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A. Draft resolution
(open)
Report | Doc. 14901 | 07 June 2019
Expenditure of the Parliamentary Assembly for the biennium 2020-2021
Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs
Summary
For the 2020-2021 biennium, the Parliamentary Assembly, despite the uncertainties over the Organisation's budget, should continue to be the political driving force of the Council of Europe, in particular by addressing the challenges to human rights, the rule of law and democracy, both at national and regional level, as well as to the societal developments facing its member States.
The Assembly will encourage the efficient implementation at national level of the Council of Europe’s main standards and conventions. It will focus on the three pillars of the Council of Europe's work programme, and on the implementation of the various multi-annual transversal strategies decided by the Council of Europe, bearing in mind the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
A. Draft resolution 
(open)1. In pursuance of Committee of
Ministers Resolution (53) 38 on the budgetary system of the Consultative Assembly
and Article 24 of the Financial Regulations, the Parliamentary Assembly
issues an opinion concerning the expenditure relating to its operation.
The amounts allocated to the Assembly in the ordinary budget of
the Council of Europe cover its expenditure on staff and the costs
associated with its own functioning, including the functioning of
its political groups. Since 2010, the Assembly has presented the
opinion concerning its own expenditure in the form of a resolution.
2. The preparation of the Assembly’s opinion on the budget and
priorities of the Council of Europe and of the resolution on its
own expenditure for the biennium 2020-2021 is taking place in a
strange context. The Assembly is required to comment on Council
of Europe priorities on the basis of the participation of the 47 member
States in the Council of Europe’s budget, whereas the reality of
the situation should lead us to present an opinion based on the
actual situation facing the Council of Europe, in other words without
the funding from one of the five major contributors, namely the
Russian Federation. The Assembly recalls that the Council of Europe
is an international organisation of a political nature, without
an economic or gainful aim, set up by sovereign States which relies
on contributions by its member States for its funding.
3. The Assembly is aware of the challenges of the budget for
the next biennium, given the uncertainty surrounding the Russian
Federation’s non-payment of its contributions to the Council of
Europe’s budgets, and has taken note of the Secretary General of
the Council of Europe’s contingency plan of a €32.4 million reduction
for the ordinary budget spread over a three-year period starting
in the second half of 2019. In this context, the Assembly has been
asked to proceed with a reduction at the level of 15% of its budget.
4. The Assembly points out that, at the meeting between the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe and its Committee on Rules of Procedure,
Immunities and Institutional Affairs in January 2019, the General Rapporteur
on the Budget made a proposal on identifying alternatives to a reduction
in the budget, in particular the assignment of debt to a third party,
a proposal which the Assembly’s Presidential Committee supported
at its meeting on 24 January 2019.
5. Before agreeing to any other cuts in its budget, the Assembly
therefore calls for all alternative options, including the assignment
of debt to a third party, to be studied seriously by the Secretary
General and the Committee of Ministers.
6. Having made these preemptive comments, the Assembly refers
to its Resolution 2277
(2019) “Role and mission of the Parliamentary Assembly: main
challenges for the future” and recalls that it must continue to
be the political driving force of the Council of Europe, notably
by addressing challenges to human rights, the rule of law and democracy,
both at national and at regional level, as well as the societal
challenges faced by its member States. As a forum for sharing best
practices and experience, the Assembly provides national parliaments
and States with the support and guidance they need to ensure well-functioning
democracies and respect for the rule of law.
7. The Assembly’s action ties in with the three pillars of the
Council of Europe’s Programme and Budget, namely human rights, the
rule of law and democracy. Its work will contribute to the implementation
of various cross-sectoral multi-annual strategies adopted by the
Council of Europe (in particular in the areas of children’s rights,
gender equality and internet governance) and, where appropriate,
the Assembly may propose new standards in new areas or on emerging
issues such as new technologies, digitisation and artificial intelligence.
8. The Assembly supports the efficient implementation at national
level of Council of Europe standards and conventions and of the
conclusions of the various monitoring bodies and mechanisms, in
particular regarding the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS
No. 5) and the role of national parliaments as guarantors of human
rights in Europe.
9. The Assembly also encourages parliamentary involvement in
the promotion and implementation of other key Council of Europe
instruments by which it sets great store, namely the Council of
Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women
and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210, “Istanbul Convention”), the
Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against
Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201, “Lanzarote Convention”)
and the Council of Europe Convention on the counterfeiting of medical
products and similar crimes involving threats to public health (CETS
No. 211, “Medicrime Convention”).
