10 June 1994

Doc. 7100

1403-6/6/94-2-E

THIRTY-FIFTH ACTIVITY REPORT

of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations

(Rapporteur: Mrs RAGNARSDÓTTIR,

Iceland, European Democratic Group)

Summary

      During the last two years, the trend which started in 1987, has been confirmed: the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations has widened its approach to its relations with national parliaments. The programmes of meetings held in these parliaments included subjects of interest to the host country and the Council of Europe, thus highlighting the work achieved by the latter. On those occasions, discussions have involved many political leaders (about sixty since 1987), delegated by parliaments, parties or governments. The need for an enlarged co-operation between national parliaments on subjects of common interest and shared preoccupations led to the organisation of European interparliamentary conferences (Brussels, May 1992 and Paris, September 1993) gathering representatives who are not Assembly members, as well as Assembly members. Co-operation has focused on the parliaments' role in the functioning of democracy and in European construction on the one hand, and on the impact of media and new technologies on representative democracy on the other. Meetings in the national parliaments have had the merit inter alia of clarifying the distinction between the respective roles of the Council of Europe and the European Union as well as highlighting their complementarity.

      Up to now relations with the public have dealt mainly with co-operation with non-governmental organisations, which benefit from a consultative status with the Council of Europe, with contacts with media representatives and with the communication policy of the Council of Europe.

      Order No. 489 adopted on 3 September 1993 by the Assembly reflects the adaptation of the committee's former terms of reference to the evolution of its work. For the sake of consistency with its present activities, the committee's name should be amended.

I. Draft order

1.       Following the adoption of Order No. 489 (1993) on the terms of reference of the

Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations, the Assembly welcomes the efforts made by the latter to develop interparliamentary co-operation with a view to:

      i.       promoting a better knowledge within national parliaments of European policies advocated and implemented by the Council of Europe;

      ii.       ensuring that action is taken on the texts adopted by the Council of Europe;

      iii.       building up a common approach to the steps to be taken vis-à-vis the new challenges facing representative democracy, which result from new needs and aspirations of citizens as well as from new developments in the field of the media.

2.       The Assembly attaches particular importance to the work so far achieved by the aforesaid committee on the functioning of pluralist democracy at a time when a number of European countries in eastern, central and western Europe are facing institutional problems.

3.       The Assembly, taking into account the development of the committee's activities, instructs the committee to propose a change in its title, in consultation with the other committees concerned in order to avoid any overlapping of powers.

II. Explanatory memorandum

by Mrs RAGNARSDÓTTIR

Contents

Page

I.        PRELIMINARY NOTE        4

II.       INTRODUCTION        4

III.       PARLIAMENTARY RELATIONS        4

A.       FOLLOW UP TO THE ASSEMBLY'S ACTIVITIES        4

B.       DEBATES IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS        5

C.       INTERPARLIAMENTARY CO-OPERATION        5

a.       The functioning of pluralist democracy        6

i.       Committee meetings        6

ii.       Study on the democratic functioning of

      iii.       Interparliamentary conferences        8

b.       European construction        9

i.       Interparliamentary conferences        9

ii.       Committee meetings        10

IV.       PUBLIC RELATIONS        10

      a.       The communication policy of the Council of Europe        10

b.       Co-operation with NGOs        11

V.       CONCLUSIONS        11

APPENDIX        12

I. Preliminary note

1.       The regular production of the committee's activity report was interrupted three years ago. The structure of the report was considered to have a a bureaucratic and routine-like character and therefore raised little interest in the Assembly. Consequently the committee discussed a new approach in order to make it both more interesting and useful. The conclusion reached was to focus the Assembly's attention on the committee's activities considered as particularly significant for the Council of Europe's overall objectives and on open questions which deserve further thinking and action.

II. Introduction

2.       Starting from the basic question: why national parliaments and public opinion only have a vague idea of the Council of Europe, the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations has drawn up guidelines for its actions in Order Nos. 452 and 489 with a view to reducing this handicap and these were adopted by the Assembly respectively in 1990 and 1993.

