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Doc. 8831
25 September 2000
Progress report of the Bureau of the Assembly
(30 June-25 September 2000)
Rapporteur: Mrs Ragnarsdóttir, Iceland, EDG
INTRODUCTION
1. The Assembly held the third part of its 2000 Ordinary Session from 26 to 30 June 2000. The Bureau met on 30 June 2000 in Strasbourg, on 7 September 2000 in Paris and on 25 September 2000 in Strasbourg. The Standing Committee held no meeting.
Chapter I
FUNCTIONING OF THE ASSEMBLY
PREPARATION OF THE FOURTH PART OF THE 2000 ORDINARY SESSION
2. At its meeting on 7 September, the Bureau drew up the preliminary draft order of business and adopted the draft agenda for the 4th part of the 2000 Ordinary Session of the Assembly (25-29 September 2000). It updated the draft order of business at its meeting on 25 September.
CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEES
3. On 30 June, the Bureau approved, subject to ratification by the Assembly, the following changes in the composition of the Monitoring Committee:
. Mr AGRAMUNT FONT de MORA (EPP/CD, Spain) to replace Mr RAMIREZ PERY (EPP/CD, Spain)
. Mr FLOROS (SOC, Greece) to replace Mr KOULOURIS (SOC, Greece),
RULES OF PROCEDURE
4. On 30 June, the Bureau asked the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities to report before the end of the year on the question of interpretation and modification of the Rules of Procedure, in particular Rules 39 (electronic voting) and 41 (quorum) and, following the adoption of Assembly Resolution 1220 (2000) on the Assembly’s working methods and its committee structure, to review the terms of reference of Assembly committees.
5. On 7 September, the Bureau took note of the conclusions of the Working Group of the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities on a proposed modification of official reports of Assembly debates.
SETTING-UP OF BUREAU AD HOC COMMITTEES
6. On 30 June, the Bureau set up an ad hoc Committee composed of 15 representatives of the Assembly’s political groups and including the rapporteurs of the competent Assembly committees, to monitor the follow-up to Recommendations 1444 and 1456 (2000) and Resolution 1221 (2000) and possibly to participate in a Duma hearing on “progress in restoring the economy and the social sphere and ensuring respect for human and civil rights and freedoms in the Chechen Republic” in September 2000.
7. On 7 September, the Bureau decided that the Working Group on parliamentary co-operation among South-Caucasian countries be transformed to an ad hoc Committee of the Bureau and to enlarge its composition accordingly.
REFERENCES AND TRANSMISSIONS TO COMMITTEES
8. On 30 June, the Bureau, subject to ratification by the Assembly, proposed the following references to committees:
. motion for a recommendation on the setting up of an Assembly ad hoc committee on development and security matters in the Adriatic region (Doc. 8769) to the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, the Bureau considering that it was not necessary to set up an ad hoc Committee of the Assembly;
. motion for a recommendation on the transfer of sentenced persons (Doc.8770) to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and, for opinion, to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee;
. motion for a recommendation on the state of environment of the Baltic Sea (Doc.8772) to the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities;
. motion for a resolution on the protection of the human genome by the Council of Europe (Doc.8773) to the Committee on Science and Technology and, for opinion, to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights;
. motion for a resolution on the elimination of religious discrimination against Jehovah’s witnesses (Doc. 8649) to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for report (modification of reference No. 2490);
9. The same day, the Bureau confirmed the prior reference No. 2504 of the motion for a recommendation on equal treatment of men and women running their own businesses or helping their spouses in family businesses (Doc.8717) to the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men for report to the Standing Committee.
10. On 7 September, the Bureau, subject to ratification by the Assembly, proposed the following references to committees:
. Motion for a resolution on humanitarian situation of returnees to Kosovo (Doc. 8789) : to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography;
. Motion for a recommendation on the establishment of a permanent international centre for peace at Revereto (Italy) (Doc. 8790): to the Political Affairs Committee, for information;
. Motion for a resolution on the creation of a mediator for children abducted within the family (Doc. 8791) : to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, for information, to be taken into account in the drafting of the report on the “Abduction of children by one of the parents” (Doc. 8573, ref. 2458, 4.11.99);
. Motion for a resolution on the different measures to foster peace in the Middle East (Doc. 8792): to the Political Affairs Committee, for information, to be taken into account in the drafting of the report on the “Situation in the Middle East” (Doc. 7363, ref. 2027, 25.9.95);
. Motion for a recommendation on religion and socio-cultural changes in central and eastern Europe: search for a cultural identity (Doc. 8793): to the Committee on Culture and Education, for report to the Standing Committee;
. Motion for a resolution on the promotion of confidence-building measures and good neighbourhood relations in the Vojvodina (Yugoslavia) as part of the concept of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe (Doc. 8794) : to the Political Affairs Committee, for information, to be taken into account in the drafting of the report on “Parliamentary contribution to the implementation of the stability Pact in South-East Europe” (Order 564 (2000));
. Motion for a resolution on the situation of deserters from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Doc. 8795) : to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography;
. Motion for a recommendation on the cultural situation in the Transcaucasian region (Doc. 8796) : to the Committee on Culture and Education, for report to the Standing Committee;
. Motion for a resolution on clandestine migrants (Doc. 8797) : to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, for information, to be taken into account in the drafting of the report on “Clandestine migration from the South of the Mediterranean into Europe” (Order 563 (2000));
. Motion for a recommendation on the challenge of Europe’s declining and ageing population (Doc. 8798) : to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee;
. Motion for a resolution on the problems of registration of non-governmental organisations dealing with human rights in the Russian Federation (Doc. 8799) : to the Committee on the Honouring of obligations and commitments by member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), for information;
. Motion for a recommendation on improving the lot of abandoned children (Doc. 8800) : to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, for information, to be taken into account in the drafting of the report on the “Follow-up to a European strategy for children” (Order 514 (1996));
. Motion for a resolution on maternity in Europe: improving social and health conditions (Doc. 8801) : to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, for report to the Standing Committee;
. Motion for a resolution on conceptions of a European Federation (Doc. 8802) : to the Political Affairs Committee;
. Motion for a resolution on Freedom of the media in Russia (Doc. 8803) : for information to the Committee on the Honouring of obligations and commitments by member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) and to the Committee on Culture and Education to be taken into account in the drafting of the report on “Freedom of expression in Europe” (Doc. 8557, ref. 2447, 4.11.99);
. 10th general report on the CPT’s activities (Doc. 8814) to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, for information.