10. The Assembly, referring to its Resolution 2271 (2019) and Recommendation
2150 (2019) on strengthening co-operation with the United Nations
in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, considers
that various aspects of its work contribute towards the achievement
of this Agenda and will help member States to assess progress when
preparing their national reviews. In the context of the biennium
2020-2021, special effort will be made to increase parliamentary
involvement in this process, to translate the Sustainable Development
Goals into national action and raise the electorate’s awareness
about the impact they have on their daily lives.
11. Gender equality and gender mainstreaming will be key aspects
of all Assembly policies and activities, as provided for in the
Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2023. There will
be a special focus on eliminating violence against women, and the
Assembly will continue its activities aimed at promoting and protecting
children’s rights, promoting diversity and eliminating discrimination
on all grounds.
12. In the area of election observation, the Assembly will continue
to observe parliamentary and presidential elections in countries
under its monitoring and post-monitoring dialogue procedures, in
close co-operation with the European Commission for Democracy through
Law (Venice Commission). Special attention will be devoted to dispute-resolution
procedures and the funding of political parties and election campaigns,
as well as the abuse of public resources for the benefit of ruling
parties.
13. The fight against corruption and money laundering will remain
on the agenda of the committees, bearing in mind the implementation
of the recommendations of the Group of States against Corruption
(GRECO) following the report by the Independent Investigation Body
on the allegations of corruption within the Assembly (IBAC).
14. In the area of inter-parliamentary co-operation, the Assembly
will continue implementing various assistance and co-operation programmes
suited to the needs of parliamentary institutions, in close co-operation
with the committee secretariats. It will continue to hold multilateral
seminars for parliamentarians and parliamentary committee staff
on supervision of the execution of judgments of the European Court
of Human Rights.
15. Other co-operation activities will be carried out concerning,
for instance, the parliamentary dimension of European Union/Council
of Europe joint programmes: phase three of the South Programme (SPIII),
which will end in 2020, and the inter-parliamentary co-operation
programme in Morocco (2018-2021). The Assembly will continue its
work in connection with the action plan drawn up for Ukraine and
the component on strengthening parliamentary capacity to implement
Council of Europe standards and policies in Ukraine (Phase II) and
also the plan for Georgia, subject to available resources.
16. The Assembly will continue its policy of seeking financial
resources from governments and parliaments with a view to implementing
in 2020-2021 its programme, “Promoting European and international
standards through parliamentary action” with a particular focus
on public health, empowering and protecting children, women’s right
to live free from violence and the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance.
17. In this connection, the Assembly wishes to express its sincere
appreciation to those member States and their parliaments (in particular
Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Switzerland) which,
through their contributions, have enabled it (during the biennium
2018-2019) to finance Assembly activities, and to the Czech Government,
the Václav Havel Library and the Charter 77 Foundation, which contribute
generously to the outreach and prestige of the Václav Havel Human
Rights Prize.
18. In the coming biennium, the Assembly will continue to carry
out the activities provided for in its Rules of Procedure by holding
various elections in accordance with statutory and convention requirements
(Deputy Secretary General, Secretary General of the Assembly, Judges
of the European Court of Human Rights) and promoting the various
European distinctions it awards (Europe Prize, Václav Havel Human
Rights Prize, Museum Prize).
19. In terms of external communication and visibility, the Assembly
will enrich its website and enable parliamentarians and all other
users to download the video recordings of debates during plenary
sessions. The Assembly will also continue to develop new tools and
content for its accounts on Facebook (five separate pages) and Twitter
(six accounts), as well as audiovisual activities such as the television
magazine, “The Session”, its own YouTube channel and a new weekly
activities e-newsletter for members.
20. Regarding the efforts requested in the Assembly, it is worth
noting that a 15% reduction in the Assembly’s budget compared to
the appropriations foreseen in 2019 represents a cut of some €2.2 million (including
€1.4 million on staff expenditure). It should be noted that redundancy
payments for the early departure of staff are not included in the
contingency plan, except for an amount set aside for this purpose
in the framework of the Programme and Budget 2018-2019.
21. The implementation of the contingency plan means the freezing
of permanent posts in the Assembly’s Secretariat (with the 15% scenario)
and a substantial reduction of appropriations to employ temporary
staff.