3.       The Assembly members' initiatives, aiming at ensuring the follow-up to the Parliamentary Assembly's activities within the national parliaments, have proved to be, and still are, far from being satisfying. Hence the decision to hold interparliamentary conferences in addition to committee meetings organised in national parliaments premises (an already well-established tradition) with a view to reinforcing contacts with national parliamentarians. By doing so the committee also felt that it could serve, or contribute to serve, a purpose of fundamental interest: the development of interparliamentary co-operation on a large scale.

4.       As regards the committee's initiatives concerning public relations one must distinguish those dealing with the Council of Europe's communication policy and those aiming at the development of co-operation with NGOs.

III. Parliamentary relations

A.       Follow up to the assembly's activities

5.       Traditionally the committee selects texts adopted by the Assembly on a regular basis and proposes model questions to be addressed to the competent ministers. This exercise is, on the whole, disappointing. If we exclude a few exceptions: Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain (see appendix), the other delegations use the questions sporadically, or not at all.

6.       To make this exercise more fruitful, the committee members will be invited to make a periodic communication on the questions raised in the parliaments, as well as on the replies given by their competent governmental authorities, which may serve as a basis for a report to be submitted to the Assembly. Hopefully this kind of report could provide the Assembly with more substance for bringing pressure to bear on the Committee of Ministers in order to strengthen the impact of its recommendations.

B.       Debate in national parliaments

7.       Most parliaments have periodic presentations of the Council of Europe's activities; the periodicity varies according to member states. The wide spectrum of activities covered by the Organisation does not help to focus the parliamentarians' attention nor pave the way for lively debates.

8.       Recent experience shows that well chosen subjects relevant to the Council of Europe's activities can lead to interesting discussions, involving not only Assembly delegation members, but also non-members. The importance of the Council of Europe's role in the European construction was highlighted in the dicussions on the Vienna Summit results which took place at the Italian, Icelandic, and Spanish Parliaments.

9.       A special reference should be made to the House of Commons (United Kingdom) where a very long debate was dedicated to our Organisation. Moreover, it was not confined to the enlargement of the Organisation, human rights and democracy, but also included subjects of social interest such as the European Pharmacopoea. Some of our British colleagues underlined their great apppreciation of the work they were involved in and particularly of the consensus approach prevailing in the Parliamentary Assembly, which contrasted with the confrontations in the national parliaments.

C.       Interparliamentary co-operation

10.       The activities aiming at interparliamentary co-operation also include an informative purpose as will be seen from what follows. Let us recall that the Assembly, when adopting Order Nos. 452 and 489, recognised the necessity of associating the national parliamentarians, who were not delegation members of the Assembly, to seminars or conferences as one of the ways of promoting the awareness of the Council of Europe's objectives and activities. As previously mentioned one of the two ways of implementing this instruction is the holding of an interparliamentary conference.

11.       But the way they are organised had to be carefully thought about. When conferences are exclusively organised by the Assembly, the invitations addressed to national parliaments asking for the appointment of representatives who do not belong to the Assembly's delegations are rarely successful, as has been the case with conferences organised by other Assembly committees. In order to make the national parliaments more aware of the fact that participation was not exclusively open to the Assembly delegations, a specific procedure had to be thought of: the venue had to be found in a member state and not in the Council of Europe's premises and the invitation signed by the Speaker(s) of the host parliament and the President of the Assembly.

12.       It was considered that, in order to be effective, the committee meetings and interparliamentary conferences1 held in national parliaments should focus on important issues illustrating preoccupations shared by the Assembly and the national parliaments. Two of them have already been selected: the functioning of pluralist democracy and the construction of Europe.

a.       The functioning of pluralist democracy

13.       The crisis of the political function, the marginalisation of parliaments due to the growth of the executive power in western European countries on the one hand, and to the increasing role of the media, the fragility of the new central and eastern European democracies, the committee's duty to highlight the Assembly's action for the defence and the reinforcement of democratic values have given birth to various activities presented hereafter.

