11 December 1995

Doc. 7435

REPORT

on the election of committee Vice-Chairpersons

(Rapporteur: Sir Anthony DURANT,

United Kingdom, European Democratic Group)

I . Draft resolution

1.       The Assembly notes that since committees are obliged to elect their two vice-chairpersons simultaneously (Rule 45 paragraph 3), the consequence is that their order of precedence is usually determined by age (Rule 45 paragraph 7). This is not always considered to be an ideal solution.

2.       It considers that it would be preferable if precedence was always determined by the order in to which the vice-chairpersons are elected.

3.       Consequently the Assembly decides to amend its Rules of Procedure as follows:

i.       in Rule 45 paragraph 3 to delete the words "both Vice-Chairmen being elected simultaneously";

ii.       in Rule 45 paragraph 5 to replace the second sentence by the following text: "If a single candidature is put forward for the office of Chairperson, he/she shall be declared elected. This also applies to candidatures for each office of Vice-Chairperson";

iii.       in Rule 45 paragraph 7 to delete the last sentence;

iv.       in Rule 46 paragraph 6 to delete in the first sentence the following text: "with the exception of those provisions relating to the fact that committees have two vice-chairmen".

4.       It decides that these provisions will enter into force at the opening of the 1996 ordinary session (22 January 1996).

II. Explanatory memorandum

by Sir Anthony Durant

1.       At its meeting on 25 April 1995 the Committee on Rules of Procedure held an exchange of views on the precedence of committee vice-chairpersons and asked its chairman to present proposals in writing.

A.       Present situation regarding precedence

2.       According to Rule 45 par.7 of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure the committee vice-chairpersons shall take precedence in accordance with the order in which they have been elected and in the event of a tie or election without ballot, by age.

3.       In practice a problem may (except the more theoretical case of a tie) only arise when in the absence of other candidates two new committee vice-chairpersons are simultaneously declared elected under Rule 45 par.51. In that case their precedence is determined by age and this is not always considered as being an ideal solution.

B.       Proposals

4.       The above-mentioned problem stems from the fact that according to Rule 45 par.3 both committee vice-chairpersons have to be elected simultaneously. This was however not always the case in the Assembly. The obligation to hold these elections simultaneously was introduced by Resolution 852 (1985), and apparently no justification was given for this new procedure. Previously the practice had varied from one committee to the other (see par.59 of Doc.5433), but vice-chairpersons were mainly elected in separate ballots.

5.       It is astonishing that under the current Rules two different criteria are used for establishing the precedence of vice-chairpersons:

-       either the date of their election

-       or their age.

6.       In these conditions it could be considered to change the current system and to reintroduce the possibility of establishing by separate election the first and the second vice-chairperson. This is also the current procedure in the European Parliament2 (Rule 142), and it does not preclude the possibility for each vice-chairperson to be elected by acclamation if there is only one candidature for each office.

7.       At the meeting of the Committee on Rules of Procedure on 25 April 1995 another possibility was envisaged, namely to replace precedence by age with precedence by alphabetical order. However this solution would leave several questions open, particularly when the committee chairperson would have to be replaced.

8.       Such difficulties would not arise and the procedure would be more democratic, if the committee clearly established who was the first and who the second vice-chairperson.

9.       The implementation of the above proposals requires the following Rule changes:

      -       in Rule 45 par.3 to delete the words "both Vice-Chairmen being elected simultaneously" ;

      -       in Rule 45 par.5 to replace the second sentence ("if a single candidature for the office of Chairman and only two candidatures for the office of vice-chairmen are put forward, these candidates shall be declared elected"); by "when only one candidature is proposed for the office of Chairperson, he/she shall be declared elected; this also applies to candidatures for each office of vice-chairperson";

-       in Rule 45 par.7 to delete the last sentence ("The Vice-chairmen shall take precedence in accordance with the order in which they have been elected and, in the event of a tie or election without ballot, by age") as it would no longer be necessary, the precedence among the committee vice-chairpersons being always established;

      -       in Rule 46 par.6 to delete in the first sentence the following text "with the exception of those provisions relating to the fact that committees have two vice-chairmen".