22. The required savings in the operational activities budget
for the year 2020-2021 might have to be identified through:
- a possible change of the method of preparation of verbatim reports of plenary sessions;
- the possible suppression of Russian as a working language of the Assembly (in line with Rule 28.3 of the Rules of Procedure);
- possible further reductions in interpretation in working languages provided in committees;
- the possible reorganisation of plenary sessions of the Assembly (less days of plenary sittings of the Assembly per year).
23. For several years the Assembly has contributed to the efforts
called for to remain within a zero nominal growth budget. In 2018,
the Assembly reduced its expenditure by €1.5 million following Turkey’s
decision to discontinue its major contributor status. During the
last ten years, the share of the Assembly's budget in the Council
of Europe's Ordinary Budget decreased from 7.2% in 2009 to 6.5%
in 2019 and the number of posts in the Assembly Secretariat decreased
from 94 in 2009 to 84 in 2019.
24. The Assembly reiterates its call on member States to return
to zero real growth, that is to say at least to include inflation
in their contributions, so as to stabilise the Organisation’s resources
and thereby enable the Council of Europe to continue to fulfil its
mandate for member States.
Appended to this resolution are:
i. a brief explanation of the main items of expenditure;
ii. a table setting out the Assembly’s work programme according to the results-based budgeting method.
Appendix 1 – Expenditure of the Assembly
(open)Vote III – Staff expenditure
1. This appropriation corresponds
to the basic salaries, allowances (non-recurring and periodic) and
social cover of the permanent staff of the secretariat of the Assembly
and of temporary staff.
2. The information provided here is based on the current structure
of the Assembly comprising nine committees. As at 1 May 2019, the
secretariat comprised 84 permanent posts and positions, one specially appointed
official (Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly), broken
down as follows:
|
Permanent posts |
|
|---|---|
|
2 A6 |
1 B6 |
|
7 A5 |
5 B5 |
|
9 A4 |
10 B4 |
|
23 A2/A3 |
17 B3 |
|
6 B2 |
|
|
Positions |
|
|
3 A2/A3 |
1 B3 |
3. At present, the secretariat
of the Assembly is organised so that the nine Assembly committees
have 46 staff working for them (comprising 29 A-grade and 17 B-grade
permanent staff members).
4. The remaining 38 staff members work for the Bureau of the
Assembly, the Private Office of the President of the Assembly, the
Table Office, the Election Observation Division, the Parliamentary
Projects Support Division, the Central Division, the Communication
Division and the Information Technology Unit.
5. Since 2009, due to the zero-growth policy in nominal terms
and following Turkey's decision in 2018 to discontinue its major
contributor status, the Assembly has reduced by 10 the number of
its posts or positions.
6. Within the contingency plan, out of a current total of 84
permanent posts and positions (44 A and 40 B), several would have
to be frozen already in 2019 (see the tables below):
|
Number of posts to be frozen – Scenario 15% budgetary cuts |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
TOTAL |
|
|
Compulsory retirements |
1 |
- |
3 |
3 |
7 |
|
Other posts |
2 |
4 |
2 |
- |
8 |
|
TOTAL |
3 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
15 |
Supplies, services and other operational expenditure
1. In recent years, the Assembly
has made substantial savings by rationalising its work to reduce
its operational expenditure. In particular in 2018, following Turkey’s
decision to discontinue its major contributor status, the Assembly
had to cut its budget by 9.47%, which led to the ending of the use
of Turkish as a working language at the Assembly, as the funding
for it was no longer available.
2. The functioning of the Assembly covers the following range
of tasks:
- holding of the ordinary session divided into four part-sessions (taking place in January, April, June and September/October of each year);
- meetings of the Standing Committee between the part-sessions, held at a frequency of three meetings per year;
- meetings of the Bureau and the Presidential Committee;
- meetings, during and outside the four part-sessions of the Assembly, for each of the nine general committees, the sub-committees, the ad hoc committees of the Assembly and the Bureau;
- conferences, colloquies, seminars and parliamentary hearings;
- activities coming under the Assembly’s programme of inter-parliamentary co-operation;
- visits by rapporteurs in connection with the preparation of reports, including to countries subject to monitoring of the honouring of member States’ obligations and commitments or to the post-monitoring dialogue;
- election observation.
