The Assembly,
It is proposed that Vote III of the 1969 budget be drawn up as set out below :
Estimate for 1969................................ F. 628,000
Remuneration of days worked by temporary staff for sessions of the Consultative Assembly and meetings of its organs out of session time.
Article 32 of the Statute of the Council of Europe entitles the Assembly to meet for thirty days a year. However, in the light of experience, the estimate is based on eighteen days, on the understanding that this does not prejudice the Assembly's rights under the Statute.
Remarks :
The increase in the estimate is due to the application of new pay scales.
Estimate for 1969................................ F. 135,000
Travel expenses and allowances for travel time for temporary staff recruited away from Strasbourg.
Remarks :
The increase in the estimate is due to the application of higher travel costs
Estimate for 1969..................................F. 6,000
Share paid from the Council Budget (60%) of sickness and accident insurance premiums in respect of temporary staff remunerated under Sub-head 64.
Estimate for 1969................................F. 38,000
Refund to various national administrations of the salaries of staff seconded to the Council for certain special services during Assembly sessions : travel expenses, subsistence allowances, and insurance for such staff.
Gratuities for special work performed by lower-grade staff of national administrations in connection with meetings of Assembly bodies outside Strasbourg.
Remarks :
Expenditure in 1967 was less than had been estimated, and the same will probably apply in 1968. This being so, and in view of the desire for economy that inspires the Assembly, the estimate for 1969 is reduced from 42,000 F to 38,000 F.
Estimate for 1969..................................F. 260,000
| F. | |
| Official Assembly documents | 250,000 |
| Specialised brochures | token entry |
| Circulation of certain adopted texts and supply of information to national parliaments | 10,000 |
| 260,000 |
Remarks :
Official Assembly documents (item 1) : In view of the increase in the volume of the Assembly's official documents, there is reason to request an increase in the appropriation under Sub-head 68 to 260,000 F.
Estimate for 1969..................................F. 8,000
Hire of cars for the Assembly and its organs.
Estimate for 1969..................................F. 41,000
Representational, travel and subsistence expenses incurred by the President of the Consultative Assembly in the course of his duties :
| F. | |
| Fixed amount for representation | 24,000 |
| Travel and subsistence | |
| 41,000 |
Estimate for 1969..................................F. 29,600
| F. | |
| Special duties allowance | 4,800 |
| Remuneration of one shorthand typist | 10,800 |
| Official travel by staff | 14,000 |
| Sundry secretarial expenses token entry | |
| 29,600 |
Estimate for 1969..................................F. 87,500
| F. | |
| Entertainment and similar expenses incurred by the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and by committee chairmen and rapporteurs | 13,000 |
| Travel expenses and subsistence allowances of members of the Assembly attending, on behalf of the Council of Europe, meetings of certain Council bodies apart from sessions of the Assembly and its committees (Bureau of the Assembly, Joint Committee etc.), or undertaking official missions for the Assembly | 47,500 |
| Fixed amount granted to poli tical groups to meet sundry expenditure incurred by members of the Assembly in the discharge of specific duties for the Council, such as secretarial assistance, documentation and travel expenses (Res. (58) 4 of 27 March 1958) | 25,000 |
| Accident insurance premiums for members of the Assembly travelling officially at the Council's expense (Decision of the Ministers' Deputies at their 108th meeting, March 1962 - Concl. (62) 108, point V) | 2,000 |
| 87,500 |
Remarks :
The estimate for 1969 is the same as the appropriation granted for 1968, the requirements for 1969 being at least as great as for 1968.
Estimate for 1969................................ F. 155,000
Official travel by staff of the Office of the Clerk and by Secretariat staff required to attend meetings of Assembly bodies away from Strasbourg, or to attend meetings of experts.
Remarks :
The increase in the estimate for 1969 is due to :
the increase in the number of staff members serving the committees ;
the need for the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly to be represented at meeting of international organisations dealing with subjects that appear on the Assembly agenda, in order to avoid duplication of work and keep the committees fully informed ;
the application of new scales for subsistence allowance, and the increase in travel costs
Estimate for 1969..................................F. 50,000
Remarks :
The question of more frequent consultation of independent experts by committees was considered jointly by the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly at the meeting of the Joint Committee on 7 March 1968.
The increase in the estimate for 1969 should enable available resources to be better adjusted to the Assembly's requirements.
Estimate for 1969................................ token entry
Remarks :
Requests for appropriations for holding ad hoc conferences will be embodied in separate Assembly recommendations if and as required.
Estimate for 1969..................................F. 8,500
Estimate for 1969..................................F. 6,000
| F. | |
| Europe prize | 2,500 |
| Provision for the cost of awarding the prize (travel and reception in honour of the mayor of the winning municipality, diploma and medal) | 3,500 |
| 6,300 |
This resolution was adopted in pursuance of Article 12 of the Council of Europe Statute which gives the Assembly an independent power to determine "in what circumstances and under what conditions other languages may be used".
The Assembly recommends that the appropriation necessary for the application of Resolution 188 consequently be added to those appearing in Vote III of the 1969 budget.
| F. | |
| Sub-head 64 : Remuneration of F. temporary staff | + 40,000 |
| Sub-head 65 : Travel expenses and allowances for travel time | + 5,000 |
| Sub-head 67 : Technical staff seconded from national administrastions | 4,000 |
| Sub-head 68 : Publishing and printing | + 21,000 |
| Sub-head 73 : Official journeys | + 20,000 |
| Sub-head 74 : Consultation of experts. | + 12,000 |
| 94,000 |
Apart from adjustments to appropriations due to the application of new scales of remuneration or allowances, the only increases requested are for the publication of official Assembly documents, official journeys and consultation of experts.
