-operation Unit in developing further the Assembly’s important assistance programmes. The upgrading proposal falls within the Assembly’s overall strategy of upgrading those posts which have been directly affected by the Assembly restructuring to take account of the fact that the responsibilities and tasks of affected staff members have increased as a result of the wider terms of reference of certain Assembly committees or structures. As regards the internal redeployment of an administrative officer, the Assembly, fully aware of the Committee of Ministers’ firm opposition to any proposal aimed at increasing the number of permanent posts within the secretariat of the Organisation, has put forward such a request in the hope that the Secretary General of the Council of Europe would take all the necessary administrative steps so as to allow the transfer of an A2/A3-level post to the secretariat of the Assembly, thereby strengthening the Assembly’s Interparliamentary Unit.

7.         The Assembly wishes to develop further its interparliamentary co-operation and other external relations, as well as its communication policy, by making the fullest use of new possibilities opened up in the media field through technological developments. This would make the Assembly’s activities, public documents and information material more accessible to the general public, governments, parliaments and other institutions.

8.         After five years of budgetary austerity, the Assembly welcomes the decision of the Committee of Ministers to adjust for inflation, for the second consecutive year, the financial appropriations of its five political groups, in particular in view of the growth in membership of each political group as a result of enlargement. Considering that the Assembly’s work would greatly benefit from a strengthening of political groups, which reflect the pluralist democracies of the Organisation’s member states, the Assembly invites member governments to provide each political group with a further instalment of €10 700 for 2005 so as to cover fully the financial deficit so far incurred.

Appended to this Opinion are :

i. a table of requested increases for 2005 compared with the appropriations for 2004;

ii. brief explanations for the proposed changes;

iii. a table presenting the Assembly’s budget according to the results-based budgeting methodology

VOTE III of the ordinary budget – Expenditure of the Assembly TITRE III du budget ordinaire – D�penses relatives � l’Assembl�e	Appropriations for 2004 Cr�dits ouverts au budget de 2004 EUROS	Changes in real terms proposed for 2005 Modifications en termes r�els propos�es pour 2005 EUROS
HEAD 0301 – Staff CHAPITRE 0301 – D�penses de personnel
Sub-heads/Articles
0000001 - Remuneration of staff recruited on established posts R�mun�ration du personnel recrut� sur le cadre des emplois permanents	7 265 200	4 000
0000003 - Remuneration and accessory charges of temporary staff R�mun�ration et charges accessoires du personnel temporaire	1 181 400
0000005 - Salary, allowances and social charges of the Secretary General of the Assembly R�mun�ration, indemnit�s et charges sociales du Secr�taire G�n�ral de l'Assembl�e	179 100
0000007 - Overtime – statutory and other allowances Heures suppl�mentaires – indemnit�s statutaires et autres	21 300
0000013 - Secondment of national civil servants to the Assembly Fonctionnaires nationaux mis � disposition de l’Assembl�e	61 000
0000016 - Recruitment, arrival and departure expenses – Home leave Frais de recrutement � l’arriv�e et au d�part –  cong� dans le pays d’origine	61 000
TOTAL HEAD 0301 TOTAL DU CHAPITRE 0301	8 769 000	4 000
HEAD 0302 – Allocation to the Assembly’s political groups CHAPITRE 0302 – Dotation des groupes politiques de l’Assembl�e
0000370 - Allocation to the Assembly’s political groups Dotation des groupes politiques de l’Assembl�e	637 600	53 500
TOTAL HEAD 0302 TOTAL DU CHAPITRE 0302	637 600	53 500
HEAD 0303 – Supplies, services and other operational expenditure CHAPITRE 0303 – D�penses de mat�riel et autres d�penses de fonctionnement
Sub-heads/Articles
0000080 - Official journeys Frais de missions	365 600
0000095 - Representational expenditure, other official expenditure and travelling expenses of members of the Assembly D�penses de repr�sentation, frais de fonction et de d�placement des Membres de l’Assembl�e	198 500
0000115 - Interpretation  Interpr�tation	1 963 100
0000116 - Translation Traduction	471 500
0000124 - Publishing and printing Publications et impressions	630 200
0000125 – Outsourced production of documents Production externalis�e de documents	117 900
0000129 - Consultation of experts Consultation d’experts	80 000
0000162 - Expenditure pertaining to the Private Office of the President of the Assembly D�penses du Cabinet du Pr�sident de l’Assembl�e	84 700
0000163 - Official expenses of the President of the Assembly Frais de fonction du Pr�sident de l’Assembl�e	101 700
0000166 - Expenses for inviting guests of the Parliamentary Assembly D�penses d’accueil des invites de l’Assembl�e parlementaire	124 300
0000171 - Organisation of ad hoc conferences Organisation de conf�rences ad hoc	144 500
0000203 - Grant to the International Institute for Democracy Dotation � l’Institut International pour la D�mocratie	30 500
0000204 - Modernisation of the Assembly’s equipment Modernisation de l’�quipement de l’Assembl�e	p.m.
0000205 - European prizes  Prix europ�ens	85 000
0000206 - Operating and maintenance costs of the electronic voting system  Co�ts de maintenance et d’exploitation du vote �lectronique	40 300
0000250 - Co-operation and monitoring programme Programme de coop�ration et du suivi des engagements	666 800
0000392 - Other expenditure not specifically provided for in this vote Autres d�penses non sp�cialement pr�vues au pr�sent titre	65 000
TOTAL HEAD 0303 TOTAL DU CHAPITRE 0303	5 169 600
TOTAL VOTE III TOTAL DU TITRE III	14 576 200	57 500

