7 April 1997       Doc. 7791

ADOC7791

REPORT1

on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

and its parliamentary assembly

(Rapporteur: Mr. David ATKINSON,

United Kingdom, European Democratic Group)

_____

Summary

      The Commonwealth of Independent States provides a framework for setting the bilateral relations of 12 countries of the former Soviet Union in a balanced, coherent multilateral perspective. As an intergovernmental structure it is undertaking significant peace-keeping initiatives in Georgia and Tajikistan. Its initiatives in the field of human rights and the activities of its interparliamentary assembly should continue to be followed closely by the Council of Europe. The Political Affairs Committee calls for closer and possibly more formal relations with the CIS interparliamentary assembly.

I. Draft resolution

1.       The Assembly welcomes the consolidation of the institutions of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and its interparliamentary assembly, now in their sixth year of activity.

2.       The Assembly recognises the contribution which the CIS is making to stability and security in the European region and in central Asia.

3.       The Assembly considers that the CIS provides a valuable framework for setting the bilateral relations of 12 countries of the former Soviet Union in a balanced, coherent multilateral perspective:

i.       essential economic and cultural links between these countries have been preserved;

ii.       opportunities have been generated for comparing international policies and draft laws for transition to market economies;

iii.       forum has been created for the expression, on an equal footing, of the national sovereignty of each of its member states on questions of foreign and security policy and interregional relations which are of vital interest to the whole of Europe and throughout the area of OSCE.

4.       The Assembly welcomes the peace-keeping initiatives of the CIS, most notably in Georgia and Tajikistan.

5.       The Assembly calls for enhanced co-operation between the Council of Europe and the CIS in regard to human rights, on the basis that there can be no interposition of CIS procedures or institutions between the national judicial systems of member states and the European Convention on Human Rights.

6.       The Assembly resolves:

i.       to promote and provide for enhanced cooperation with the CIS interparliamentary assembly through the sharing of information and documents, exchange visits, joint hearings and seminars on subjects of common concern to their committees, and through standing invitations to each other's plenary sessions;

ii.       to instruct the Bureau to consider the status to be accorded to CIS interparliamentary assembly representatives at its plenary sessions.

II. Explanatory memorandum

by the Rapporteur

1.       The CIS was created against the background of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Today it is an intergovernmental organisation composed of twelve participating states - all the former Soviet republics except the Baltic States.

2.       Its governing body is the CIS Council which consists of the Heads of State. Councils also exist for Heads of Governments, Ministers, and others. Their meetings are prepared by the CIS Secretariat, located in Minsk.

3.       The first CIS interparliamentary conference was held in Minsk in January 1992, following which seven States agreed on the establishment of an interparliamentary assembly (IPA). It was confirmed in the CIS Charter, in 1993, as a consultative international institution to co-ordinate and harmonise the national legislations of member states.

4.       The IPA meets twice yearly at the Tavrichesky Palace (the seat of the pre-revolution Russian Duma) in St Petersburg. Heads of delegations - usually the speakers of the participating parliaments - form the IPA Council. A permanent secretariat and nine standing committees have been established.

5.       During its meetings in Minsk on 20th May 1992, our Committee for Relations with European Non-Member Countries made an informal visit to the CIS Secretariat following the meeting of CIS heads of state held in Tashkent.

6.       At the request of then President Martínez, the Rapporteur of the Political Affairs Committee (Mr Daniel Tarschys) attended the second plenary session of the IPA as an observer 28-29 December 1992. His report to the Bureau (Doc: AS/Bur (44)102) referred to a Resolution adopted by the first session of the IPA expressing an interest in establishing relations with other interparliamentary organisations. He recommended a favourable response to this request by the Assembly.

7.       The CIS has observer status in the UN General Assembly and the Interparliamentary Union, whose observers have similarly been invited to IPA sessions.

8.       Following the accession of Moldova, as the first member state of the CIS to become a full member of the Council of Europe, in 1995, and with other CIS states likely to follow, I tabled a Motion for an Order (Doc 7345), considering that it was now appropriate to become better acquainted with the work and role of the CIS and its interparliamentary assembly.

9.       The Bureau referred the motion to the Political Affairs Committee for a report and to the Legal Affairs Committee and the Committee for Relations with European Non-Member Countries for opinion.

10.       The three Rapporteurs visited the seat of the IPA in St Petersburg on 3-4 April 1996. They visited the seat of the CIS Secretariat in Minsk 2-3 September 1996 and returned to St Petersburg to observe the 8th plenary session of the IPAC 1-3 November 1996. A detailed account of these visits is available as an addendum to this document. This report summarizes the conclusions reached and presents, in the draft resolution, a position statement and proposals for consideration by the Assembly.

