8 October 1997       Doc. 7947

ADOC7947

For debate in the Standing Committee Pour débat à la Commission Permanente __________ See Rule 47 - Voir article 47 du Règlement

      REPORT ¹

      giving an opinion on the budgets of the Council of Europe

      for the financial years 1997 and 1998

      (Rapporteur: Mr Alphonse Theis, Luxembourg,

      Group of the European People's Party)

Summary

      Each year, the Assembly transmits to the Committee of Ministers its opinion on the Council of Europe's budget for the current year (1997) and on the budget forecasts for the following year (1998).

      As regards the 1997 budget, the Assembly notes with satisfaction the substantial budget increases and encourages the Committee of Ministers to give further consideration to a multi-annual approach.

      As regards the 1998 budget, the Assembly calls on the Committee of Ministers to, inter alia, reassess all of the Council of Europe's activities in order to reply more concretely to member States' needs and to provide for a separate budget and financing of the Single Court. The Assembly asks also that the Committee of Ministers continue its review of staff policy and study the possibility of setting up a guarantee fund for the payment of pensions.

      Finally, the Assembly would ask the Committee of Ministers to endow the Organisation with additional resources for the implementation of the decisions resulting from the Second Summit.

      I. Draft opinion

1.       The Assembly notes that, as was the case with preparation of the 1997 budget, it has not received the information needed for it to be able to issue a reasoned opinion on the 1998 budget.

2.       The Assembly also wishes to draw further attention to the disparity between its political role within the Council of Europe and the role which it plays in respect of its own budget and the budget of the organisation as a whole.

3.       The Assembly therefore again takes this opportunity to reiterate its request to be associated with the preparation of the organisation's budget, and particularly its own budget (Vote III), for forthcoming financial years.

4.       With regard to the 1997 budget

      The Assembly

i.       notes with satisfaction that the organisation has been allocated substantial budget increases and additional posts for the 1997 financial year, taking account of the accession of new member states;

ii.       encourages the Committee of Ministers to give further consideration to a multi-annual approach, which should allow the organisation to be managed more flexibly and more rationally;

5.       With regard to the budget prospects for 1998

      The Assembly calls on the Committee of Ministers

i.       to strengthen assistance and training programmes and develop concrete activities in the field;

ii.       to reassess all of the organisation's activities so they constitute as concrete a response as possible to member countries' most pressing needs;

iii.       to continue its review of personnel policy (flexible job management, leaving allowances, early retirement, creation of temporary posts or short-term established posts);

iv.       to set up a guarantee fund to guarantee payment of pensions;

v.       to make provision for the Single Court to be financed apart and have a separate budget, thereby allowing for its specific nature and its independence;

vi.       to set up financial machinery allowing a rapid response to states of emergency;

vii.       to endow the organisation with additional resources for the implementation of the decisions and proposals resulting from the 2nd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe.

      II. Explanatory report

      by Mr Theis

A.       Introduction

1.       Each year, the Assembly is required to submit an opinion to the Committee of Ministers on the political implications of the Council of Europe budget as a whole. The Assembly's opinion makes general recommendations on the Council's operation, which are based on:

i.       the budget for the current year (1997)

ii.       budget forecasts for the following year (1998).

B.       1997 budget

i.       General remarks

2.       I first note with satisfaction that the ordinary budget for the 1997 financial year amounts to 977,925,000 FF, representing a 102.8 million FF increase over the revised 1996 budget.

3.       This increase can mainly be attributed to the full-year impact of the additional resources resulting from the accession of the Russian Federation.

ii.       Breakdown by votes

4.       The breakdown of the 1997 ordinary budget by votes is given in Appendix I. The figures quoted represent the appropriations decided for 1997 and do not include the 1995 balance.

5.       It should be noted that appropriations under Votes III (expenditure of the Parliamentary Assembly), IV (operational expenditure of the European Court and Commission of Human Rights) and VI (institutional expenditure) have increased by about 12%.

6.       I also note with satisfaction that the Committee of Ministers has granted a very significant increase, from 10 million francs in the revised 1996 budget to 28.5 million francs in the 1997 budget, in the allocation intended to cover investments needed in both information technology and buildings. In this connection, I recall that in Recommendation No. 1294 (1996) on the development of computerisation within the Council of Europe and Opinion No. 199 (1996) on the budgets of the Council of Europe for the financial years 1996 and 1997, the Assembly had expressed concern at the modest allocation for computer resources.