VOTE III — EXPENDITURE OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

HEAD 0301 — STAFF

This appropriation covers the basic salaries, allowances (both non-recurring and periodic) and social insurance of the permanent staff of the Secretariat of the Assembly, which comprises 87 posts.

At present, the Assembly structure consists of 10 committees: eight comprised of 82 members (with 82 alternates) and two of 50 members (with 50 alternates). The permanent staff of the Assembly Secretariat comprises 87 posts:

1	A7		5	B5
2	A6		16	B4
10	A5		12	B3
11	A4		8	B2
19	A2/A3		1	C4
2	B6

To be fully operational, each of the eight committees with 82 members requires four A-grade staff (one Head of Secretariat at A5 level, a Secretary at A4 level and two co-secretaries at A2/A3 level), one B4 administrative assistant and one B2/B3 officer. Each of the other two committees of 50 members needs two A-grade staff (one Secretary at A4 level and one co-secretary at A2/A3 level), one B4 administrative assistant and one B2/B3 officer.

The current establishment table, however, does not allow the Secretary General of the Assembly to redeploy the Assembly's permanent staff members so as to achieve the desired structure. In fact, two years after the implementation of the reform, several committees have faced difficulties in coping with the increased tasks and responsibilities resulting from their enlarged membership.

At present, the Assembly’s Secretariat is organised so that 52 staff serve the Assembly’s ten committees, with the remaining 35 working for the Bureau of the Assembly, the Private Office of the President of the Assembly, the Table Office and the Interparliamentary Co-operation, the Administration and Finance, Communication, Information Technology and Research Units. According to the above-mentioned structure, however, the Assembly’s ten committees should be served by 56 staff. Remedy of this shortfall of four A-grade staff members is an essential precondition to adopting the structure deemed necessary for discharging the Assembly’s tasks and responsibilities. 

Given the Organisation’s ongoing budgetary constraints, the Assembly has decided to limit its staffing requests, for the year 2005, to one upgrading from A4 to A5, so as to match the responsibilities and workload of a staff member performing the duties both of Head of the Assembly Research and Documentation Unit and of the Secretary of a 50-member committee with the administrative competence of an A5 grade.

One upgrading from A4 to A5

The Assembly regards research as an essential element of innovation and thus as an integral part of its institutional mission. The work of the Assembly Research and Documentation Unit focuses on issues of relevance to its institutional activities, concerning in particular the functioning of political and democratic institutions, respect for human rights, equal opportunities and social cohesion policies as well as cultural, economic, educational, environmental and migration matters. This Unit is also called upon to prepare, inter alia, detailed files for Assembly members, whether representing the Assembly or one of its committees in international and European conferences. This activity, requiring training and commitment, has increased considerably, particularly in recent years, since Assembly members are regularly invited to participate in external events dealing with the whole range of issues addressed by the Organisation’s parliamentary organ.