10.       The Rule changes proposed above would have no effect on sub-committees which only have one vice-chairperson.

C.       Final remarks

11.       At its meeting on 9 November 1995 the committee agreed that the new rules should be applied as from the opening of the 1996 Ordinary session (22 January 1996).

A P P E N D I X

Rule 45

Procedure in Committee

1.       A Committee shall meet when convened by its Chairman or at the request of the President of the Assembly, either during or between Sessions3.

2.       Any two or more committees may hold a joint meeting for the examination of subjects coming within their competence, but may not reach a joint decision, except if it is unanimous or on procedural matters. The Chair shall be taken in turns by the Chairmen of each of the participating Committees, starting with the longest-serving Chairman or, in the case of equal length of service, the Chairman senior in age.

3.       The Bureau of each Committee shall consist of a Chairman and two Vice-Chairmen, elected at the first Committee meeting of each Assembly Session, both Vice-Chairmen being elected simultaneously.

4.       Until the Chairman of the Committee is elected, the meeting shall be chaired by the oldest member present, under whose chairmanship no subject other than the election of the Chairman may be discussed.

5.       The submission of candidatures for the office of Chairman and Vice-Chairmen shall be optional, but candidates for the office of Chairman must be regular members of the Committee. If a single candidature for the office of Chairman and only two candidatures for the office of Vice-Chairmen are put forward, these candidates shall be declared elected.

6.       Elections shall be held by secret ballot. Two tellers chosen by lot shall count the votes cast.

7.       Those candidates who obtain the absolute majority of the votes cast on the first ballot shall be declared elected4. On the second ballot the election shall be by relative majority5. In the case of a tie, there shall be a third ballot ; in the case of a further tie, the candidate senior in age shall be declared elected. The Vice-Chairmen shall take precedence in accordance with the order in which they have been elected and, in the event of a tie or election without ballot, by age.

8.       ...

Reporting committee: Committee on Rules of Procedure

Budgetary implications for the Assembly: None

Reference to committee: standing mandate

Draft resolution adopted by the committee on 9 November 1995

Members of the committee: Sir Anthony Durant (Chairman), Mrs Lentz-Cornette, Mr Rewaj (Vice-Chairpersons), Mrs Aguiar, MM. Alloncle, Cummings (Alternate: Sir Russell Johnston), Djerov, Endzins, Fenech, Mrs Fernandez Ramiro, Lord Finsberg, MM. Gabrielescu, Galanos, Gjellerod, Goovaerts, Mrs Holand, MM. Korkeaoja (Alternate: Laakso), Lorenzi (Alternate: Speroni), Loukota, Magnusson (Alternate: Bergqvist), Marten, Maruflu, Masson, Molnár, Prokes (Alternate: Slobodnik), Proriol, Pukl, Mrs Ragnarsdottir, MM. Rhinow, Rokofyllos (Alternate: Benetatos), Schieder, Schloten, von Schmude, Selva, Soldani, Spahia, Verbeek, Wallace, N... (Alternate: Gricius).

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

Secretary of the committee : Mr Heinrich.

1 ¹ Rule 45 par.5 , 2nd sentence stipulates that "If a single candidature for the office of Chairman and only two candidatures for the office of vice-chairmen are put forward these candidates shall be declared elected". According to Rule 45 par.3 both committee vice-chairmen are elected simultaneously.

2 ² The European Parliament's Committee on Rules of Procedure is currently reviewing the voting procedure for electing the committee chairpersons and vice-chairpersons.

3 ¹ Committee meetings shall be held in Strasbourg or Paris. For meetings held elsewhere, see the Special Ruling, pp. 142 and 144.

4 ² Only ballot papers bearing the names of persons qualified for election shall be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the number of votes cast (Rule 35.8).

5 ³ Should several ballots be necessary, only candidates nominated before the opening of the first ballot shall be taken into account (Rule 35.8).