|
|
Doc. 7685
9 October 1996
REPORT1 on the composition of the Bureau of the Assembly
(Rapporteur: Mr GJELLEROD, Denmark, Socialist Group)
Summary
The Assembly considers that the composition of its Bureau needs to be adapted to the Council of Europe's enlargement and, at the same time, remain within limits which will help to facilitate its work.
Moreover, it wishes to ensure the continuity necessary to the work of the Bureau when its composition is renewed each year, by modifying the application of the rotation system in force.
I. Draft resolution
1. The Assembly considers that the composition of its Bureau needs to take account of the Council of Europe's enlargement and to make possible a greater continuity of the Bureau when it is renewed each year.
2. Consequently, the Assembly decides to modify the following provisions of its Rules of Procedure:
i. replace Rule 8, para. 1, of the Rules of Procedure by the following text:
"The Bureau shall consist of the President, of 18 Vice-Presidents of the Assembly according to the system of apportionment of Bureau seats2 and the Chairpersons (or their representatives) of the political groups. If, in accordance with Rule 9, para.2, the delegation to which the President of the Assembly belongs may propose a Vice-President, he/she shall speak and vote on behalf of his/her delegation. The President may, however, vote in the case of a draw".
ii. in Rule 9, para. 6, of the Rules of Procedure, replace the word "seventeen" with the word "eighteen".
3. It decides that the new provisions shall enter into force at the opening of the 1997 session of the Assembly (27 January 1997).
II. Explanatory memorandum
by Mr GJELLEROD
A. Introduction
1. In his letter of 24 November 1995 to the Bureau members, the then President of the Assembly noted that the Bureau's future composition should be re-examined to take account of the Council of Europe's potential enlargement to 45, or even 46, member states and to make possible a greater continuity of the Bureau when it is renewed each year. Under the current system, in practice, the great majority of vice-presidents change every year.
2. On the basis of a note of the Office of the Clerk, the Bureau of the Assembly held an exchange of views on the afore-mentioned issues on 19 March 1996. At the end of its discussions the Bureau asked the Committee on Rules of Procedure to implement the reference document and the proposals made on it by Bureau members, particularly that to allocate a vice-presidency to each national delegation in the Assembly.
B. The problems
3. The Council of Europe currently has 39 member states. However, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia3 and Georgia have applied to join the Council of Europe. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), in the light of the Dayton Agreement and the Treaty of Paris (14 December 1995), may also become a member.4 At the end of its period of enlargement, the Council of Europe could then comprise 45/46 member states. This is the basis on which the Bureau's future composition needs to be considered.
4. Taking into account the discussions in the Bureau of the Assembly on 19 March 1996, the Bureau considered that it would be appropriate to examine the consequences for its composition of the proposal to allocate a vice-presidency to each national delegation in the Assembly.
5. The question whether to retain the "groups of countries" structure for allocating seats on the Bureau was also raised. Overall, the system has served a useful purpose, particularly in avoiding conflicts and disputes, since it is based on a consensus between national delegations and the political groups.
6. Should member states continue to be divided into four groups? This does not appear to raise any problems and is generally accepted. It also reflects differences in the number of seats and votes allocated to national delegations by the Statute of the Council of Europe.
7. However, the application of the system needs to be improved to ensure greater stability in the Bureau and avoid the almost complete change of membership each year.
C. Election of an Assembly Vice-President
on behalf of each national delegation
8. At the Bureau's meeting on 19 March 1996, several members asked themselves if it would not be preferable to give each national delegation a vice-presidency to solve the problem of their number. However, in that case it was felt necessary to make a distinction between Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and members of the Bureau. The latter should not necessarily include all Assembly Vice-Presidents.
9. A comparative analysis of the international parliamentary institutions existing in 1989 has shown5 that the ACP-EEC Assembly was the only one where all national delegations were entitled to a vice-presidency.
10. In accordance with the Parliamentary Assembly's tradition since 1949, the number of Vice-Presidents does not exceed roughly half of the number of member states. The reason is to avoid making the Bureau's work heavier due to a too great a number of members. This argument lapses if all Vice-Presidents are no longer automatically Bureau members.
11. Nothing prevents the Assembly from electing henceforth a number of Assembly Vice-Presidents equivalent to that of the member states. The Council of Europe's Statute gives a free hand to the Assembly in this respect as Article 28 c only stipulates that "the Rules of Procedure shall determine inter alia the manner of the election and terms of office of the President and other officers " (Bureau members).
D. Determining the size of the Bureau
12. It is necessary to determine the size of the Bureau in the light of the likely number of member states following the Council of Europe's period of enlargement.