It is worth noting, however, that there is only one A-grade staff member serving this important Unit. He has sole responsibility for managing the growing level of demand from both committees and the Private Office of the President of the Assembly, for the selection and the drafting of texts and for establishing and maintaining external contacts with Assembly members, national parliaments and other international fora. In addition, this staff member performs the duties of Secretary of the Committee on Rules of Procedures and Immunities. This requires not only a profound understanding of the highly technical issues involved, but also a high level of initiative, acute political awareness, an outstanding level of commitment, extensive responsibilities and the personal investment of long working hours. Hence, as a result of the Assembly’s growth in size and far-reaching internal restructuring, the tasks and responsibilities of this staff member have been significantly expanded. The Assembly is therefore convinced that it would be sensible to recognise this fact and to upgrade the post of this staff member, who has been directly concerned in the Assembly’s restructuring and who obtained his last promotion in 1987. The overall cost of this proposed upgrading would be € 4 000.

Sub-head 0000003 - Remuneration and accessory charges of temporary staff

The 2005 appropriations under this sub-head should be maintained at the same level in real terms as in 2004.

Sub-head 0000005 - Salary, allowances and social charges of the Secretary General of the Assembly

The 2005 appropriations under this sub-head should be maintained at the same level in real terms as in 2004.

Sub-head 0000007 - Overtime — Statutory and other allowances

The 2005 appropriations under this sub-head should be kept at the same level in real terms as in 2004.

Sub-head 0000013 - Secondment of national civil servants to the Assembly

The 2005 appropriation under this sub-head should be kept at the same level in real terms as in 2004.

Sub-head 0000016 - Recruitment, arrival and departure expenses — Home leave

The 2005 appropriations under this sub-head should be kept at the same level in real terms as in 2004.

HEAD 0302 -     ALLOCATION TO THE ASSEMBLY’S POLITICAL GROUPS

Sub-head 0000370 - Allocation to the Assembly's political groups

The Assembly’s political groups play an increasingly important role in the life of the Assembly. This has been crucial in enabling the Assembly to maintain its operational capacity and organisational efficiency following enlargement. However, if political groups are to be able to play their role to the full, they need to be adequately staffed in terms of both level and number. In the medium term, a gradual increase over several financial years should be aimed for, allowing each group to recruit one administrative officer and one secretarial assistant. It is therefore imperative to increase the financial resources of the five political groups.

The allocation to the political groups is calculated on the basis of a lump sum for secretarial assistance to each of the existing groups and an additional per capita allocation according to membership. Appropriations for 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 amounted to € 614 400. In 2003 and 2004, the appropriations were increased to € 623 900 and € 637 600 respectively, a growth which merely took account of the inflation rate.

Each group received a fixed allowance of some € 27 500 and an additional per capita allowance (some € 800 per member). It is important to underline that political groups spend, on average, some 60% of their total appropriations on secretaries whose salaries, for the period 1997-2004, have increased by some 19% (corresponding to some € 73 000). Thus, even if one takes account of the increase of some € 23 000 that the political groups have obtained in last two years, € 50 000 would still be necessary simply to recover the financial deficit associated with the salaries of their staff. This unsatisfactory financial situation has greatly reduced the capacity of political groups to finance other important activities such as seminars, meetings and publications.     

In its Opinions No. 206 (1998), No. 212 (1999), No. 219 (2000), No. 225 (2001), No. 237 (2002) and No 244 (2003), the Assembly asked for a modest increase of around € 10 700 per group (€ 53 500 in all) to cover the cost of one half-time administrative officer. However, this request was not granted. For 2005, an increase of € 10 700 in the fixed allowance of each group is once again requested. The total increase requested is therefore € 53 500 (5 x € 10 700), the intention being to have this lump-sum allocation for secretarial services gradually built up over the coming years.

HEAD 0303 -     SUPPLIES, SERVICES AND OTHER OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURE

Since 1975 the appropriations under this head have been voted as a lump sum (budgetary package).  The various sub-amounts may subsequently be altered in accordance with Article 31 of the Financial Regulations. Head 0303 includes all operational expenditure of the Assembly, i.e. co-operation and monitoring programmes, publications, interpretation, translation, official journeys, experts, conferences, European prizes, etc.