11. On 25 September, the Bureau, subject to ratification by the Assembly, proposed the following references to committees:
. Motion for a recommendation on the Establishment of a European Organic Farming Charter (Doc. 8816) to the Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food, for report to the Standing Committee;
. Motion for a recommendation on the improvement of living and social conditions of the Roma/Gypsy population in order to decrease possible Romani migration from the countries of central and eastern Europe (Doc. 8830) to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography and to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, for opinion;
. Motion for an order on the situation of Roma/Gypsies in respect of asylum (Doc. 8829) to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, for information, to be taken into account in the opinion on the report to be drafted for Doc. 8830.
12. The same day, the Bureau decided to withdraw from the Register the Order on the Respect for international humanitarian law in Europe (Order n° 556 (1999)) at the request of the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities.
MEETINGS ELSEWHERE THAN IN STRASBOURG OR PARIS AND AUTHORISATION FOR MEMBERS' OFFICIAL VISITS
Meetings elsewhere than in Strasbourg and Paris:
13. At its meeting on 30 June, the Bureau approved the following meetings outside Strasbourg and Paris :
. ad hoc sub-committee (of the Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food) in Porto (Portugal), 24-28 July 2000;
. Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities and ad hoc sub-committee on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea in Varna (Bulgaria), 19-21 October 2000;
. sub-committee on Regional Planning (of the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities) in Hanover (Germany), 6-8 September 2000;
. Committee on Culture and Education and sub-committee on Cultural Heritage in Budapest (Hungary), 3-4 September 2000;
. Committee on Economic Affairs and Development in Istanbul (Turkey), 3-4 September 2000;
. Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in Helsinki (Finland), 13-14 November 2000;
. working group on parliamentary co-operation among the South-Caucasian countries in Baku (Azerbaijan) and Yerevan (Armenia) in September 2000,
14. On 7 September, it approved the following meetings outside Strasbourg and Paris :
. Committee on Culture and Education in Palma de Majorca (Spain) on 22-24 October 2000 ;
. Social, Health and Family Affaris Committee in Florence (Italy) on 3 November 2000 ;
. Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in Rome (Italy) on 2-4 November 2000;
. Standing Committee in Turkey from 21 to 23 May 2001.
15. On 25 September, the Bureau approved the following meetings outside Strasbourg and Paris :
. Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize (of the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities) in Cockermouth (United Kingdom) on 27 October 2000;
. Committee on Economic Affairs and Development in Brussels (Belgium) on 22 November 2000;
. Sub-Committee on relations with Non Member Countries (of the Political Affairs Committee) in New York (United States of America) on 19-20 October 2000;
. Political Affairs Committee in Riga (Latvia) on 12-13 December 2000.
Official journeys by members of the Assembly
16. On 30 June, the Bureau :
. appointed Mr Gjellerod (Denmark, SOC) to represent the Assembly at the 104th Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Jakarta (Indonesia) from 15-21 October 2000;
. agreed that the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography be represented in the ad hoc committee which will participate in the European Conference “All different, all equal: from principle to practice”, in Strasbourg, 11-13 October 2000;
. took note that Mr Elo (Finland, SOC) will represent the President of the Assembly at the “Conference on Science and Technology in Europe – Prospects for the 21st Century” in Gdansk (Poland), 9-11 October 2000;
. took note and thanked the Turkish and Swiss parliamentary delegations for their invitations to hold the Assembly’s Spring meetings, respectively, in May 2001 in Turkey and in May 2002 in Switzerland.