13. The difficulties experienced in adopting and applying the system in force since 1993 show that it is impossible to further restrict the number of vice-presidencies. It has rightly been pointed out (cf the Assembly debate of 10 May 1993) that it is illogical to reduce the number of Bureau seats when the organisation is expanding and that this could be a source of conflict. The first step, therefore, is to decide whether to continue with the current situation or propose an enlargement of the Bureau.
E. Solutions
i. Composition of the Bureau
14. On 19 March 1996 the members of the Bureau expressed themselves in favour of a proposal by the delegation of Turkey and the delegation of the Ukraine to increase by one the number of seats on the Bureau allocated to the countries having between 12 and 17 representatives and substitutes in the Parliamentary Assembly (Poland, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine).
15. The Committee on Rules of Procedure therefore considered the following options:
- freezing the number of Bureau seats at the current level with the only change to give Poland, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine one additional seat on the Bureau (Option A);
- a moderate increase in the size of the Bureau, to take account of the six or seven future accessions to the Council of Europe (Option B).
16. Option A. While rectifying an imbalance with respect to the four afore-mentioned countries, this option reflects a concern to restrict the Bureau's composition (the President, 18 Vice-Presidents and the 5 chairpersons of the political groups (or their representatives) making 24 members in total) in order to facilitate its work.
17. Option B. When the present system was introduced (1993) it was agreed that the number of Bureau seats would be reviewed - though with no automatic changes - should new members join the Council of Europe. As is shown by the decision to unfreeze a total of three Bureau seats, two at the end of 1995 (one for the group of countries having between 2 and 4 representatives in the Assembly and the other for countries having between 5 and 11 representatives) and one seat at the beginning of 1996 (for Russia), it has been necessary to adapt the system to take account of the seven accessions taken place between 1993 and February 1996. In the light of the six or seven forthcoming accessions, a new adaption of the Bureau seats could be envisaged.
18. It should be stressed however, that even if the proposal was accepted to elect an Assembly Vice-President on behalf of each parliamentary delegation, only the following would be Bureau members:
- the Vice-Presidents of the countries having a permanent seat on it;
- the Vice-Presidents of the countries which according to the rotation system in force are entitled to be represented in the Bureau.
19. According to the relevant statistics relating to the candidates for membership and bearing in mind the proposals in Assembly Doc. 6629, the four groups of countries on which the apportionment of the Bureau seats are based would be as follows6:
- Group I (delegations with 18 seats in the Assembly):
France, Germany, Italy, Russia, United Kingdom;
- Group II (delegations with between 12 and 17 seats in the Assembly):
Poland, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine;
- Group III (delegations with between 5 and 11 seats in the Assembly):
Austria, AZERBAIJAN, BELARUS, Belgium, Bulgaria, CROATIA7, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, GEORGIA, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA (SERBIA and MONTENEGRO);
- Group IV (delegations with between 2 and 4 seats in the Assembly):
Albania, Andorra, ARMENIA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA8, Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, San Marino, Slovenia, "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".
20. Groups I and II are the only ones to remain unchanged. The two others will be affected by the forthcoming accessions, particularly Group III.
To achieve a better balance between the number of seats allocated to the various groups, compared with the present situation, the following apportionment was considered (Option B):
- Group I: unchanged (5 seats)
- Group II: 3 seats (instead of 2) for the 4 countries in the group;
- Group III: 10 seats (instead of 8) for the 21 countries in the group;
- Group IV: 4 seats (instead of 3) for the 16 countries in the group.
The Bureau would therefore, under Option B, have 22 seats (the President and 21 vice-presidents9) which, coupled with the 5 chairpersons of political groups (or their representatives), makes a total of 27 members.
21. At its meeting on 25 June 1996, the Committee on Rules of Procedure pronounced itself in favour of Option A.
22. At its meeting on 24 September 1996, the Committee voted unanimously against the proposal to attribute a vice-presidency of the Assembly to each national delegation.
ii. The "continuity" of the Bureau
23. With the exception of group I, whose countries can reappoint existing vice-presidents, all the other vice-presidents change with the Bureau's annual renewal. This does not permit the continuity necessary for the work of the Bureau, whose role continues to expand. That is why a modification of the current system is envisaged.
On 25 June 1996, the members of the Committee on Rules of Procedure expressed themselves in favour of a partial renewal of the Bureau each year according to the following modalities:
- groups II and IV: annual renewal by a third;
- group III: annual renewal by half.
24. This will enable an equivalent number of vice-presidents to serve at least two-year, rather than one-year, terms of office (see section F. below). As is already the case, continuous English alphabetical order would be used to determine the countries concerned. This renewal system could be introduced to coincide with the increase in the number of vice-presidencies at the start of the 1997 ordinary session.
F. Procedural and practical consequences
of the adopted proposals
i. Procedural changes
25. To implement the proposal to increase the number of Bureau seats (Option A), the Assembly's Rules of Procedure need to be modified.
