Reply to Opinion No. 197 (1996) on expenditure of the Assembly for budgetary financial year 1997 and Opinion No. 199 (1996) on the budgets of the Council of Europe for the financial years 1996 and 1997

3 April 1997 Doc. 7788

ADOC7788

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

Reply to Opinion No. 197 (1996)

on expenditure of the Assembly for the budgetary financial year 1997

and Opinion No. 199 (1996)

on the budgets of the Council of Europe for the financial years 1996 and 1997

(adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 20 March 1997

at the 586th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

_____

The Committee of Ministers has taken note of the Parliamentary Assembly's comments in its Opinions No. 197 and 199 (1996) on the 1996 and 1997 budgets and notes with satisfaction the Assembly's opinion on the way in which the consequences of enlargement have been taken into account.

With regard to the information technology investment programme, the Committee of Ministers wishes to emphasise that this was the subject of a thorough prior analysis covering the renewal of existing equipment, the extension of existing infrastructure and the introduction of new infrastructure. This prior analysis was submitted to a group of experts on information technology. To ensure that this ambitious programme can be achieved, significant resources have been made available; a total appropriation of FRF 28 500 000 to cover recurring needs for information technology investment and buildings has been included in the 1997 budget and will be repeated in coming financial years. It has also been agreed that the financing of the non-recurring part of the investment budget will come from a different source, on which the Secretariat will submit practical proposals to the Committee of Ministers in 1997.

The Committee of Ministers agrees with the Parliamentary Assembly that significant human resources are needed if a programme of this size is to be implemented. It is aware that the resources available to the Computer and Telecommunications Service are still relatively modest, particularly having regard to the continued development of the infrastructure, the Internet/Intranet options and the demands created by the introduction of decentralised applications. Nevertheless, it wishes to emphasise that a reorganisation of the computer team, aimed at achieving greater rationalisation, is currently under way and that use is made of sub-contractors whenever security and the quality of the service permit.

Regarding the Assembly's budget proper, the Committee of Ministers recalls that its total has been increased to FRF 80 922 000, a rise of FRF 7 657 000 (10,45%) over 1996.

The Committee of Ministers is aware that this rise does not satisfy all the Assembly's expectations but points out that the allocation of the additional sums available within the predefined budgetary constraints has necessitated a strict weighing of the Organisation's different priorities.

There are two major areas of development of the Assembly's activities:

- the use of Russian as a working language, for which FRF 4 000 000 has been set aside;

- a strengthening of the secretariat: reflecting the increase in the Assembly's work programme, the Committee of Ministers has been able to authorise the establishment of one post on grade A5, one on A2/3 and one on B5 in the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly.

The 1997 budget will also enable the Parliamentary Assembly to initiate a programme of seconding national parliamentary officials to the Council of Europe and to develop its political groups' activities. On the other hand, it has not been possible to include in the 1997 Extraordinary Supplementary Budget - as was the case in the 1996 budget - an additional sum for the “Co-operation programme of the Assembly”

The Committee of Ministers also welcomes the Assembly's commitment to making optimum use of its resources and will study with great interest the conclusions of its current discussions on the reorganisation of the Assembly's plenary sessions and the scheduling of its committee meetings.

More generally, the Committee of Ministers has noted with great interest the Assembly's proposal concerning the multi-annual planning of the Organisation's activities. It now considers it possible to integrate a multi-annual approach into the overall budgetary process, since the Council of Europe has probably entered a period of greater stability.

It is also the case that the expansion of recent years was accompanied by budgetary changes of such complexity that the budgetary timetable could not be adhered to. However, this situation cannot be allowed to continue and the Organisation's entry into a stable period will make it possible to prepare the draft 1998 budget according to a timetable that will give the Assembly the necessary time for a thorough examination of the proposals. The Committee of Ministers would welcome informal discussions with the Assembly on the latter's initial proposals for Vote III before its formal consideration of the 1998 Budget.

Finally, the Committee of Ministers wishes to inform the Assembly that, with a view to rationalising expenditure on information and as part of a medium-term strategy aimed at the diversification of information to reach target groups, it has decided to progressively introduce a variety of media, including a “Newsletter” (in electronic and paper form) that will replace the present “Forum” magazine whose publication has been discontinued. Meanwhile, the Committee of Ministers notes that the Assembly has already launched its own electronic newsletter, 'The Europeans'. Having regard to the political events that will mark the Organisation's forthcoming months, a quality publication taking stock of the main issues of the second Council of Europe Summit of Heads of State and Government will be produced.

The Committee of Ministers has taken note of the other points in Opinions No. 197 and 199 (1996).