7.       Vote VII (combating racism and intolerance, Human Rights Information Centre and confidence-building measures) has been increased by about 16%. It should also be noted that the allocation to the special "confidence-building measures" account, previously included in Vote II in an amount of 6,000,000 FF, is now recorded under Vote VII.

8.       For 1997, programmes under Vote II amount to 87,175,000 FF, an increase of 4,221,000 FF (about 5%) over the 1996 figure after adjustment for the allocation to the special "confidence-building measures" account. Appropriations for permanent and temporary staff, the cost of premises, production of documents and administrative expenses are made under Vote I (common expenditure). Appendix II shows the programme's budget for financial years 1996 and 1997.

9.       I also welcome the Committee of Ministers' intention to give further consideration to a multi-annual approach.

10.       Lastly, I wish to hail the Committee of Ministers' decision to create 38 additional posts in 1997.

11.       Appendix III shows the partial agreement budgets granted for 1997 as compared with the 1996 appropriations.

C.       1998 budget

12.       The draft budget for 1998 comes within the framework of the final phase of the organisation's enlargement.

13.       With regard to personnel, it must be said that, given the organisation's enlargement and the multiplication of its tasks, it still has insufficient staff, despite the Committee of Ministers' decision to create a number of posts in 1997.

14.       To avoid any detrimental effect on the quality of the organisation's activities, it therefore appears necessary to continue the efforts to adapt its resources to its functions.

15.       Moreover, it is absolutely essential that a geographical balance should gradually be struck among staff from the different member States. If this balance is to be achieved within a reasonable time, specific measures must be implemented such as incentives for staff to leave the Council before reaching retirement age and creation of new posts, which are moreover justified on the above grounds.

16.       The need for a number of other steps to adapt the organisation to its new purposes, rationalise its tasks and modernise the management of its human resources has also become apparent.

17.       In this connection, I propose that activities under Vote II (the intergovernmental co-operation programme) be reassessed to focus the organisation's resources on those activities which are essential from the point of view of the new tasks assigned to it.

18.       Stepping up fieldwork to provide assistance and training in the development of democracy and the rule of law and setting up local offices and information centres would make it possible to establish the assistance programmes on a sounder footing.

19.       In this respect, Vote IX should continue to receive the resources needed to pursue the activities concerned. Since 1989, when it began its enlargement policy, the Council of Europe has launched a whole range of co-operation and assistance programmes to help new member States fulfil the obligations they incurred at the time of their accession. This activity has proved to be of utmost importance to the continent's peaceful development and democratic stability.

20.       Lastly, recent events have shown the drawback of not being able to respond rapidly to a state of emergency in a given member State. In my view the organisation should be capable of dealing with such situations, and I therefore propose that provision be made for financial machinery making it possible to bear the cost of an intervention where the need arises.

21.       Laying emphasis on adaptable programmes and on activities in the field creates a need for a more flexible personnel policy. In particular, it is necessary to:

      - introduce greater flexibility in job management and in the system whereby staff are assigned to posts;

      - improve career prospects for permanent staff (twinning of grades, separation of grade and function, etc.);

      - make it easier for staff with ten or fifteen years' service, wishing to try a new career experience outside the Council, to leave their jobs and adapt to new ones;

      - make more extensive use, in the organisation's non-recurring activities, of staff recruited to short-term established posts or temporary staff, while at the same time safeguarding the permanence and independence of the Secretariat. Staff in the latter category already constitute an indispensable back-up force for the Council, which should grant them a status affording them all the guarantees prescribed by the Social Charter.

22.       With the introduction of a budgetised pensions scheme in 1974 payment of the States' share in the cost of the scheme was delayed. It is nevertheless inevitable that this delay will some day be caught up, resulting in an increase in contributions due by the States.

23.       I therefore propose that, to alleviate the effects of such a situation, the member States envisage forthwith the creation of a guarantee fund to help them meet their obligations in the medium and the long term.

24.       As to the new court, which will no doubt be operational in the course of 1999, I believe that, because of its specific nature and its independence as a judicial institution, the Single Court should have a budget separate from the other budgets of the Council of Europe, to be financed separately, as is the case with other international courts and domestic supreme or constitutional courts.

25.       In this respect, the Assembly can but encourage the Committee of Ministers to carry on examining the steps to be taken with regard to the rules governing the judges' conditions of employment and to amend the regulations accordingly.

26.       Lastly, I hope that the Committee of Ministers will endow the organisation with additional resources to implement the decisions and proposals resulting from the 2nd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe.

