Doc. 10634

4 July 2005

Improving the participation of parliamentarians in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly

Motion for a resolution

presented by Mr Marty and others

In consideration of the fact that:

-       the number of representatives attending the deliberations and taking part in the votes seldom reaches half of the number of members composing the Parliamentary Assembly¹;

-       the situation at committee meetings is hardly any better;

-       the scores obtained at votes on items submitted to the Assembly are therefore often the result of the fortuitous attendance of a few members who were present in the room at a given time;

-       the decisions voted in such circumstances cannot be seen as representing any overall opinion;

-       such a situation seriously harms the image and credibility of the Assembly and of the Council of Europe as a whole;

We invite the Assembly to examine any proposal which may change this unfortunate situation and bring about a better participation of the members in the parliamentary work and better representation of the Assembly, in particular in assessing the feasibility, effectiveness and advisability of the following measures by:

-       reducing the number of members of the Assembly;

-       changing the business agenda of the committees, of the deliberations of the Assembly and of all other events in the course of the day during the meetings;

-       granting a favour to the assiduous representatives when setting up the order in which members intervene in the debates;

-       publicising the list of representatives who took part in the votes;

-       taking any other appropriate step which may lead to a decent attendance and participation of Assembly members.

Signed ²:

MARTY, Dick, Switzerland, ALDE

ALATALU, Toomas, Estonia, EDG

DUPRAZ, John, Switzerland, ALDE

DURRIEU, Josette, France, SOC

GROSS, Andreas, Switzerland, SOC

HUNAULT, Michel, France, EDG

IVANOV, Sergei, Estonia, ALDE

JURGENS, Erik, Netherlands, SOC

KAUFMANN, Hans, Switzerland, ALDE

KOX, Tiny, Netherlands, UEL

LACHNIT, Petr, Czech Republic, SOC

MASI, Tito, San Marino, ALDE

MELČÁK, Miloš, Czech Republic, SOC

PAPADIMITRIOU, Elsa, Greece, EPP/CD

PROVERA, Fiorello, Italy, ALDE

RANDEGGER, Johannes, Switzerland, ALDE

REIMANN, Maximilian, Switzerland, ALDE

SCHMIED, Walter, Switzerland, ALDE

SEVERIN, Adrian, Romania, SOC

STAMM, Luzi, Switzerland, ALDE

SZABÓ, Zoltán, Hungary, SOC

VERMOT-MANGOLD, Ruth-Gaby, Switzerland, SOC

ZAPFL-HELBLING, Rosmarie, Switzerland, EPP/CD

¹ On the occasion of the 1^st part-session 2005, for example, the following participation in voting has been registered:

- Monday afternoon, 24 January, Honouring of obligations and commitments by Georgia: 69 representatives;

- Tuesday morning, 24 January, The conflict over the Ngorno-Karabakh region: 126 representatives;

- Wednesday morning, 26 January, Election of a judge to the European Court: 109 representatives;

- Wednesday afternoon, 26 January, The Third Summit: 95 representatives;

- Thursday afternoon, 27 January, Europe and the Tsunami Disaster: 61 representatives;

- Thursday afternoon, 27 January, Terrorism: 29 representatives;

- Friday morning, 28 January, Unemployment: 40 representatives.

It may be recalled that the Parliamentary Assembly is composed of 315 representatives and 315 substitutes (630 altogether).

²        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      ALDE: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group