17. On 7 September, the Bureau:
. appointed Mrs Ragnarsdóttir (Iceland, EDG) to represent the Assembly at the 52th Plenary Session of the Nordic Council in Reykjavik on 6-8 November 2000 ;
18. On 25 September, the Bureau appointed:
. Mr Saakashvili (Georgia, EDG) to represent the Assembly at the Sixteenth Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black See Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) General Assembly in Yerevan on 29-30 November 2000.
. Mrs Poptodorova (Bulgaria, SOC), rapporteur on the cultural situation in Kosovo, for a fact-finding mission to Kosovo.
Chapter II
RELATIONS WITH THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS
AND OTHER BODIES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING
19. On 7 September, the Bureau proposed that the “monitoring of obligations and commitments by the Parliamentary Assembly and the Committee of Ministers” would be the main item of the Joint Committee meeting (Thursday, 28 September 2000) and that the relations with the United Nations as well as any other item resulting from the 4th part-session would be discussed under “other business”.
20. It also decided that the Presidential Committee would represent the Assembly at the meeting of the mixed working party of the Joint Committee on 25 September 2000.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR THE PREVENTION OF TORTURE AND INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT
21. On 30 June, the Bureau drew up the lists of candidates for the European Committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in respect of the Czech Republic and of Greece and forwarded the lists to the Committee of Ministers, with an expressed preference for candidate No. 2 on the list of Greece.
22. On 7 September, the Bureau drew up the lists of candidates for the European Committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in respect of Italy and Latvia to be forwarded to the Committee of Ministers.
Chapter III
EXTERNAL RELATIONS AND POLITICAL MATTERS
BELARUS
23. On 7 September, the Bureau agreed that the Parliamentary Assembly be present in Belarus, in the framework of the parliamentarian Troïka (PACE, EP, OSCE PA), on the occasion of the parliamentary elections (15 October 2000) and appointed Mr Behrendt (Germany, SOC), in his capacity as rapporteur of the Political Affairs Committee, to represent it.
CHECHNYA
24. On 7 September, the Bureau held an exchange of views on the follow-up to Recommendations 1444 and 1456 (2000) and to Resolution 1221 (2000) on the conflict in the Chechen Republic and approved the measures taken by the Secretary General of the Assembly for the preparation of the visit of the ad hoc Committee to Russia (18-22 September 2000) as well as the composition of the delegations going to Moscow and Znamenskoye.
25. On 25 September, the Bureau resumed its exchange of views with Mr Surjan, Chairman of the ad hoc Committee in Russia and with Lord Judd, Rapporteur, who gave more specifically his assessment of the visit to Znamenskoye. During this exchange of views, the participants underlined namely the desastrous humanitarian situation and stressed the importance of the extension of the mandate of the experts in the office of Mr Kalamanov.
Chapter IV
OBSERVATION OF ELECTIONS
26. On 7 September, the Bureau considered the programme of the next elections and decided to observe the elections in Kosovo (28 October 2000), in Azerbaijan (5 November 2000), in Bosnia and Herzegovina (11 November 2000), in Romania (26 November 2000) and, possibly, in Moldova (3 December 2000).
27. It decided also not to observe the elections in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
28. On 25 September, following the request of the British delegation, the Bureau agreed to hold a current affairs debate on the election in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Chapter V
BUDGET AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
29. On 30 June, the Bureau endorsed the analysis of the use made by the Assembly’s political groups of their allocations for 1999 (AS/Bud (2000) 7).
30. It also approved the final apportionment of the allocation to political groups for 2000 as proposed in document AS/Bud (2000) 8.
Chapter VI
OFFICIAL ACTIVITIES OF THE PRESIDENT AND THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ASSEMBLY
31. On 7 September, the President of the Assembly referred to the Hakkar and Loizidou cases, the 9th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (Bucarest, 6-7 July), the Conference he attended in Slovenia on 28 July jointly organised by the Slovenian Parliament and the Russian Duma.
32. He had also written a letter to the President of the Duma on the payment of expenses of three Russian members of the Assembly. Concerning the same matter, he would write to the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament as regards the problems which three members of the delegation had had to have their expenses paid to attend committee meetings of the Assembly.
33. He paid a visit to Liechtenstein (22-23 August), the IPU Conference in New York (29 August to 1 September) and to Croatia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”.
34. On 25 September, the President of the Assembly informed the members of his attendance at the Parliamentary Summit of All Stability Pact Subjects in Zagreb (11-13 September 2000) during which he had the opportunity to meet the President of the Croatian parliament, Mr Tomcic, the President of the Montenegrin parliament, Mr Marovic and the President of the Macedonian parliament, Mr Klimovski as well as the Vice-Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.
35. On 14 September, he attended a Liberal Conference on Minorities in Berlin and went to Tirana wit the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly on 15 September.
Chapter VII
OTHER BUSINESS
RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED NATIONS
36. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, informed the President of the Parliamentary Assembly that he will be visiting Strasbourg on 3 October 2000. In this context, he underlined that there was progress in the relations with the United Nations, notably the fact that the General Assembly had agreed for the first time to debate an item on their agenda devoted to relations with the Council of Europe. The IPU Secretary General has expressed his readiness to support technically a permanent Secretariat presence of the Council in New York.