Under this head concerning the Assembly’s budgetary package, the Assembly wishes to put forward its investment priorities, which should be included in the future investment planning of the Council of Europe. After careful consideration, the Assembly has identified four major priorities. The first investment, and certainly the most urgent, concerns access to the Chamber of the Assembly for disabled people. This problem is more acute when it comes to the access to the Presidential Table, which can be reached only via a flight of stairs. At present, there is a Vice-President of the Assembly, using a wheelchair, who cannot have access to the Presidential Table. The second priority regards the Assembly’s public gallery. The Organisation should start to consider creating a separate access to the gallery for visitors. This investment would be useful in terms of security as it could enable ushers to prevent access to the rest of the building for groups of visitors who at present, once on the premises, can circulate freely without further control.

The third priority is related to the installation of a permanent system of TV cameras controlled and managed by remote technicians sitting in the booth located on the upper right side of the Assembly Chamber. This new system would replace the current manual one involving several camera operators located on the floor of the Chamber, which prevents several Assembly members from seeing the President’s Table. This third proposal would, of course, benefit the Council as a whole by improving TV coverage of all events taking place in the Assembly Chamber. This investment should also include the complete refurbishing of the Presidential Table and the rostrum which are old-fashioned and unsuited to the Assembly’s needs. Finally, the fourth priority is linked to the parliamentarians’ bar situated on the first floor of the Palais de l’Europe. Given the increase in the number of the Assembly’s members, the area of the bar has become undersized and inadequate to accommodate large parliamentary delegations, who often use the bar as a meeting point. Hence, it would be highly advisable to examine the possibility of enlarging the bar so as to render this section of the building more suitable to parliamentarians’ evolving needs.

In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of requests from the national parliaments of member states. These requests have mainly involved study visits and specific seminars for members of parliaments and/or high-ranking officials so as to enable them to become more acquainted with the work of the Council of Europe as well as the Assembly’s internal working methods and procedures. For one country, the Assembly was also asked to cover the cost of specific language training courses for members of parliament and staff who needed to enhance their knowledge of foreign languages, in particular the two Council of Europe official languages. The Rapporteur wishes to underline that all beneficiary national parliaments have greatly appreciated the offer of such programmes, which have also provided the opportunity to exchange views on topics of mutual interest.

The complex tasks linked to the careful organisation of this vast array of activities are performed, in full compliance with the principles of sound financial management and efficiency, by two A-grade and two B-grade members of staff who also shoulder responsibilities related to the difficult and long preparation of the observation of elections at the request of the Bureau of the Assembly. Furthermore, this team is responsible for organising ad hoc conferences, such as that of the Speakers and Presidents of European Parliamentary Assemblies, which entails an additional workload. The increase in the Assembly’s work in the sensitive field of interparliamentary co-operation has indeed generated an urgent need for an additional A2/A3 post to reinforce the hard-pressed secretariat of the Interparliamentary Co-operation Unit. Given the Organisation’s persistent budgetary constraints, this post could become available to the Secretariat of the Assembly either via internal redeployment of staff or via the creation of a new post. The latter, however, is not a budgetary-neutral solution as it entails an increase of € 81 000 in the Assembly’s budget, thereby requiring the formal consent of the Committee of Ministers. Hence, in order to enable the Assembly to properly discharge its important function of assistance and not to frustrate the legitimate expectations of the national parliaments of less wealthy member states, the Rapporteur is convinced that the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Committee of Ministers should work together with a view to meeting this Assembly’s request by taking full account of the Organisation’s present budgetary situation.

II.         Explanatory memorandum by Mr Figel, Rapporteur

1.         The purpose of this report is to analyse Vote III of the Council of Europe’s ordinary budget, in particular the appropriations allocated to the Assembly to cover staff expenditure, the costs associated with the functioning of political groups, supplies, services and other operational outlays, as well as the financing of the Organisation's interparliamentary co-operation programme. This focusing inevitably means that the common services of the Council of Europe, which form an integral part of the Assembly’s operations, are not discussed. By way of example, Vote III does not cover the cost of telephones bills, fixtures and fittings, supplies and office equipment.