APPENDIX I

BREAKDOWN OF 1997 ORDINARY BUDGET BY VOTES AND CHANGES COMPARED WITH 1996

VOTES	1996 appropriations	% of expenditure	1997 appropriations	% of total appropriations	% increase
VOTE I Common expenditure	490,929,000	56.10	525,087,000	53.69	6.96
VOTE II Expenditure pertaining to the intergovernmental programme of activities, adjusted for the transfer to the special "Confidence-building measures" account	82,954,000	9.48	87,175,000	8.91	5.09
VOTE III Expenditure of the Parliamentary Assembly	72,265,000	8.26	80,922,000	8.27	11.98
VOTE IV Operational expenditure of the European Court and Commission of Human Rights and the European Tribunal in matters of State immunity	128,889,000	14.73	145,005,000	14.83	12.50
VOTE V Expenditure of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe	13,900,000	1.59	14,805,000	1.51	6.51
VOTE VI Sundry institutional expenditure	12,615,000	1.44	14,112,000	1.44	11.87
VOTE VII European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, Human Rights Information Centre and confidence-building measures	10,190,000	1.16	11,806,000	1.21	15.86
VOTE VIII Investment expenditure	12,340,000	1.41	30,250,000	3.09	145.14
VOTE IX Assistance for developing and consolidating democratic security (ADACS)	46,040,000	5.26	64,455,000	6.59	40.00
VOTE X Expenditure arising from the enlargement of the organisation	4,978,748	0.57	4,308,000	0.44	n.s.
TOTAL	875,100,748	100.00	977,925,000	100.00	11.75

APPENDIX II

BUDGET OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES FOR 1996 AND 1997

Intergovernmental programme of activities Vote II	1996	1997
General reserve	37,000	25,000
I. Democratic cohesion - Democracy - Human rights - Rule of law	22,592,000	23,916,000
II. Social cohesion and quality of life - Social policies - Health - Environment and rational regional/spatial management	13,524,000	13,498,000
III. Cultural cohesion and cultural pluralism - Education, higher education, culture and heritage - Youth	46,801,000	49,736,000
TOTAL VOTE II	88,954,000	87,175,000

APPENDIX III

PARTIAL AGREEMENT BUDGETS

PARTIAL AGREEMENT	Revised 1996 budget	1997 budget	% change
Partial agreement in the social and public health field	9,412,000	9,611,000	+ 2.11
European Pharmacopoeia	48,352,000	50,068,000	+ 3.54
Social development fund	10,418,000	9,359,000	- 10.16
Pompidou Group	8,267,000	8,793,000	+ 6.36
Natural disasters	13,273,000	10,422,000	- 21.33
Eurimages: - operational expenditure - programme expenditure	9,630,000       141,413,000	10,261,000       119,739,000	+ 6.55       - 15.33
European Commission for Democracy through Law	10,191,000	11,561,000	+ 13.44
Partial agreement on the youth card	595,000	632,000	+ 6.22
Enlarged partial agreement establishing the European Centre for Modern Languages (Graz)	8,104,372	8,900,196	+ 9.82

Reporting committee: Committee on the Budget and the Intergovernmental Work Programme.

Budgetary implications for the Assembly: The Rapporteur has not been able to make general proposals for the 1998 Budget. The proposals on expenditure of the Assembly for the budgetary financial year 1998 are presented in Opinion No. 201 (1997).

Reference to committee: standing mandate.

Draft opinion adopted unanimously by the committee on 2 September 1997.

Members of the committee: MM Schreiner (Chairman), Cox, Theis and Goovaerts (Vice-Chairmen, MM Aleffi, Behrendt, Mrs Bieliková, Mr Bugli, Mrs Calner, MM Gangemi, Cherep (Alternate: Mr Pasko), Fernandez Aguilar, Galanos, Sir John Hunt, MM Jónsson, Kaalund, Kamhi, Mrs Karamitro, MM Koulouris, Kriedner, Mrs Luhtanen, MM  Luís, de Marco, Mel_ák, Melescanu, Muravschi, Obuljen, Oorzhak, Pante__jevs (Alternate: Mr Sinka), Pattison, Piatkowski, Plattner, Popovski, Mrs Ringstad, Mr Rupar, Mrs Schicker, Mrs Stoyanova, MM Szalay, Valk, Vishnyakov.

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

Secretary of the committee: Mrs Nollinger.

¹ . By the Committee on the Budget and the Intergovernmental Work Programme