The Council of Europe budget for 1968 totals 39,377,336 F. Compared with the budget for the previous year (34,901,996 F) this means an increase of 4,475,340 F.
This increase includes an appropriation for exceptional expenditure amounting to 1,650,000 F.
The appropriations under Vote III -Expenditure of the Consultative Assembly-show an increase of 17,500 F (1.3%) over the previous year.
The general accounts relating to the financial year 1966 show cancelled appropriations to the amount of 938,288.04 F, or 2.951%. This percentage is very low, and the Assembly once more congratulates the Secretary General on the accuracy of his estimates .
The auditors have stated that they are satisfied that expenditure under the budget has been properly incurred and that the budget appropriations have been rationally and economically administered.
The Assembly fully endorses the auditors' statement.
The Assembly recommends the establishment, in the Office of the Clerk, of an office to centralise the control of documents (Table Office).
In fact, it has been observed that in the past control has been inadequate and unsatisfactory ; it has been possible for texts to be tabled that conflicted with the Statute of the Council of Europe, the Assembly Rules of Procedure or Assembly practice ; moreover, bad drafting, faults in in translation or serious printing errors sometimes gravely distort the content of texts or result in discrepancies between the texts in the two official languages
Under Rule 27 of the Rules of Procedure, the President of the Assembly decides whether texts and motions tabled in the Assembly are in order, and he requires to be judiciously advised on this matter.
The formation of this documents control office calls for the permanent creation of one A5 post and one post of private secretary ; the holder of the former must have wide experience of parliamentary law and practice, of the operation of the Council of Europe as a whole and particularly of the Assembly.
The Assembly also asks for the creation of a post of Documentation Assistant B4 ; this request is justified by the fact that documentation and archives work has hitherto been done piecemeal by private secretaries and shorthand-typists, to the detriment of their normal work, and without satisfactory results, because of the dispersal of labour.
The Assembly notes that the appropriation under this sub-head covers employers' contributions to the French Social Security Scheme (sickness and industrial accidents), in respect of the affiliation of working members of the staff.
Since pensioned staff members are not covered against risks of illness, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers take the necessary steps to ensure that they benefit from an appropriate scheme.
The Assembly considers that the façade of the Council of Europe buildings should be cleaned, pending the availability of new buildings ; it recommends that the Committee of Ministers include the necessary appropriations in the budget.
The Assembly notes that the furniture in the offices of political groups, national delegations and the Secretariat is old, worn-out and unsuitable ; it recommends that the Committee of Ministers include in the budget an appropriation to take into account the need gradually to replace old furniture, which should be renewed within a period to be fixed
As regards equipment and installations for simultaneous interpretation, the Assembly notes that the equipment in use no longer meets the requirements of its committees since the use of three or four working languages has become general ; it recommends that the Committee of Ministers include an appropriation for the purchase of adequate equipment as well as for the hire of equipment required for interpretation at meetings held elsewhere than in Strasbourg or Paris.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Council of Europe, which will be celebrated on 5 May 1969, the Assembly intends to publish a booklet containing some brief biographical notes on all parliamentarians who have been members of the Assembly since 1949
The Assembly also advocates the organisation of model exhibitions on the Council of Europe in each member country, the material being supplied by the Organisation.
The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers include in the budget the necessary appropriations to enable this booklet and exhibition material, in several languages, to be made available in time.
Referring to the wishes frequently expressed by the European Conference of Local Authorities, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers make a substantial increase in the subsidy it grants for intermunicipal exchanges
The Assembly draws particular attention to its Recommendation 524, adopted on 10 May last, in which the Committee of Ministers is invited to change the Council of Europe annual grant into a Council of Europe Fund, the French and German Governments to contribute to this fund an annual grant of one thousandth of the budget of the Franco-German Office and the other member governments to contribute to the fund in the same proportion, according to their customary percentage share in the Council of Europe budget.
The appropriation calculated in accordance with this, i.e. 150,000 F, should be included under Sub-head 99 for the purposes of the Council of Europe Fund for the promotion of intermunicipal exchanges of young people.
The Assembly notes that the total number of hours of sittings tends to increase from one session to another ; a relatively large amount of time is therefore required when texts have to be voted by roll-call.
To prevent its work being interrupted too long by roll-call votes, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers include in the budget an appropriation for the installation of an electrical voting system
The time saved by adopting this system might enable the Assembly to get through its agenda without any need for debates in night sittings.
The electrical voting system installed must be sufficiently simple to be reinstalled in the new Assembly Hall it has been decided to build.
The Assembly notes that only the principle of erecting a new building has hitherto been adopted by the Committee of Ministers ; it recommends that Committee to take, as early as possible, the practical decisions relating to the start of work.
The Assembly intends to make a detailed examination of the pension scheme regulations for permanent staff of the Council of Europe, adopted by the Committee of Ministers. It has, however, in view of the urgency of the matter, taken note of the transitional arrangements defining the rights of members of the staff in respect of their service prior to 1 January 1967.
These transitional arrangements stipulate that staff would be given two years to decide whether or not they wished to receive credit, for the purposes of the pension scheme, for their service between 1 January 1953 and 31 December 1966. This time-limit expires on 31 December 1968.
Under these circumstances, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers extend by two years, i.e. until 31 December 1970, the time-limit given to Council of Europe staff to take a decision on this subject.