3. In 2020-2021, the Assembly will continue to carry out its
priority tasks and pursue its objectives in accordance with its Resolution 2277 (2019) “Role and mission of the Parliamentary Assembly: main
challenges for the future», namely:
- continuing to be the political driving force of the Council of Europe, notably by addressing challenges to human rights, the rule of law and democracy, both at national and at regional level, while giving priority to measures to ensure well-functioning democracies and respect for the rule of law;
- supporting the efficient implementation of several groundbreaking Council of Europe standards at national level, through public awareness-raising;
- ensuring parliamentary involvement in the promotion and implementation of key Council of Europe instruments, in particular the Istanbul Convention, the Lanzarote Convention and the Medicrime Convention;
- contributing towards the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
- contributing to the implementation of various cross-sectoral multi-annual Council of Europe strategies (in particular in the areas of children’s rights, equality between women and men and internet governance);
- taking part in the Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy for 2018-2023, including within the Assembly, with a special focus on human rights and the gender dimension as well as on eliminating violence against women;
- helping national parliaments to check the conformity of legislation with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) more effectively and strengthen their ability to monitor the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
4. In addition, the Assembly will continue over the forthcoming
biennium to seek financing for specific major projects to be carried
out by some of its committees:
- promoting public health through parliamentary action and empowering and protecting children through parliamentary action;
- the Parliamentary Network Women Free from Violence;
- the No Hate Alliance and its five priority themes: hate speech, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-Gypsyism and homophobia and transphobia.
5. With regard to the other co-operation activities, the Assembly
will continue its awareness-raising work among parliaments concerning
their role in supervising the execution of judgments of the European
Court of Human Rights and its specific co-operation activities in
connection with the parliamentary dimension of several European
Union–Council of Europe joint programmes such as phase three of
the South Programme (SPIII), which is due to end in 2020, the inter-parliamentary
co-operation programme for Morocco (2018-2021) and the action plans
for Georgia and Ukraine.
6. Regarding the electoral process, the Assembly will continue
to observe parliamentary and presidential elections in countries
under its monitoring and post-monitoring dialogue procedures, in
close co-operation with the European Commission for Democracy through
Law (Venice Commission). Special attention will be devoted to dispute-resolution
procedures and the funding of political parties and election campaigns,
as well as the abuse of public resources for the benefit of ruling
parties.
7. Lastly, the Assembly will also continue to support its political
groups through their allocation, which is based on a lump sum for
secretarial assistance paid to each of the existing groups along
with an additional per capita amount which varies according to their
membership.
8. To sum up, the draft budget for 2020 and 2021 is the same
as the budget approved by the Committee of Ministers for 2019 (it does not take account of the three-year
contingency plan for the ordinary budget which might take effect
on 1 July 2019). It amounts to:
|
Year |
Staff |
Other expenditure |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2020 |
€9,690,900 |
€4,987,900 |
€14,678,800 |
|
2021 |
€9,690,900 |
€4,987,900 |
€14,678,800 |
9. If the contingency plan were
to be implemented, the requested reduction on the budget of the
Assembly will be the following for the years from 2019 to 2022.
15% reduction
|
Year |
Staff |
Other expenditure |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2019 |
-€214,800 |
-€118,800 |
-€333,600 |
|
2020 |
-€504,100 |
-€278,900 |
-€783,000 |
|
2021 |
-€388,700 |
-€394,400 |
-€783,100 |
|
2022 |
-€324,200 |
-€324 200 |
|
|
TOTAL |
-€1,431,800 |
-€792,100 |
-€2,223,900 |
Appendix 2 – Functioning of the Assembly
(open)|
Intervention logic |
Performance indicators |
|---|---|
|
Expected result 1 – Sessions/committees The part-sessions, committee meetings, hearings and conferences were organised by an efficient secretariat in line with members’ expectations. |
Percentage of registered speakers able to take the floor (target: 70%). Number of meetings per committee held each year. Number of conferences and hearings organised with committee meetings. Degree of satisfaction of parliamentarians about the assistance provided before, during and after part-sessions and committee meetings. |
|
Expected result 2 – Co-operation Parliaments of relevant member States have benefited from inter-parliamentary co-operation programmes implemented to respond to specific needs and priorities of the Council of Europe and national parliaments. |
Number of co-operation programmes drawn up. Evidence of the quality and relevance of organised activities. |
|
Expected result 3 – Election observation The Assembly and parliaments of relevant member States have received observation reports which evaluate parliamentary or presidential elections and include targeted recommendations. |
Number of election observation mission reports submitted to the Assembly. Evidence of improvement (change in national law and practices) following previous visits. |
|
Expected result 4 – Communication and visibility Public opinion in member States has been informed of the activities of the Assembly and of its members through traditional and social media. |
Number of articles published in print media in which activities of the Assembly are reflected. Percentage increase in the number of external users of the Assembly’s website. Number of interviews via Media box. |
B. Explanatory memorandum by Mr Mart van de Ven, rapporteur
(open)1. This report gives a comprehensive
overview of the Parliamentary Assembly’s expenditure for the budget years
2020 and 2021. The Assembly’s expenditure is included in the “Democracy”
chapter of the ordinary budget of the Council of Europe. This covers
all costs inherent in the Assembly’s functioning, including expenditure
on staff and costs associated with the functioning of the political
groups. The budgetary appropriation does not, however, cover telephone
bills, office supplies and equipment or other consumables, which
are items of expenditure common to all departments within the Organisation.