2.         The Rapporteur has therefore concentrated on proposals for the Assembly’s appropriations for the year 2005, in full compliance with existing budgetary procedures. The requests, once approved by the Assembly, will be transmitted in the form of an opinion to the Committee of Ministers. The increases requested in 2005 are intended as increases in real terms in comparison with the Assembly’s appropriations for 2004. As in previous years, the Assembly is leaving it to the Finance Directorate to assess, in due course, the adjustments to its appropriations that are being or will be made for 2004 as a result of changes in salary scales, their implications for 2005 as well as the provision that needs to be made for salary adjustment in 2005. Similarly, it is for the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to adjust, in due course, the other appropriations for inflation.

3.         The Rapporteur emphasises that, in formulating his requests, he has paid careful consideration to the economic, social and budgetary situation in Council of Europe member states. Although several European countries are currently going through periods of austerity, it is nevertheless important for the Assembly to be in a position to fulfil its new and growing tasks and responsibilities without undue financial limitations. This is all the more true in the light of the Assembly’s structural reforms, undertaken in 2001, which bore witness to its willingness to change and to improve its working methods constantly so as to make them both more cost-effective and more responsive to the ever-evolving needs of its members.

4.         The Rapporteur has also paid careful attention to the Assembly’s investment priorities in the coming years. He has identified four major priority areas. The first investment, and certainly the most urgent, concerns access to the Chamber of the Assembly for disabled people. This problem is more acute when it comes to the access to the Presidential Table, which can be reached only via a flight of stairs. At present, there is a Vice-President of the Assembly, using a wheelchair, who cannot have access to the Presidential Table. The second priority regards the Assembly’s public gallery. The Organisation should start to consider creating a separate access to the gallery for visitors. This investment would be useful in terms of security as it could enable ushers to prevent access to the rest of the building for groups of visitors who at present, once on the premises, can circulate freely without further control. The third priority is related to the installation of a permanent system of TV cameras controlled and managed by remote technicians sitting in the booth located on the upper right side of the Assembly Chamber. This new system would replace the current manual one involving several camera operators located on the floor of the Chamber, which prevents several Assembly members from seeing the President’s Table. This third proposal would, of course, benefit the Council as a whole by improving TV coverage of all events taking place in the Assembly Chamber. This investment should also include the complete refurbishing of the Presidential Table and the rostrum which are old-fashioned and unsuited to the Assembly’s needs. Finally, the fourth priority is linked to the parliamentarians’ bar situated on the first floor of the Palais de l’Europe. Given the increase in the number of the Assembly’s members, the area of the bar has become undersized and inadequate to accommodate large parliamentary delegations, who often use the bar as a meeting point. Hence, it would be highly advisable to examine the possibility of enlarging the bar so as to render this section of the building more suitable to parliamentarians’ evolving needs.

5.         After examining the functioning and the current structure of the Assembly, the Rapporteur proposes upgrading the present administrative grade – from A4 to A5 - of the staff member who performs the duties of Secretary of the Committee on Rules of Procedures and Immunities and those of Head of the Assembly Research and Documentation Unit. This requires not only a profound understanding of the highly technical issues involved, but also a high level of initiative, acute political awareness, an outstanding level of commitment, extensive responsibilities and the personal investment of long working hours. Hence, as a result of the Assembly’s growth in size and far-reaching internal restructuring, the tasks and responsibilities of this staff member have been significantly expanded. The Rapporteur is therefore convinced that it would be sensible to recognise this fact and to upgrade the post of this staff member, who has been directly concerned in the Assembly’s restructuring and who obtained his last promotion in 1987. This point is very important as it concerns career prospects, which are indeed vital not only to ensure that the Assembly’s staff remain motivated to do a good job for their committees and the Assembly as a whole, but also to recruit young and qualified new staff.

6.         This staffing request falls within the Assembly’s overall strategy of having its ten parliamentary committees served by 56 staff members, as the present structure of committee Secretariats is at risk of proving inadequate to maintain the quality of work and the ability, essential in a political body, to respond to unforeseen events in an efficient and rapid manner. This strategy is based on two main elements. First, the internal restructuring has significantly expanded the terms of reference of the Assembly’s committees, which are currently served by 52 permanent staff. Second, the Organisation’s enlarged membership has greatly increased the tasks and the responsibilities of the Assembly’s Secretariat, which is hard-pressed and understrength. Since the financial resources made available to the Council of Europe are limited, the Rapporteur believes that the Assembly’s desired structure should be attained over a reasonable period of time in order not to place an excessive financial burden on member states.