14.       At committee meetings, discussions have dealt with specific aspects of democracy which took account of important issues in the host country, whereas interparliamentary conferences have dealt with democracy on broader terms.

      i.       Committee meetings

      —Ro       me, 1 and 2 April 199315

15.       National issues can be of great significance for many countries. Mrs Nilde Iotti, former Speaker of the Deputies' Chamber, presented the electoral and institutional reform process in Italy in her capacity as President of the bi-cameral committee entrusted with the reforms. The electoral reform — which was presented at that time — differed slightly from the one eventually adopted by the Italian Parliament. Its aim was to replace the existing proportional system by a "first past the post" system, in order to bring citizens closer to political life. Since that presentation the assignment of seats on an uninominal basis went up from 60% to 75% and the assignment of seats on a proportional basis went down from 40% to 25%, the election being limited to one round.

16.       The Italian experience must be followed with great attention by all European countries. The recent local elections showed the collapse of centre political forces and a remarkable break through of what is supposed to be the extreme wings of the political spectrum. Paradoxically the "first past the post" system is expected to marginalise extremes and to favour the birth of a strong two party system. But the two party system depends on homogeneous coalitions and if this cannot be guaranteed, one can wonder: is a one round "first past the post" system a sound democratic system?

17.       Considering the Assembly's role in the strengthening of democracy in Europe, it is a must, in the Rapporteur's opinion, to study electoral systems with a view to identifying solutions which may inspire new democracies but also older ones which, are or which could be (no one is invulnerable), in a state of crisis.

18.       The constitutional reform process in Italy, the aim of which is also to bring citizens closer to political life, has not been achieved. The questions to be addressed are of interest to many countries: distribution of political functions between the state and the region, and consequently the distribution of the tax yield? Other questions were raised about the representativeness of the regions at national level: Should a chamber be composed of regional representatives? Should the latter be elected by universal suffrage or appointed by regional councils? Should the chamber of regions take part in the vote of confidence in the government? No doubt these questions have to be addressed by the committee in its future work.

      —Wa       rsaw, 27 to 29 October 199319

19.       At that meeting, in which all the political forces were represented, the committee members were given the possibility of an in-depth analysis of the electoral results, which took place a month earlier, and of the difficulties preventing political forces from achieving progress in the drawing up of a constitution.

20.       Poland is an interesting case of a newly democratised country where free elections have been held but whose interim constitution is inherited from a former communist regime.

21.       Though all political forces agreed on the democratic character of the election process, some complained about the non-democratic representation of the people in the parliament since 35% of the electors are not represented.

22.       The representation threshold — 5% for a political force and of 8% for a coalition — was indicated as one of the reasons; the opposition's incapacity to form a large coalition was another determining reason. The electoral system in the country, which is partly proportional and partly uninominal, also gives substance for thought.

23.       The Polish system, the Italian, the electoral results in other countries (in France, the majority has about 80% of the seats with approximately 40% of the votes), the variety of systems at European level, and their sometimes puzzling outcome, raise questions which should be studied in depth for the sake of the consolidation of pluralist democracy.

24.       At the committee meeting held in Poland, the functioning of parliaments was discussed and particularly the distribution of the committee chairmanships. The discussions on this point revealed that in the parliaments where the opposition chaired some committees (Germany, Iceland), the effectiveness of the parliamentary debate increased, owing to the improvement of relations between the majority and the opposition and the resulting reduction of time spent on discussing important issues.

25.       The majority of the Polish Parliament thinks that important issues (which political system: presidential or parliamentarian? Should education be completely without charge? What relations between the Church and the state? etc.) should be dealt with by referendum before the drawing up of a constitution; the opposition thinks that a constitutional referendum would only serve to prolong a process which had already taken too much time and that the parliament should tackle the problem within the briefest delay.

