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For debate in the Standing Committee see Rule 47
Pour débat à la Commision permanente – Voir article 47 du Règlement
Doc. 8093
27 April 1998
Election of Assembly Vice-Presidents
Report
Committee on Rules of Procedure
Rapporteur: Mr Henning Gjellerod, Denmark, Socialist Group
Summary
In November 1996 the Assembly adopted Resolution 1105 which modified the system of apportionment of Bureau seats, and this makes it necessary for the Rules of Procedure to be up-dated insofar as the rules on the election of Vice-Presidents are concerned.
I. Draft resolution
1. The Assembly recalls that on 7 November 1996 it adopted Resolution 1105 which contains a revised system of apportionment of Bureau seats. This system makes it clear, in particular, that Bureau seats for Vice-Presidents are allocated to national delegations and that no delegation is entitled to more than one seat.
2. The Assembly furthermore considers that a system of elections should be maintained for electing Vice-Presidents.
3. It therefore decides to amend Rule 9 of its Rules of Procedure as follows:
i. To replace paragraph 1 by the following text:
"No Representative may stand as a candidate for the office of President unless nominated in writing by five or more Representatives or Substitutes before the opening of the first ballot."
ii. After paragraph 1, to add the following new paragraph:
"No Representative or Substitute may be elected Vice-President unless proposed in writing by the chairperson of the national delegation concerned, on behalf of that delegation."
iii. To replace paragraph 6 by the following paragraph:
« The Vice-Presidents shall then be elected on a single ballot paper. One Vice-President shall be elected in respect of each national delegation entitled to a seat under the system of apportionment of Bureau seats referred to in Rule 8.1. Where no candidature is proposed by a national delegation entitled to a seat, that seat shall remain vacant until such candidature is proposed. Those who on the first ballot obtain an absolute majority of the Representatives of the Assembly shall be declared elected. If the number of those elected is less than the number of vacancies to be filled, a second ballot for the candidates not elected shall be held, following the same procedure. Where a candidate is not elected after the second ballot, that seat shall remain vacant until a candidate obtains the requisite majority.
II. Explanatory memorandum by Mr Gjellerod
Introduction
1. In November 1996, the Standing Committee adopted Resolution 1105, which contains a revised system of apportionment of Bureau seats (see Appendix and Rule 8 of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure). Thereunder, it is clear that Bureau seats for Vice-Presidents are allocated to national delegations and that no delegation is entitled to more than one seat.
2. However, Rule 9.1 leaves open the possibility for any member of the Assembly to stand for the office of Vice-President so long as he is nominated in writing by three Assembly members. Consequently, there is a contradiction between Rules 8 and 9 which the Committee on Rules of Procedure was instructed to examine.
3. The committee discussed the various options and came to the conclusion that the logic of Resolution 1105 was to replace the system of elections by a system of nomination (see Doc. 7874, Rapporteur: Mr Gjellerod). This report was not adopted by the Standing Committee at its meeting on 7 November 1997.
4. At its meeting on 22 December 1997, the Bureau took note of a memorandum on the reasons and consequences of the non-adoption. The Bureau decided that for the January 1998 part-Session, the same course of action would be taken as in January 1997, namely that the election shall take place under the existing Rules of Procedure (which allow the possibility of independent candidates standing for election). The Bureau furthermore invited the Committee on Rules of Procedure to prepare a revised draft report, to be submitted to Assembly or the Standing Committee well in advance of the January 1999 part-session of the Assembly, to remedy the flaws of the system. At its meeting on 21 April 1998, the Committee on Rules of Procedure adopted the present report and decided to submit the draft resolution to the Standing Committee for adoption.
Flaws of the system of nomination
5. There was a large measure of agreement in the Standing Committee on 7 November 1997 that the candidate proposed by the national delegation entitled to a seat should in principle be supported by the Assembly. However, the disagreement was mainly whether such a candidate should nevertheless stand for election so that the Assembly has the final choice, as opposed to a system of nomination where the candidate proposed is automatically accepted.
6. An ad hoc solution was found in January 1997. Nevertheless, candidates proposed by several national delegations were opposed by individual candidates from the same delegation. In the end, the ballot paper indicated that a particular candidate was proposed by the relevant national delegation. Furthermore, where no person was elected in respect of a national delegation entitled to a seat, that seat remained vacant.
7. No such problems arose for the election of Vice-Presidents in January 1998 as no individual candidates stood and all seats were filled without a ballot in accordance with Rule 9.7. However, it is worth bearing in mind that if there had been several rounds of elections for Vice-Presidents they would have added significantly to the pressure of business at the first part-session in 1998.
8. In order to find a lasting solution, it may be useful to summarise the common principles on which there is general agreement.
Common principles
9. Bureau seats for Vice-Presidents are allocated to national delegations according to a system of apportionment contained in Resolution 1105.
10. No delegation is entitled to more than one seat, therefore candidatures should be proposed by the national delegation entitled to the seat.
11. The part of Rule 9.1 which allows individual candidatures for Vice-President supported by three members of the Assembly, is incompatible with the apportionment system and therefore needs to be deleted.
12. The Assembly should nevertheless continue to elect Assembly Vice-Presidents.
13. Where a national delegation entitled to a seat does not propose a candidate that seat remains vacant.
Proposed amendments to Rule 9
14. In order to make the Rules of Procedure consistent with Resolution 1105 while respecting the wish of the Assembly to maintain a system of elections, it is proposed to align Rule 9, paragraphs 1 and 6.