2. The proposals for the Assembly’s appropriations for the biennium
2020 and 2021 have been based on the 2018 budget as revised following
Turkey’s discontinuation of its major contributor status and on
a budget adopted by the 47 member States (including the Russian
Federation). This report does not take account of the reductions
in the Assembly’s budget stemming from the contingency plan proposed
by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in the event of
non-payment by the Russian Federation of its outstanding contributions and
its contribution for 2019.
3. The functioning of the Assembly covers the following range
of tasks:
- holding of the ordinary session divided into four part-sessions (taking place in January, April, June and September/October of each year);
- meetings of the Standing Committee between the part-sessions, held at a frequency of three meetings per year;
- meetings of the Bureau and the Presidential Committee;
- meetings, during and outside the four part-sessions of the Assembly, for each of the nine general committees, the sub-committees, the ad hoc committees of the Assembly and the Bureau;
- conferences, colloquies, seminars and parliamentary hearings;
- activities coming under the Assembly’s programme of inter-parliamentary co-operation;
- visits by rapporteurs in connection with the preparation of reports, including to countries subject to monitoring of the honouring of member States’ obligations and commitments or to the post-monitoring dialogue;
- election observation.
4. During the biennium 2020-2021, priority will be given to the
following objectives as part of the Assembly’s overall remit as
defined in its Resolution
2277 (2019) “Role and mission of the Parliamentary Assembly: main challenges
for the future”:
- continuing to be the political driving force of the Council of Europe, notably by addressing challenges to human rights, the rule of law and democracy, both at national and at regional level, while giving priority to measures to ensure well-functioning democracies and respect for the rule of law;
- strengthening its political relevance and focusing more on issues where it can add value or stand out from other bodies;
- improving Assembly members’ engagement, while reinforcing interaction between the Assembly and national parliaments and responding effectively to proposals made by them;
- helping national parliaments to check the conformity of legislation with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) more effectively and strengthen their ability to monitor the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights;
- contributing to the implementation of various cross-sectoral multi-annual Council of Europe strategies (in particular in the areas of children’s rights, equality between women and men and internet governance);
- strengthening inter-parliamentary co-operation throughout Europe, including co-operation with national parliaments holding partner for democracy status and with the European Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
5. It is vital for the Assembly to continue to be the Council
of Europe’s political driving force, notably by addressing challenges
to human rights, the rule of law and democracy, both at national
and at regional level. To that end, it must strive to provide national
parliaments and States with the support and guidance they need to
ensure well-functioning democracies and respect for the rule of
law.
6. In addition, as a forum for sharing best practices and experience,
the Assembly is the place where new standards are drawn up in emerging
fields. Its role is therefore also to support the efficient implementation
of various groundbreaking Council of Europe standards at national
level, in particular by raising parliamentary and public awareness.
7. In this regard, it must continue to help national parliaments
to check the conformity of legislation with the provisions of the
European Convention on Human Rights more effectively and strengthen
their ability to monitor the execution of the judgments of the Strasbourg
Court.
8. It will also have to ensure that national parliaments play
a full part in the promotion and implementation of other key Council
of Europe instruments by which the Assembly sets great store, including
the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence
against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210, “Istanbul Convention”),
the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual
Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201, “Lanzarote Convention”)
and the Council of Europe Convention on the counterfeiting of medical
products and similar crimes involving threats to public health (CETS
No. 211, “Medicrime Convention”).
