For debate in the Standing Committee — see Rule 15 of the Rules of Procedure

Doc. 9523

15 July 2002

Change of name of the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture to Committee on the Environment, Agriculture
and Local and Regional Affairs

Report

Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities

Rapporteur: Mr Serhiy Holovaty, Ukraine, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

Summary

The Committee on the Environment and Agriculture decided to change its name to Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs. As this requires a change of Rule 43.1.7.of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure, the present report was prepared.

I.       Draft resolution

1.       The Assembly recalls that by Resolution 1220 (2000) the Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food was merged with the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities under the new title “Committee on the Environment and Agriculture". The name was chosen with reference to the first words of the title of each committee, namely Environment and Agriculture. Assembly Resolution 1235 (2000) then determined the terms of reference of the new committee.

2.       The Assembly notes that the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture did not consider its title as satisfactory. In particular, the committee's name does not make visible an important part of the committee's work related to local and regional affairs (Conference on Urban Security under preparation, Europe Prize, co-operation with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, and activities concerning regionalisation and transfrontier co-operation in Europe).

3.       The Assembly is aware that it is almost impossible to designate in the title of a committee all its fields of activity, and that therefore a general title has to be chosen reflecting a maximum number of functions. Furthermore, committee titles should remain as short and clear as possible and be easily transposable into both Council of Europe official languages.

4.        It notes that, taking into account these criteria, the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture agreed that its name be changed to "Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs"

5.       The Assembly considers that both the proposed change and the new title itself are justified and that this will henceforth express more clearly what the main activities of the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture are, thus creating a better visibility for its work. The Assembly also notes that the proposed new name has no consequence on the terms of reference of the committee and that it is therefore not necessary to modify Resolution 1235 (2000) on terms of reference of Assembly committees (implementation of Resolution 1220).

6.       Consequently the Assembly decides

i.       to replace Rule 43 par.1.7. of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure by the following words: "Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs";

ii.       to replace in all complementary texts to the Rules of Procedure the name “Committee on the Environment and Agriculture" by "Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs".

II.       Explanatory memorandum by the rapporteur

1.       On 24 June 2002 the Bureau of the Assembly referred to the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities the request from the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture to change its title (see appendix 1)

2.       As a consequence of the Assembly's adaptation of its priorities and structures to the new challenges facing the Council of Europe in a multi-institutional Europe, the Assembly decided in June 2000 to reduce the number of its committees. By the adoption of Resolution 1220 (2000) (see appendix 2), inter alia, the Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food was merged with the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities under the new title “Committee on the Environment and Agriculture”

3.       A working document from the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture (AS/ENA (2002) 33) stressed that it rapidly became apparent that this title was not satisfactory and that it continued to cause problems. This stemmed from the fact that the name was not explicit enough about certain matters in the Committee's remit which were not shown in the title and remained unknown to anyone not acquainted with the committee and its work, particularly with respect to questions relating to local and regional authorities.

4.       It is obvious that in the case of committee mergers the new title cannot designate all fields of activities of the former committees and therefore a general title reflecting a maximum number of functions has to be devised. Furthermore, Committee titles should remain as short and clear as possible and be easily transposable into both Council of Europe official languages.

5.        As is shown by the substantial discussions in the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture the afore-mentioned criteria were sufficiently taken into account. Among four proposals for a new name submitted to its choice, the Committee voted finally in favour of the following new title: Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs. From the linguistic point of view however, the proposed new name of the Committee raised a problem, as the accepted French expression “questions territoriales” in the new title has no English equivalent and had to be translated by "local and regional affairs". The Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities considered this aspect at its meeting on 25 June and several members insisted that Committee names should possibly be identical in both Council of Europe official languages. That is why the Committee expressed itself only on the English title and agreed to remove from the initial version of the draft resolution contained in this report the words between the brackets at the end of paragraph 4 ( …in French " Commission de l'environnement, de l'agriculture et des questions territoriales").

6.        Both the proposal to change the name of the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture and the new title itself are justified and will present a better visibility of the Committee’s work.

7.       The proposed new name does not imply any change of the terms of reference of the Committee and there is no need to modify Resolution 1235 (2000) on terms of reference of Assembly committees (implementation of Resolution 1220) (see appendix 2).

8.        As the name of the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture was introduced by an Assembly Resolution (No. 1220 (2000)), any change has also to be operated through the adoption of a resolution and the simplified practice of changing Committee names in force before the restructuring of Assembly Committees, can no longer be maintained (see for the details of that practice, the Bureau decision mentioned in par. 35 of Doc. 8689, progress report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee, which the Assembly ratified in April 2000).

9.       Consequently, the draft resolution contained in this report proposes that both Rule 43 par.1.7. of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure and the complementary texts to the Rules which mention the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture (see e.g. pp.154 and 194 of the Rules of Procedure, 2002 edition) be changed.

10.       The new provisions should enter into force on their adoption.

APPENDIX 1

Committee on the Environment and Agriculture

Strasbourg, 31 May 2002

Dear President,

As a result of the structural reform of the Assembly instituted by Resolution 1235 (2000), two former committees were merged to create the new Committee on the Environment and Agriculture. However, important aspects falling within the Committee’s terms of reference were dropped from the title and lost visibility. This is particularly true for questions relating to local and regional authorities1.

This problem was raised by the two first Chairmen of the Committee, MM. Behrendt and myself, as well as other members. The Committee discussed the matter on several occasions and, at its last meeting, held a thorough exchange of views, as a result of which the Committee voted in favour of having the name of the Committee changed to “Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs” (in French “Commission de l’environnement, de l’agriculture et des questions territoriales”).