26. Rule 8, para. 1, of the Rules of Procedure, which governs the Bureau's composition, should be changed as follows:
"The Bureau shall consist of the President, of 18 Vice-Presidents of the Assembly according to the system of apportionment of Bureau seats10 and the Chairpersons (or their representatives) of the political groups. If in accordance with Rule 9, para.2, the delegation to which the President of the Assembly belongs may propose a Vice-President, he/she shall speak and vote on behalf of his/her delegation. The President may, however, vote in the case of a draw".
27. As a consequence of the above change, in Rule 9, para. 6, the word "seventeen" should be replaced by the word "eighteen".
28. Moreover, the system of apportionment of Bureau seats should be included among the complementary texts to the Rules of Procedure.
ii. Practical consequences of the proposal to renew henceforth by half or by a third the delegations represented on the Bureau, according to the rotation system in force
29. This system, which in its current version is shown in Appendix 1, provides that, with the exception of the Vice-Presidents of Group I (France, Germany, Italy, Russia, United Kingdom), all the other Vice-Presidents change with the Bureau's annual renewal.
30. Given the decision of the Committee on Rules of Procedure to ensure henceforth a greater continuity for the Bureau by renewing either by half or by a third the Bureau each year, thus enabling an equivalent number of vice-presidents to serve at least two-year, rather than one-year terms of office, the methods and conditions of applying this need to be specified.
31. In the light of the proposal of Committee on Rules of Procedure to allocate henceforth to the four countries of Group II three Bureau seats, the renewal would be done every year by a third. Consequently, the first year (1997) only Ukraine would keep its seat on the Bureau for a second consecutive year (see Appendices 1 and 3).
32. The same principle (renewal by a third) would apply to Group IV because it currently has 3 seats (see Appendix 1). It is therefore proposed that in 1997 the vice-presidencies on behalf of the first country in English alphabetical order (Lithuania in 1996) would change. On the other hand the vice-presidencies on behalf of the other two countries (in 1996 Luxembourg and Slovenia) would be renewed in 1997 (see Appendix 3).
33. As regards Group III, it currently has 8 seats for 16 countries (see Appendix 1). That is why the annual renewal can take place by half. Only the seats on the Bureau of the first four countries in alphabetical order (currently Austria, Hungary, Moldova and The Netherlands) would change. On the other hand the vice-presidencies in the Bureau of the four last countries in English alphabetical order, that is Norway, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia would be renewed in 1997 (see Appendix 3).
34. If a Vice-President cannot finish his term of office, the Assembly will elect for this purpose another member proposed by the national parliamentary delegation concerned.
G. Final comments
35. The Committee on Rules of Procedure decided that the present report should be submitted to the Standing Committee for adoption and that the new provisions should take effect at the start of the 1997 session of the Assembly (27 January 1997).
A P P E N D I X 1
Table showing distribution of seats in the Bureau of the Assembly
between the 4 groups of countries
|
Member states and states having applied for membership* divided up into the various groups |
Current situation of the representation of countries in the Bureau (President and 17 Vice-Presidents) |
|
Group I (5 countries) France Germany Italy Russia United Kingdom |
(5 seats) vice-presidency vice-presidency vice-presidency vice-presidency vice-presidency |
|
Group II (4 countries) Poland Spain Turkey Ukraine |
(2 seats) vice-presidency — — vice-presidency |
|
Group III (21 countries) Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Finland Georgia Greece Hungary Moldova Netherlands Norway Portugal Romania Slovakia Sweden Switzerland Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) |
(8 seats) vice-presidency — — — — — — — — — — vice-presidency vice-presidency vice-presidency vice-presidency vice-presidency vice-presidency vice-presidency — — — |
|
Member states and states having applied for membership * divided up into the various groups |
Current situation of the representation of countries in the Bureau (President and 17 Vice-Presidents) |
|
Group IV (16 countries) Albania Andorra Armenia Bosnia-Herzegovina Cyprus Estonia Iceland Ireland Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta San-Marino Slovenia "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" |
(3 seats) — — — — — — — — — — vice-presidency vice-presidency — — vice-presidency — |
* Countries which are printed in italics are not members of the Council of Europe
A P P E N D I X 2
Draft revised system for the attribution of seats
in the Bureau for Vice-Presidents of the Assembly
1. Member states are divided up into four categories:
- Group I: delegations with 18 seats in the Assembly (France, Germany, Italy, Russia, United Kingdom) will have 5 seats in the Bureau every ordinary session;
- Group II: delegations with between 12 and 17 seats in the Assembly (Poland, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine) will have 3 seats in the Bureau every ordinary session;
- Group III: delegations with between 5 and 11 seats in the Assembly (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland) will have 8 seats in the Bureau every ordinary session;
- Group IV: delegations with between 2 and 4 seats in the Assembly (Albania, Andorra, Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, San Marino, Slovenia, "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia") will have 3 seats in the Bureau every ordinary session.