7.         The Rapporteur has therefore been confronted with two conflicting factors, which have to be carefully considered when formulating any budgetary proposal. On the one hand, the Rapporteur, aware of the budgetary difficulties facing several member states, has to limit to the minimum the Assembly’s financial requests. On the other, he considers that the budgetary difficulties, though real and tangible, should not be allowed to jeopardise the overall functioning of the Organisation’s parliamentary organ which acts in the interests of all member states, especially in fostering parliamentary democracy, political pluralism and respect for human rights. Moreover, adjusting the administrative structure of the Secretariat of the Assembly is indeed a priority for member states which are the ultimate beneficiaries of its activities.

8.         Considering all these elements, the Rapporteur has decided to put forward very modest budgetary proposals for 2005 which take account of both the growing demands arising from the Organisation’s wider geographical scope and from the increase in the Assembly’s responsibilities in terms of both quality and quantity and the Organisation’s limited financial means. These identified priorities, whose overall cost is fairly small in comparison with the Council of Europe’s ordinary budget, represent a reasonable compromise between the aforementioned conflicting standpoints.

9.         For the year 2005, the Assembly’s limited financial proposals amount to € 57 500, representing a small increase of less than 1% over the appropriations allocated to the Assembly in 2004. The Rapporteur believes the increase to be well within the capacity of the Organisation’s budgetary authorities and his opinion has been drawn up in a spirit of realism and in the expectation that the Assembly’s point of view will be fully shared by the Committee of Ministers.

10.        Before concluding his remarks, the Rapporteur wishes to draw the committee members’ attention to one additional point, which concerns the attached table presenting the Assembly’s budget according to the results-based budgeting methodology (RBB). Following the request by the Budget Committee of the Council of Europe, where national experts are sitting, the Rapporteur has decided to prepare, for the first time, the Assembly’s budget according to a methodology which, in his opinion, would introduce too much rigidity in the Assembly’s work. In fact, he believes that it is in the interest of the Organisation to preserve the Assembly’s ability to innovate and react swiftly to new and unforeseen situations. For this reason, already on 26 April 1999, in the course of a meeting with the Committee of Ministers, the Assembly's representatives voiced their doubts as regards the appropriateness of applying a strictly results-based budgeting method to the Organisation’s political body without taking into full account its specific needs and working methods. Moreover, the Rapporteur believes that it would be arduous to measure quantitatively, with any degree of accuracy, the future political achievements of the Assembly, as would be required by a budgetary system of this nature.

11.        In order to understand better why the application of the RBB to the Assembly’s budget could become a straightjacket for our political body, it is important to outline the main features of this rigid budget process:

1. Programme formulation and resources justification involves a set of predefined objectives, expected results, outputs, inputs and performance indicators, which constitute a “logical framework”;

2. Expected results justify resource requirements which are derived from, and linked to, outputs to be delivered with a view to achieving such results; and

3. Actual performance in achieving results is measured by predefined performance indicators.

12.        The logical framework is a tool for designing programmes, which involves the description of:

1. objectives to be reached within the budgetary period;

2. expected results necessary in order to reach the objectives;

3. outputs (services and products) to be delivered by the Secretariat to achieve the expected results;

4. inputs (resources) to be used for the output delivery; and

5. performance indicators to be used to measure the actual performance against the expected results. Furthermore, budgetary resources are justified not by programmes, but by expected results.

13.        This methodology presupposes that the Assembly should know, one year in advance, which sort of programmes or political action would take in response to a given European political issue, as RBB’s expected results are based on long-term objectives and results and measured by predefined evaluation criteria. Furthermore, it implies that the Assembly foresee what issues are going to arise and require its response in the future. For the Assembly, this seems an artificial and time-consuming exercise. The Assembly should instead have adequate financial and human resources so as it could face its future challenges successfully.