15. Rule 9, paragraph 1, applicable to the President only, would read as follows:
« No Representative may stand as a candidate for the office of President unless nominated in writing by five or more Representatives or Substitutes before the opening of the first ballot. »
Taking account of the increase in size of the Assembly, it is proposed to increase the requirement of three signatures to five.
16. A new paragraph applicable to Vice-Presidents should be introduced thereafter which would read as follows:
« No Representative or Substitute may be elected Vice-President unless proposed in writing by the chairperson of the national delegation concerned, on behalf of that delegation.
This implies that it would no longer be possible to present individual candidates, supported by three members, for the office of Vice-President while maintaining a system of elections.
17. Rule 9, paragraph 6 would be replaced by the following paragraph:
« The Vice-Presidents shall then be elected on a single ballot paper. One Vice-President shall be elected in respect of each national delegation entitled to a seat under the system of apportionment of Bureau seats referred to in Rule 8.1. Where no candidature is proposed by a national delegation entitled to a seat, that seat shall remain vacant until such candidature is proposed. Those who on the first ballot obtain an absolute majority of the Representatives of the Assembly shall be declared elected. If the number of those elected is less than the number of vacancies to be filled, a second ballot for the candidates not elected shall be held, following the same procedure. Where a candidate is not elected after the second ballot, that seat shall remain vacant until a candidate obtains the requisite majority.
Final remark
18. The Standing Committee is invited to adopt the draft resolution which should enter into force immediately.
APPENDIX
PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
1996 ORDINARY SESSION
Resolution 1105 (1996) 1
on the composition of the Bureau of the Assembly
1. The Assembly considers that the composition of its Bureau needs to take account of the Council of Europe’s enlargement and to make possible a greater continuity of the Bureau when it is renewed each year.
2. Consequently, the Assembly decides to modify the following provisions of its Rules of Procedure:
i. replace Rule 8, paragraph 1, of the Rules of Procedure by the following text:
“The Bureau shall consist of the President, of eighteen Vice-Presidents of the Assembly according to the system of apportionment of Bureau seats 2 and the chairpersons (or their representatives) of the political groups. If, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure, the delegation to which the President of the Assembly belongs may propose a Vice-President, he/she shall speak and vote on behalf of his/her delegation. The President may, however, vote in the case of a draw”;
ii in Rule 9, paragraph 6, of the Rules of Procedure, replace the word “seventeen” with the word “eighteen”.
3. The Assembly decides that the new provisions shall enter into force at the opening of the 1997 session of the Assembly (27 January 1997).
Appendix to Resolution 1105
System for the attribution of seats
in the Bureau for Vice-Presidents of the Assembly
1. Member states are divided into four categories:
– Group I: delegations with eighteen seats in the Assembly (France, Germany, Italy, Russian Federation, United Kingdom) will have five seats in the Bureau every ordinary session;
– Group II: delegations with between twelve and seventeen seats in the Assembly (Poland, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine) will have three seats in the Bureau every ordinary session;
– Group III: delegations with between five and eleven seats in the Assembly (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Sweden, Switzerland) will have eight seats in the Bureau every ordinary session;
– Group IV: delegations with between two and four seats in the Assembly (Albania, Andorra, Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, San Marino, Slovenia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”) will have three seats in the Bureau every ordinary session.
2. Within these groups, seats in the Bureau are allocated for one ordinary session by following continuous English alphabetical order. Any new member state will be included in the relevant group and take its place according to English alphabetical order 3.
As regards groups II, III and IV, the annual renewal will be partial in order to ensure a greater continuity in the composition of the Bureau. For groups II and IV, this renewal will take place annually for a third of the national parliamentary delegations of which it is composed. On the other hand, this renewal will take place for half the group III delegations.
3. The President of the Assembly should be taken into account in all cases. 4
Reporting committee: Committee on Rules of Procedure
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: none
Reference to committee: Decision of the Bureau, 22.12.1997
Draft resolution adopted by the committee on 21 April 1998
Members of the committee Mrs Lentz-Cornette (Chairperson), Mrs Pulgar, Mr Gjellerod, Mr Mészáros (Vice-Chairpersons), MM. Averchev, Besostri, Bianchi (alternate: Mr Lorenzi), Bilinski, Cardona, Dias, Enright, Goovaerts, Kandare, Kittis, Korakas, Kostytsky, Laakso, Laurinkus, Magnusson, Maltsev, Marten, Minarolli, Mozetic, Nastase, Mrs Ojuland, MM. Pavlov, Pickles, Mrs Ragnarsdottir, MM. Sandrier, Schieder, Schloten (alternate: Mrs Lucyga), Seiler, Silay, Simonsen, Sinka, Slobodnik, Tahiri, Verbeek, Vinçon, Vis, Vyvadil.
Secretary of the committee: Mr Horst Schade.
1 . Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 7 November 1996. See Doc. 7685, report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, rapporteur: Mr Gjellerod.
2 . See appendix.
3 . In accordance with this system, Bureau seats have been attributed in 1998 to the following member States: France, Germany, Italy, Russia, United Kingdom (Group I), Spain, Turkey, Ukraine (Group II), Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria (Group III), Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland (Group IV).
4 . See also the possibility, under certain conditions, for the delegations to which the President of the Assembly belongs to propose an additional candidate to the Bureau, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.
N.B. The chairpersons of the political groups or their representatives are members as of right of the Bureau of the Assembly.