      —Je       rusalem, 7 to 9 March 199426

26.       On that occasion the committee met the President of the state of Israel, Ezer Weizman, the President of the Knesset, Chevah Weiss, the Prime Minister, Yitzak Rabin, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shimon Peres, the President of the Likoud Party, Benjamin Netanyaou. It also met the PLO representative, Faisal Husseini, in East-Jerusalem.

27.       The information gleaned from these talks gave the Committee a clearer picture of the difficulties to be overcome by the negotiators in order to resume their contacts after the tragic event in Hebron.

28.       Regarding the substance of the Washington Agreement, the talks showed the complexity of the questions which were left open: for Israel the agreement settled the question of autonomy in Gaza and Jericho; for the PLO, it was a first step toward the creation of a Palestinian state; Jerusalem was excluded from the agreement but the PLO considered there should be two capitals. Among the Israelian leaders, some thought that PLO was not representative enough and that free elections were necessary for the emergence of acknowledged representatives. The fifteen articles of the PLO Charta condemning Sionism were still maintained, whereas Israel considered their suppression as essential for peace progress.

29.       The discussions also focused on Israel's socio-political situation and more specifically, its democratic institutions and integration of its many immigrants.

      ii.       Study on the democratic functioning of parliaments

30.       This study has just been achieved. It is a comparative analysis covering thirty countries and dealing with three subjects. The parliamentarian's status, the parliamentary control of the executive and the parliamentary initiative. The committee will shortly be discussing the follow-up to be given to the study.

      iii.       Interparliamentary conferences

31.       Two interparliamentary conferences have been held so far, respectively at the Belgian Parliament (May 1992) and at the French Senate (September 1993). They gathered a great number of parliamentarians who were not members of the Assembly's delegations (about 220) as well as representatives of the European Parliament, the Nordic Council, the Western European Union, and the Benelux.

32.       The conference in Brussels (26-27 May 1992) dwelt on the insufficiencies of the national parliaments' role in European politics. The participants felt that it was high time to reverse the tendency which has developped in most European countries during the cold war period, that is the reinforcement of the executive power, to the detriment of the legislative power, particularly in the field of foreign affairs. It was considered that the democratic deficit in the drawing up of European policies could no longer be acceptable, not only as a matter of principle, but also because of growing co-operation between countries which has turned European affairs into internal affairs.

33.       During the conference, held at the French Senate in Paris (16-18 September 1993) the crisis of the political function was discussed at length. The relations between citizens and politicians, between citizens and the media, and between the media and politicians were the main aspects covered by the discussions.

34.       The reports prepared by MM. Masseret and Landsbergis on "Citizens and democracy: the current crisis and future prospects" and by Mr Columberg on "Direct democracy: merits and limits" paved the way for very interesting debates.

35.       The conference observed that the citizens of the new democracies and the old democracies alike lacked confidence in the effectiveness of the political system and examined objectively the role of each protagonist in democracy.

36.       With reference to politicians, the conference laid particular stress on the notions of availability, proximity, openness, to which must be added clear commitment, and the development of the educational aspect. The role of political parties was also considered, particularly the many criticisms concerning their internal workings and the little attention they pay to the opinions of militants and individuals outside election campaigns.

37.       Discussions on possibilities to increase citizens' participation in politics stressed the NGOs' role, as foremost partners in political democracy, though their role must not be confused with that of elected representatives who are answerable to the people for their decisions by way of universal suffrage.

38.       The conference underlined the useful role of the media in the defence of democracy, but was concerned about some of their excesses in the presentation and treatment of information.

39.       The lines of reflection which emerged during the conference will be taken into consideration in a more specific study on "Parliament and the media" (Rapporteur: Mr Caldoro), in a forthcoming Seminar on "Democracy and New Technologies" and in a study on "Direct democracy".