14.        Despite these objective constraints and in a spirit of co-operation with the Organisation, in the appended tabled, the Rapporteur has identified, in agreement with the Secretary General of the Assembly, seven specific tasks to be accomplished by the Secretariat of the Assembly in 2005: (1) holding a four-part plenary session, (2) ensuring the smooth functioning of the Assembly and its various bodies, (3) preparing the ground for the activities and work programmes of the Assembly, (4) assisting parliamentarians at meetings of external bodies, (5) managing the programme of cooperation with national parliaments, (6) ensuring compliance with budgetary procedures and managing resources effectively, and (7) raising the Assembly's external profile.

15.        The Rapporteur also intends to underline two more problems connected with the introduction of the results-based budgeting system. Firstly, according to his own knowledge, only the British House of Commons has tried to introduce the new RBB methodology in the preparation of its budget. Even though the British parliamentary body has full control over its own appropriations, and has been given a three-year period to complete the transition to the RBB, its introduction has proved difficult and time-consuming, as it entails radical changes in the preparation and implementation of the budget. The Rapporteur therefore fears that, if the Assembly, being the Organisation’s political organ, were forced to change its budgetary methodology, this imposition could undermine its smooth internal functioning. Secondly, evaluation of the political achievements of the Assembly appears to be difficult to make according to predefined criteria. The Bureau of the Assembly, which already exercises the control function over the activities carried out by the Assembly, has not yet decided whether it would be useful to apply a new set of evaluation criteria to increase the efficiency of the Assembly’s secretariat or enhance the transparency of the Assembly’s financial management. For all these reasons, the Rapporteur seriously doubts that the RBB methodology would be a suitable tool for improving the Assembly’s working methods.

2005 BUDGET    ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT    08.03.04

	OBJECTIVE 1	OBJECTIVE 2	OBJECTIVE 3	OBJECTIVE 4	OBJECTIVE 5	OBJECTIVE 6	OBJECTIVE 7
The objectives of the Assembly's Secretariat for 2005	Holding a four-part plenary session	Ensuring the smooth functioning of the Assembly and its various bodies	Preparing the ground for the activities and work programmes of the Assembly	Assisting parliamentarians at meetings of external bodies	Managing the programme of cooperation with national parliaments	Ensuring compliance with budgetary procedures and managing resources effectively	Raising the Assembly's external profile
Activities	Preparing the Assembly's sessions, agenda and logistics	Organising the work of the committees, ensuring efficient management and establishing as well as maintaining working relations inside and outside the Organisation	Maintaining a driving role in the political field and leadership in legislative proposals on human rights and social policy	Carefully preparing parliamentarians' visits and background material	Devising and implementing assistance programmes available to member states' national parliaments	Strictly observing the administrative and financial procedures	Improving the impact of the Assembly's debates on public opinion via press releases and draft articles and speeches
Strategic objective 1	Carefully preparing all Assembly documents, including the speakers' list, texts to be adopted, amendments and sitting papers. Coordinating the work of the 10 committees, preparing the orders of business and managing all documents tabled	Making all necessary arrangements for the organisation of all the Assembly activities	Increasing research activity, drafting of working documents and preparing meeting files	Preparing documents on time, carrying out documentary research and assisting parliamentarians in representing their committees in external events	Increasing the range and the quality of the Assembly's assistance programmes	Ensuring the administrative management of the Assembly Secretariat, including the programming and the  control of all budgetary operations	Furthering contacts with journalists and media and editing the Assembly magazine as well as other publications
Strategic objective 2	Coordinating the work of the Secretariat at the appropriate level of structural hierarchy	Organising meetings of the Assembly and its various bodies and preparing Assembly working documents	Minimising problems which could adversely affect the work of the Assembly	Minimising problems which could adversely affect the work of the Assembly	Promoting close and systematic interaction with national parliaments. Receiving visiting parliamentarians and national public officials	Distributing available resources equitably	Minimising problems which could adversely affect the work of the Assembly
Strategic objective 3	Having a tangible impact on the work of national parliaments and governments	Following up decisions taken by the Assembly and its various bodies	n/a	n/a	Minimising problems which could adversely affect the work of the Assembly	Minimising problems which could adversely affect the work of the Assembly	n/a