2. Within these groups seats in the Bureau are allocated for one ordinary session by continuous English alphabetical order. Any new member state should be included in the relevant group and take its place according to English alphabetical order.
As regards Groups II, III and IV the annual renewal will be partial in order to ensure a greater continuity in the composition of the Bureau. For Groups II and IV, this renewal will take place annually by a third of the national parliamentary delegations of which it is composed. On the other hand, this renewal will take place by half for the delegations of Group III.
3. The President of the Assembly should be taken into account in all cases.11
N.B. The Chairpersons of the political groups or their representatives are members as of right of the Bureau of the Assembly.
A P P E N D I X 3
Division of seats on the Bureau of Vice-Presidents of the Assembly
between the 4 Groups of countries (as from January 1997)
|
Member states divided by groups |
Representation on the Bureau (19 seats) (President and 18 Vice-Presidents) |
|
Group I (5 countries) France Germany Italy Russia United Kingdom |
(5 seats) Vice-President Vice-President Vice-President Vice-President Vice-President |
|
Group II (4 countries) Poland Spain Turkey Ukraine |
(3 seats) -- Vice-President Vice-President Vice-President |
|
Group III (16 countries) Austria Belgium Bulgaria [Croatia] Czech Republic Denmark Finland Greece Hungary Moldova Netherlands Norway Portugal Romania Slovakia Sweden Switzerland |
(8 seats) -- Vice-President Vice-President -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Vice-President Vice-President Vice-President Vice-President Vice-President Vice-President |
|
Group IV (14 countries) |
(3 seats) |
|
Albania Andorra Cyprus Estonia Iceland Ireland Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta San Marino Slovenia "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" |
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Vice-President -- -- Vice-President Vice-President |
P.M. 1. Within these groups, the seats on the Bureau are allocated in accordance with the continuous English alphabetical order.
2. Any new member of the Council of Europe is included in the appropriate group and will take its place in accordance with the English alphabetical order.
3. Account is taken of the President of the Assembly in all cases for the allocation of seats on the Bureau (see also Rule 9 para.2).
4. The Chairpersons of the political groups (or their representatives) are members of the Bureau of the Assembly.Reporting committee: Committee on Rules of Procedure
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: None
Reference to committee: see progress report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee, Doc.7529, paragraph 22
Draft resolution unanimously adopted by the committee on 24 September 1996
Members of the committee: Mrs Lentz-Cornette (Chairperson), Mr Rewaj, Mr Verbeek (Vice-Chairpersons), MM. Açba (Alternate: Akçali), Alloncle, Cummings, Dias, Djerov, Sir Anthony Durant (Alternate: Sir Russell Johnston), Mr Fenech, Lord Finsberg, MM. Frankl, Gabrielescu, Gjellerod, Goovaerts, Mrs Holand (Alternate: Thoresen), MM. Kostiutkin, Kyprianou, Laakso (Alternate: Jansson), Lorenzi, Magnusson (Alternate: Bergqvist), Marten (Alternate: Zierer), Masson, Molnár, Proriol, Pukl, Mrs Pulgar, Mr Pyatnitsky, Mrs Ragnarsdottir, MM. Rokofyllos, Schieder, Schloten (Alternate: Bindig), von Schmude, Seiler (Alternate: Columberg), Selva, Sinka, Slobodnik, Soldani, Spahia, Stretovych, Tahiri, Wallace.
N.B. The names of those members who took part in the vote are printed in italics.
Secretary of the committee : Mr Schade.
1 1 By the Committee on Rules of Procedure.
2 1See Appendix 2.
3 1 On 24 April 1996, the Assembly adopted Opinion No. 195 (1996) on the accession of Croatia to the Council of Europe. On 2 July 1996, the Committee of Ministers adopted Resolution (96) 36 inviting Croatia to become a member of the Council of Europe.
4 2See also Assembly Recommendation 1297 (1996) on implementation of the Dayton Agreements for peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
5 1Study prepared by Mr Klebes to the Association of Secretaries General of Parliament.
6 1 The countries in block capitals are not yet Council of Europe members.
7 2See paragraph 3 above.
8 1Subject to the results of a new census following the peace treaty.
9 2According to the arrangements for appointing vice-presidents adopted on 28 June 1993 (see Doc 6881, Appendix 3), the President of the Assembly is taken into account in all cases (see also Rule 8, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly).
10 1See Appendix 2.
11 1See also the possibility, under certain conditions, for the delegations to which the President of the Assembly belongs to propose an additional candidate to the Bureau, in accordance with Rule 9, paragraph 2 of the Rules of Procedure.