9. In general, the Assembly’s activities will have to contribute
towards the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development to which the Assembly committed itself when adopting Resolution 2271 (2019) and Recommendation
2150 (2019). Special effort will be made to increase parliamentary
involvement in this process, so as to translate the Sustainable
Development Goals into national action and raise the electorate’s
awareness about the impact they have on their daily lives.
10. The Assembly’s activities will also have to contribute to
the implementation of various cross-sectoral multi-annual Council
of Europe strategies, as provided for in the Council of Europe Gender
Equality Strategy for 2018-2023, for instance, including within
the Assembly and with a special focus on eliminating violence against
women and applying a human rights and gender-sensitive approach.
11. Lastly, the Assembly must enhance the support it provides
to member States by drawing on the conclusions of the various monitoring
bodies and mechanisms. It will continue to observe parliamentary
and presidential elections in countries under its monitoring and
post-monitoring dialogue procedures, in close co-operation with
the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission),
while devoting special attention to dispute-resolution procedures
and the funding of political parties and election campaigns, as
well as the abuse of public resources for the benefit of ruling
parties.
12. The fight against corruption and money laundering will remain
on the agenda of the committees, and the Assembly will have to continue
its work concerning the implementation of the recommendations of
the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) following the report
by the Independent Investigation Body on the allegations of corruption
within the Assembly (IBAC).
13. Of course, the Assembly must continue to review and update
its practices and working methods and efforts will have to be made
to step up co-ordination on an internal level and with the other
sectors of the Council of Europe. In complicated budgetary circumstances,
it must focus its activities more than ever on those areas where
it adds value and that address the interests and needs of its members.
14. Since 2014, the Committee of Ministers has imposed zero nominal
growth on the Council of Europe. The Russian Federation’s failure
to honour its financial obligations to the Council of Europe is
now posing a significant threat to the Organisation. For 2017 and
2018, the Secretary General chose to maintain the level of expenditure
approved by the Committee of Ministers (based on 47 member States)
by making use of the Organisation’s general cash flow.
15. This policy cannot be continued beyond the first half of 2019.
The Secretary General has therefore chosen to present a contingency
plan to bring the Organisation’s expenditure budget into line with
its actual revenues, i.e. an overall budget that does not include
the obligatory contributions of the Russian Federation. This plan
is due to take effect from the second half of 2019 and be spread
over three years so as to soften the impact of the cuts. It will
also deal with Russia’s unpaid contributions for the period from
2017 to 2019 so as to restore the Organisation’s cash balance over
a seven- to nine-year period.
16. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe outlined the
plan to the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional
Affairs in January 2019 (during the Assembly’s part-session). At
the meeting, the General Rapporteur on the Budget also took the
opportunity to raise the question with the Secretary General of
possible alternatives to the plan and propose that consideration
be given to the possibility of the assignment of the Russian debt
to a third party.
17. The chairs of the political groups support this idea and it
is unfortunate that the Secretary General has not sought to consider
it in greater depth. But it is still possible that the implementation
of the contingency plan may not happen. Indeed, as a follow-up to
the decision adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of
Europe at its 129th session (Helsinki, 17 May 2019) on “A shared
responsibility for democratic security in Europe – Ensuring respect
for rights and obligations, principles, standards and values”, the
Assembly may propose an ad hoc solution allowing the Russian Federation
to decide or not to return to the Assembly and therefore pay its
contributions.
18. Lastly, it should be pointed out that since 2009, the Assembly
has made substantial savings in staff expenditure with the abolition
of 10 posts or positions and part of the appropriations for temporary
staff. The implementation of the contingency plan would lead to
a further reduction of posts (15 posts with the 15% scenario).
19. To sum up, the draft budget for 2020 and 2021 (see appendix
for details of expenditure) in real terms amounts to:
- 2020: €14 678 800 (€15 930 300 including contributions to the pension budget)
- 2021: €14 678 800 (€15 930 300 including contributions to the pension budget)
The appropriations can be analysed as follows:
|
2020 |
2021 |
|
|---|---|---|
|
€9 690 900 |
Permanent and temporary staff* |
€9 690 900 |
|
€4 247 900 |
Activities |
€4 247 900 |
|
€740 000 |
Allocation to the political groups |
€740 000 |
|
€14 678 800 |
Total |
€14 678 800 |
* including appropriations for a specially appointed official and a seconded civil servant
(For the record, the initial appropriations for 2018-2019 before the reduction in the Turkish contribution were €16 189 700)
20. In the event of a reduction
in its staff-related and operational appropriations, the Assembly
will be obliged to make further changes to its working methods,
procedures and structure in order to sustain the relevance and effectiveness
of its activities.