11.       After five years of much discussion but little progress towards its aim of inter-state co-operation and integration, for its participating States the CIS is now established as a voluntary semi-permanent institutional replacement for the Soviet Union.

12.       For much of this period, many suspected that the CIS was the means whereby Russia sought to retain influence over its former republics. Two resolutions passed by the State Duma in March 1996 clearly supported the CIS as a means for the revival of the USSR. Since the Presidential election of June 1996, these suspicions seem substantially to have been allayed.

13.       The potential of the CIS for inter-state co-operation and integration is displayed in the differing degrees of commitment of its member States and in their 'multi-track' approaches towards the various forms of association which it provides for. Of course, Russia remains the principle promoter and common partner.

14.       With the possible exception of Belarus, member states are determined to maintain their sovereignty and independence, and that any present or future agreements and associations within the CIS are based on equality and consensus. The bilateral agreements providing for the presence of Russian troops and bases in Armenia and Tajikistan are justified in terms of the ethnic conflicts that have threatened their respective sovereignties and stability.

15.       Policies of co-operation and draft agreements in pursuit of economic goals such as currency harmonisation and customs unions have been long discussed but without much progress. There appears to be greater enthusiasm for the transposition into national legislations of agreed model laws - notably, criminal and civil codes.

16.       Emphasis is repeatedly placed on the need to obtain examples of "best practices" and to conform to international (ie European) standards. It is essential that the CIS has full access to Council of Europe experience, expertise and information in those fields of our special competence.

17.       The interparliamentary assembly is composed, like the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, of delegations of members of national parliaments. It is likely to be receptive to our own mode of functioning to protect basic principles of pluralist democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

18.       The CIS has agreed its own Convention on Human Rights. This is, in itself, a very welcome development. There is however a wide gulf between the CIS achievement and the European Convention on Human Rights. Naturally, there must be no interposition of CIS procedures and institutions between the national judicial systems of CIS member states which are also member states of the Council of Europe and the procedures and institutions of the European Convention on Human Rights.

19.       The Council of Europe should recognise that the CIS and its member states are making a genuine effort to be informed about and to emulate Council of Europe standards in the fields of our special competence. Since at least four of its central Asian member states cannot qualify for membership of our own Organisation, the CIS should be regarded positively as a permanent Euro-Asian international organisation.

20.       The Assembly should come forward with a number of initiatives to develop its relations with the CIS and its interparliamentary assembly. The proposals in the Draft Resolution are largely drawn from the Rapporteurs' discussions during their visits to St Petersburg and Minsk. They could constitute a practical, constructive and mutually stimulating programme - to the benefit of both our Organisations and to Europe as a whole.

Reporting Committee: Political Affairs Committee.

Budgetary implications for the Assembly: maintained within the limit of allocated funds

Reference to committee: Doc. 7345 and Reference No. 2017 of 30 June 1995.

Draft resolution adopted unanimously by the committee on 18 March 1997.

Members of the committee: Mr Bársony (Chairman), Sir Anthony Durant (Vice-Chairman) (Alternate: Mr Atkinson), Mr van der Linden (Vice-Chairman), Mrs Ojuland (Vice-Chairperson), MM Aloglu, Antretter, Bakke, Baumel, Mrs Belohorska, MM Belyaev, Bergqvist, Bernardini, Björck (Alternate: Mr Hagård), Bloetzer, Bokov, Büchel, Bühler, Cem, Cerqueda Pascuet (Alternate Mr Torres Alis), Chircop (Alternate: Mr de Marco, Chornovil, Deasy (Alternate: Mr Gregory), Diacov, Domljan, Eörsi, Evangelisti, Galanos, Gjellerod, Gotzev, Hardy (Alternate: Mr Davis), Irmer, Iwinski, Kalus, Kaspereit, Kautto, Kuzmickas, Mrs Lentz-Cornette, MM Lopez Henares, Lupu, van der Maelen, Maginas, Martínez, Masseret, Medeiros Ferreira, Melescanu (Alternate: Mr Badulescu), Mota Amaral, Muehlemann, Oliynik, Pahor, Popovski, Prusak, Mrs Ragnarsdottir, MM Risari, Schieder, Schwimmer, Selva, Sinka, Sir Dudley Smith, Mr Spahia, Mrs Stepova, Mrs Suchocka, MM Urbain, Vrettos,Woltjer, Ziuganov (Alternate: Mr. Zhebrovsky).

      N.B. The names of those members who took part in the meeting are printed in italics.

Secretaries of the committee : Mr Hartland, Mr Kleijssen, Mr Gruden.

1 ¹ by the Political Affairs Committee