I should be most grateful if you could submit this request to the Bureau in order to have the Committee’s title changed.

Mr Peter Schieder

President of the Parliamentary Assembly

of the Council of Europe

STRASBOURG

APPENDIX 2

Resolution 1235 (2000)1

Terms of reference of Assembly committees (implementation of Resolution 1220)

(Extract)

1. The Assembly recalls its Resolution 1220 (2000) on the reform of the Assembly’s working methods and its committee structure;

2. The Assembly considers that Resolution 1176 (1998) on the terms of reference of Assembly committees has to be revised for the committees that are directly affected by the reform of the committee structure.

……

6. As far as the two committees that are the result of a merger are concerned, namely the Committee on Culture, Science and Education and the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture, it is necessary to determine their new terms of reference. The Assembly therefore adopts the terms of reference of the Committee on Culture, Science and Education and of the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture set out in the appendix to this resolution.

…….

Title: Committee on the Environment and Agriculture

Number of seats: 76

History

This committee results from the merger of the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities with the Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food. The Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities was established in 1952 as a Special Committee on Municipal and Regional Affairs. The subject of regional planning was added in 1968. The environment was added to the committee’s title in 1986. The Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food was first appointed in 1951, as a special committee. It became a general committee in 1956. Its title was changed to “Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development” on 18 May 1994 by Order No. 496. The committee was renamed “Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food” by the Assembly’s decision of 3 April 2000.

Terms of reference

1. The committee shall consider issues related to sustainable development in all its aspects (regional planning, the protection of the environment, rural development and natural resources’ management), as well as all sectoral policies that contribute to a sustainable and well-balanced spatial planning of the European continent.

2. The committee shall consider issues relating to agricultural policies and to fisheries, including issues relating to food (such as the agri-food sector and food safety), and issues of consumer protection.

3. The committee shall consider issues relating to local and regional authorities, such as regional and local democracy and autonomy, and cross-border and interregional co-operation.

4. The committee shall, on behalf of the Assembly, select the candidates for, and the winners of, the Europe Prize.

5. The committee shall follow the activities of, and will maintain close relations with, the international and European organisations that operate in the field of activities falling within the committee’s terms of reference. It shall be represented in the relevant intergovernmental committees and bodies of the Council of Europe.

6. The committee may organise conferences and other events in areas covered by these terms of reference.

…….

Resolution 1220 (2000)2
Reform of the Assembly’s working methods and its committee structure

(Extract)

1. The Assembly refers to its Resolution 1177 (1999) of 26 January 1999, in which it decided to adapt its own priorities and structures to the new challenges facing the Council of Europe in a multi-institutional Europe.

2. The Assembly considers that to achieve this objective, it needs to improve the efficiency of its debates and its working methods and rationalise its committee structure, particularly in terms of how the committees operate and their composition.

3. The Assembly therefore decides to reduce the number of committees from 14 to 10. For this purpose, the Committee on Science and Technology will be merged with the Committee on Culture and Education (under the new title Committee on Culture, Science and Education), while the Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food will be merged with the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities (under the new title Committee on Environment and Agriculture). The activities of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations concerned with relations with national parliaments and the public will be transferred to the Bureau, while those concerned with the functioning of democratic institutions will be transferred to the Political Affairs Committee. In addition, each Assembly committee will be responsible for relations with non-governmental organisations in the relevant fields. While the Bureau will be responsible for the political negotiations with the Committee of Ministers, the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development will take over the responsibilities of the Committee on the Budget, in particular for preparing the Assembly’s opinions on the Council of Europe’s budget and on its own expenditure.

….

7. The Assembly therefore decides to amend its Rules of Procedure as follows (the changes to the current wording are underlined):

i. Replace Rule 43 of the Rules of Procedure as follows:

Committee responsible for the report : Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities

Reference to committee: Bureau decision, Reference No. 2750

Draft resolution adopted by the committee on 25.06.2002

Members of the committee : Mr Holovaty, (Chairperson), MM. Vis, Olteanu (Vice-Chairpersons),

Mrs Akgönenç, MM. G. Aliyev, Arzilli, Mrs Auken, MM. Bartsch, Bernik, Bulavinov, Calmes, Ceder, Collavini, Debono Grech, Mrs Doktorowicz, MM. Goulet (Alternate: Mr Branger), Gremetz, Jung, Kiely, Laakso, Leers, Lozancic, Magnusson, Maissen, Mrs Markovic-Dimova, MM. Melo, Mezihorak, Michels, Mrs Mintas-Hodak, MM. Molnár, Monsen, Occhetto, Olekas, Penchev, Pereira Coelho, Mrs Pericleous-Papadopoulos, Mrs Posada, Mrs Ragnarsdottir, MM. Rustamyan, Salaridze, Sharandin, Stepaniuc, Svec, Taliadouros (Alternate: Liapis), ZZ.. (United Kingdom: Alternate: Bruce).

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

Secretary of the committee: Mr Heinrich.


1 The present situation causes problems because the title is not explicit enough about certain matters in the Committee’s remit. Recent examples are the Europe Prize and the Conference on Urban Security.

2 .Assembly debate on 26 June 2000 (17th Sitting) (see Doc. 8750, report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities, rapporteur: Mr Vis).
Text adopted by the Assembly
on 28 June 2000 (20th Sitting).

3 .See also rule 17.5.

4 .Plus the chairs of the Political Affairs Committee and the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, ex officio members.