40.       It was obvious that the participants who were not involved in the Assembly's work appreciated the occasion given to them to meet colleagues of other countries and widen their knowledge of European affairs.

b.       European construction

      i.       Interparliamentary conferences

41.       Both conferences in Brussels and Paris dealt with the European construction and particularly the contributions expected from the European Community — now European Union — and from the Council of Europe. In Brussels the discussion papes were presented by MM. Masseret and Konecny. The proposals formulated by the conferences stressed the latters' complementary roles, but, as regards the construction of Europe on a continental scale, the Council of Europe was highlighted as the framework for its implementation because it embodies fundamental values of European civilisation, its membership includes most European countries, its range of activities is wide and diversified and its working methods are flexible and consequently adaptable to a period of time which is clearly transitional.

42.       At the Paris Conference, the discussions on this theme were based on the reports presented by Mr Seeuws and Mrs Fontaine, Vice-President of the European Parliament. Some interventions have shown the limits of the European Union's extension (eighteen to twenty countries at the most). The CSCE has an intercontinental dimension (since it includes a part of Asia — the six Asian former republics of the USSR — the United States and Canada). The Council of Europe has been considered as the most appropriate structure for the building up of a continental Europe, also owing to the confederal matrix contained in Article 15 of its Statute.

43.       After the conference the European Parliament proposed in its resolution on relations between the Union and the Council of Europe (15 December 1993) that the Community should adhere to the statute of the Council of Europe. The same proposal was made by the representative of the Commission of the European Communities, Mr H. van den Broek, in the Vienna Summit.

44.       The debates on the implication of this proposal as well as on the limits of Europe already started in the Assembly on the occasion of its 1994 January session. Some were against the proposal, some for. Certainly the Assembly has a major role in the thinking process regarding the construction of Europe. However similar debates should also be held in national parliaments and in interparliamentary conferences. It is up to the committee to assume the initiative with a view to ensuring that such debates focus on the Council of Europe's role.

45.       It is believed that the interparliamentary conferences help delegates who are not members of the Assembly delegations to understand the potentials of the Council of Europe's role in the European construction. Vice versa the delegate's contribution enriches the Assembly's work. In addition these conferences present the advantage of associating delegations of other European parliamentary bodies: the European Parliament, WEU, the Benelux and the Nordic Council Assemblies.

      ii.       Committee meetings

46.       In Rome and Warsaw the European construction was also discussed: the continental and the community construction in the Italian Parliament and regional co-operation in central Europe in the Polish Parliament.

IV. Public relations

a.       The communication policy of the Council of Europe

47.       In the light of its meeting with the new Director of the Council of Europe Communication Department on 27 January 1994, the committee took note of the fact that most proposals contained in Recommendation 1113 (1989) were fulfilled: production of films on the Council of Europe, creation of facilities enabling journalists to carry out their tasks in good conditions, creation of specific files regarding chief events highlighting the Council of Europe to be used by journalists, extension of contact networks with news agencies to most member states of the Council of Europe.

48.       But in spite of the progress achieved since 1989, the Council of Europe's image is still rather blurred particularly as a result of the confusion between the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, not only at public opinion level but also in the national parliaments.

49.       There are objective justifications for it: the abysmal difference between the publicity means allocated respectvely to the European Parliament and to the Council of Europe, the holding of the sessions in the same hemicycle, the ten to four sessions difference in favour of the European Parliament, which creates the impression that the place belongs to the latter, the common flag, and last but not least, many activities on similar subjects.

50.       However other organisations, such as OECD, with means inferior to ours, manage to have a distinct profile, easily identified by the public. The reasons for it should be analysed.

b.       Co-operation with NGOs

51.       The committee attaches great importance to its co-operation with NGOs; it considers that their intermediary role between citizens and public authorities, or deputies, is not appreciated at its face value and should be encouraged; the NGOs can contribute to a better citizens' involvement in political life, which at the present time tends to decline. After the successful Parliamentarians-NGOs' Conference held at the headquarters of the Hungarian Parliament in May 1991, a congress to be held in 1995 is being prepared by the Joint Committee "Parliamentarians — NGO Liaison Committee".