2005 BUDGET    ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT    08.03.04

	OBJECTIVE 1	OBJECTIVE 2	OBJECTIVE 3	OBJECTIVE 4	OBJECTIVE 5	OBJECTIVE 6	OBJECTIVE 7
The objectives of the Assembly's Secretariat for 2005	Holding a four-part plenary session	Ensuring the smooth functioning of the Assembly and its various bodies	Preparing the ground for the activities and work programmes of the Assembly	Assisting parliamentarians at meetings of external bodies	Managing the programme of cooperation with national parliaments	Ensuring compliance with budgetary procedures and managing resources effectively	Raising the Assembly's external profile
Strategic objective 4	Minimising problems which could adversely affect the work of the Assembly	Minimising problems which could adversely affect the work of the Assembly	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Target groups/beneficiaries	Members of the Assembly	Members of the Assembly	Members of the Assembly	Members of the Assembly	Ass. Members, national parliaments, national public officials	Bureau of the Assembly	Members of the Assembly and the public at large
Permanent Staff	87	52	52	52	6	4	6
Temporary Staff	150	8	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Financial Resources	€ 6 581 400	€ 4 357 200	€ 1 204 000	€ 600 000	€ 660 000	€ 300 000	€ 240 000
Assumptions	Strong political support from the Assembly.	Strong political support from the Assembly.	Strong political support from the Assembly.	Strong political support from the Assembly.	Strong political support from the Assembly. Adequate means to carry out research activity	n/a	n/a
Evaluation criteria	Assembly members' satisfaction. Level of participation. Timely preparation of Assembly reports. Media coverage	Assembly members' satisfaction. Level of participation. Number of committee meetings.	Number of reports and information documents. Number of days necessary to deal with a research request	Assembly members' satisfaction. Level of participation	Feedback from national parliaments and their public officials. Number and range of assistance programmes	Feedback from the Bureau of the Assembly. Timely payments and good quality of services	Media coverage of the Assembly activities. Number of visitors to the Assembly website

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Reporting committee: Committee on Economic Affairs and Development.

Reference to committee:  Standing mandate.

Draft opinion unanimously adopted by the Committee on 25 March 2004.

Members of the committee: Mr Kirilov (Chairman), Mrs Burbiene, Mrs Pericleous Papadopoulos, Mr Figel (Vice-chairpersons), Mr A�ikg�z, Mr Adam, Mr Agramunt, Mr Anacoreta Correia, Mr Andov, Mr Arnau, Mr Assis Miranda, Mr Ates, Mr van Baalen, Mr Berceanu, Mr Braun, Mr Brunhart, Mr Budin, Mr �avusoglu, Mr Cosarciuc, Mr Crema, Mr Dimic, Mr Djupedal, Mr Floros (Alternate: Mr Sfyriou), Mr Galchenko, Ms Griffiths, Mr Grignon, Mr Gunnarsson, Mr Gusenbauer, Ms Hakl (Alternate: Mr Grissemann), Mr Haupert, Mr H�gmark, Mr Jonas, Mr Karapetyan, Mr Klympush, Mr Korobeynikov (Alternate: Mr Petrov), Mr Kraus, Mr Krivokapic, Mr Lachnit, Mr Le Guen, Mr Leibrecht, Mr Liapis, Mr Makhachev, Mr Masseret, Mr Melcak, Mr Mikkelsen, Ms Milicevic, Mr Mimica, Mrs Muizniece, Mr �hman, Mr O’Keeffe, Mr Opmann, Mrs Patarkalishvili,  Mrs Pintat Rossell, Mr Podgorski, Mr Popa, Mr Puche, Mr Pullicino Orlando, Mr Ramoudt, Mr Ramponi, Mr Reimann, Mr Riccardi, Mr Rivolta (Alternate: Mr Mauro), Lord Russell-Johnston, Mr Rybak, Mr Sasi, Mr Schreiner, Mr Severin, Mr Seyidov, Ms Smith (Alternate: Mr Marshall), Mr Stefanov, Mr Tepshi, Mr Timmermans (Alternate: Mr Kox), Mrs Vadai, Mr Versnick, Mr Walter (Alternate: Baroness Hooper), Mr Wielowieyski, Mr Wikinski, Mrs Zapfl-Helbling, Mr Zhevago.

N.B. The names of those members present at the meeting are printed in italics

Head of Secretariat: Mr Torbi�rn

Co-Secretaries to the committee: M. Bertozzi, Ms Ramanauskaite; Ms Kopa�i-Di Michele