21. If the contingency plan were to be implemented, the requested
reduction in the budget of the Assembly will be the following for
the years from 2019 to 2022.
15% reduction (excluding pension contributions)
|
Year |
Staff |
Other expenditure |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2019 |
-€214,800 |
-€118,800 |
-€333,600 |
|
2020 |
-€504,100 |
-€278,900 |
-€783,000 |
|
2021 |
-€388,700 |
-€394,400 |
-€783,000 |
|
2022 |
-€324,200 |
€ 0 |
-€324 200 |
22. To conclude and due to the
current volatile political environment and related uncertainties,
the report does not and cannot consider consequences for the activities,
operations, sustainability and future of the Council of Europe in
the event that the contingency plan needs to be executed.
Appendix – Expenditure of the Assembly
(open)|
Parliamentary Democracy – Expenditure of the Assembly |
Appropriations for 2020 |
Appropriations for 2021 |
|---|---|---|
|
|
€ |
€ |
|
Functioning of the Assembly |
||
|
Staff expenditure |
|
|
|
Remuneration of staff recruited on established posts |
8 366 600 |
8 366 600 |
|
Remuneration and accessory charges of temporary staff |
570 700 |
570 700 |
|
Remuneration of staff on position |
432 500 |
432 500 |
|
Salary, allowances and social charges of the Secretary General of the Assembly |
257 600 |
257 600 |
|
Placement of national civil servants on secondment |
36 000 |
36 000 |
|
Arrival and departure expenses – Home leave |
27 500 |
27 500 |
|
Contribution to the Pension budget |
1 251 500 |
1 251 500 |
|
Total Staff Expenditure |
10 942 400 |
10 942 400 |
|
|
|
|
|
Supplies, services and other operational expenditure |
||
|
General operational expenditure |
|
|
|
Equipment – telecommunication costs |
15 000 |
15 000 |
|
Official journeys |
292 800 |
292 800 |
|
Representational expenditure, other official travelling expenses of members of the Assembly |
150 000 |
150 000 |
|
Prepress |
25 000 |
25 000 |
|
Interpretation |
609 500 |
609 500 |
|
Translation |
455 800 |
455 800 |
|
Publishing and printing |
187 000 |
187 000 |
|
Outsourced production of documents |
5 000 |
5 000 |
|
Fees for expertise |
29 200 |
29 200 |
|
Organisation of ad hoc conferences |
115 200 |
115 200 |
|
Modernisation of the Assembly’s equipment |
85 000 |
85 000 |
|
Other expenditure not specifically provided for in this vote |
11 000 |
11 000 |
|
Expenses linked to the session |
|
|
|
Expenses linked to part-sessions |
241 500 |
241 500 |
|
Interpretation linked to part-sessions |
1 309 000 |
1 309 000 |
|
Operating and maintenance costs of the electronic voting system |
32 400 |
32 400 |
|
Expenditure of the Presidency |
|
|
|
Expenditure pertaining to the Private Office of the President of the Assembly |
76 800 |
76 800 |
|
Official expenses of the President of the Assembly |
72 000 |
72 000 |
|
Political Groups |
|
|
|
Allocation to Assembly’s political groups |
740 000 |
740 000 |
|
European Prizes |
|
|
|
European prizes expenditure |
109 000 |
109 000 |
|
Co-operation |
|
|
|
Co-operation activities |
156 000 |
156 000 |
|
Official journeys |
20 400 |
20 400 |
|
Interpretation |
15 100 |
15 100 |
|
Observation of elections |
|
|
|
Observations of elections |
114 300 |
114 300 |
|
Interpretation |
21 700 |
21 700 |
|
Official journeys |
60 300 |
60 300 |
|
Communication expenses |
|
|
|
Translation |
24 200 |
24 200 |
|
Official journeys |
14 700 |
14 700 |
|
Total supplies, services and other operational expenditure |
4 987 900 |
4 987 900 |
|
TOTAL Parliamentary Assembly |
15 930 300 |
15 930 300 |