V. Conclusions

52.       In their evolution, the committee's activities are emphasising their complementarity with those implemented by the other Assembly committees. Moreover, with its institutional activities, the committee is filling a gap in the Assembly's work which is of the utmost importance in the present situation of Europe characterised by the challenges to be faced by pluralist democracies be it in its western central or eastern part. The European Parliament has an institutional committee for Community institutions. It seems logical that national institutions have a counterpart at European level. And where better than the Assembly!

53.       It has to be acknowledged that the progress of the committee's action has a limited scope due to limited means.

54.       Parliamentary relations are the main task of the committee, not only because the national parliaments are to be made aware of the Council of Europe's work, but also because the Assembly has a specific responsibility in the building up of a democratic Europe which cannot be achieved without an effective involvement of the national parliaments. Communication of information as it is practised at the present time is a necessary exercise but quiet insufficient; national parliamentary debates have to be fostered by European meetings at committee or conference level, accessible to as many national parliamentarians as possible.

APPENDIX

List of adopted texts on which parliamentary

questions were asked2

Recommendations

1177 (1992)       on the rights of minorities

1184 (1992)              on the work of the CSCE on the eve of the 3rd Summit (Helsinki, 9-11 July 1992)

1186 (1992)       on the environment policy in Europe (1990-91)

1189 (1992)              on the establishment of an international court to judge war crimes

1193 (1992)       on the future of European construction

1194 (1992)       on the reform of the control mechanism of the European Convention on Human Rights

1201 (1993)       on an additional protocol on the rights of national minorities to the European Convention on Human Rights

1203 (1993)       on Gypsies in Europe

1205 (1993)       on the situation of refugees and displaced persons in several countries of the former Yugoslavia

1214 (1993)       on the Vienna Summit

1218 (1993)       on establishing an international court to try serious violations of international humanitarian law

1219 (1993)       on establishing a mechanism for the protection of human rights in European states not members of the Council of Europe

1223 (1993)       on reservations made by member states to Council of Europe conventions

1224 (1993)       on the protection and management of freshwater resources in Europe

1225 (1993)       on the management, treatment, recycling and marketing of waste

Resolutions

995 (1993)       on the economic renaissance of the Baltic Sea region

1008 (1993)       on social policies for elderly persons and their self-reliance

1010 (1993)       on the situation of refugees and displaced persons in Serbia, Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

1011 (1993)       on the situation of women and children in the former Yugoslavia

Orders

488 (1993)       on the honouring of commitments entered into by new member states

Conventions

124       on the recognition of the legal personality of international non-governmental organisations

      Reporting committee: Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations.

      Budgetary implications for the Assembly: none.

      Reference: Standing terms of reference of the committee: Resolution 104 (1956) and Order No. 489 (1993)

      Draft order unanimously adopted by the committee on 3 June 1994

      Members of the committee: MM. Colombo (Chairman) (Alternate: Caldoro), Roman, Mrs Ragnarsdóttir (Vice-Chairmen), MM. Amaral, Attard Montalto, Bachna, Bobelis, Mrs Brenden, MM. Büchler, Bugli, Colombier (Alternate: Masseret), Columberg, Dicks, Eversdijk, Golu, Gotzev, Mrs Grzeskowiak, Mr Gül, Mrs Hawlicek, MM. Hjortnaes, Hughes, Mrs Jaani, MM. Kitt, Korahais, Kuriscak, Laakso, Laverge (Alternate: Seeuws), Lummer, Proriol, Pukl, Regenwetter, Robles Fraga, Mrs Saint Cyr, MM. Tabladini (Alternate: Ferrarini), Ternak.

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

      Secretary to the committee: Mr Roberto La Porta.

1 1—       Conference on "National Parliaments and the Construction of Europe", Brussels, 26 and 27 May 1992;

—       Conference on "Citizens, Participatory Democracy and Construction of Europe", Paris, 16 to 18 September 1993.

2 1N.B.       The letters under the title of the adopted texts refer to countries which addressed questions to their governments. The letters followed by an asterisk refer to countries which obtained replies.