The Assembly,
1. It is proposed that Vote III of the 1971 Budget be drawn up as set out below :
Estimate for 1971.............................. 1,115,500.00
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 one month a year.
The Assembly has fixed the duration of the 1970 Session at 25 days and the estimate for 1971 has been calculated on the same basis. Not all members of the Assembly have been satisfied with the arrangement adopted as an experiment for 1970. The Standing Committee is studying the problem of the organisation of Assembly sessions and some changes may well be made in the course of 1971.
The Assembly accordingly reserves the right to request supplementary appropriations in che course of the year if need be.
Remarks :
Subject to the above proviso, the estimate for 1971 is the same as the appropriation for 1970. It would, of course, have to be adjusted if there were any change in the remuneration of this category of staff during the year.
Estimate for 1971................................ 190,000.00
Travelling expenses and allowances for travelling time of temporary staff engaged outside Strasbourg.
Remarks :
The increase has been calculated to meet requirements on the basis of actual expenditure in 1969 and the estimates for 1970.
Estimate for 1971 .............................. 20,000.00
Share paid from the Council Budget of sickness and accident insurance premiums in respect of temporary staff remunerated under Sub-head 68.
Remarks :
The increase is due to the conclusion of a new insurance contract providing improved cover for temporary staff recruited for Assembly sessions.
Estimate for 1971 .............................. 50,000.00
Refund to various national administrations of the salaries of staff seconded to the Council for certain special services during Assembly sessions : travelling expenses, subsistence allowances, and insurance for such staff.
Gratuities for special services rendered by lower-grade staff of national administrations in connection with meetings of Assembly bodies outside Strasbourg.
Remarks :
The estimate has been reduced by 4,000 FF in order to keep more closely to actual requirements.
Estimate for 1971 ................................ 400,000.00
1. Official Assembly documents.
2. Distribution of certain adopted texts and supply of information to national parliaments.
Remarks :
Further measures have been taken to contain expenditure on the publication of official documents of the Assembly ; for this reason the estimate is substantially the same as the appropriation for 1970. It has been rounded off to 400,000 FF (reduction : 9,000 FF).
Estimate for 1971 ............................ 11,000.00
Hire of cars for the Assembly and its organs.
Estimate for 1971 .............................. 48,000.00
Representational, travelling and subsistence expenses incurred by the President of the Consultative Assembly in the course of his duties :
fixed amount for representation ............ 31,000.00
travel and subsistence 17,000.00
Estimate for 1971 .............................. 31,000.00
special duties allowance .................... 4,800.00
remuneration of one shorthand typist ............ 9,700.00
official journeys of staff ................................16,500.00
sundry secretarial expenses .................... token entry
Remarks :
The estimate for 1971 is the same as the appropriation for 1970. However, the special duties allowance has remained unchanged for several years. If it were to be decided to alter such allowances payable within the organisation, the estimate would have to be revised accordingly.
Estimate for 1971 .............................. 173,000.00
entertainment and similar expenses incurred by the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and by the committee Chairmen and Rapporteurs ............................ 22,000.00
travel and subsistence for members of the Assembly attending, on behalf of the Council of Europe, meetings of certain Council bodies other than sessions of the Consultative Assembly and its committees (Bureau of the Assembly, Joint Committee etc.), or travelling on Assembly business .............................. 122,000.00
fixed amount granted to political groups to meet sundry expenditure incurred by members of the Assembly in the discharge of specifie duties for the Council of Europe, such as secretarial assistance, documentation and travel expenses (Resolution (58) 4 of 27 March 1958)............................ 27,000.00
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) ........................ 2,000.00
Remarks :
The Assembly has already pointed out in Opinion No. 52 that the present appropriation is not enough to cope with the extension of its activities, as instanced by its relations with the United States Congress, the Canadian Parliament, the Latin-American Parliament etc. This situation restricts parliamentarians' travel to those countries and is an obstacle to the development of the Assembly's activities in this field.
In Opinion No. 52, the Assembly advocated that there should be a specific appropriation for this purpose from 1971 onwards.
The Assembly has received a provisional invitation to send a delegation of ten to fifteen members to Ottawa in 1971. Their travelling and subsistence expenses should be paid by the Council of Europe so as to enable the Assembly to appoint a homogeneous and completely representative delegation, which is not possible when the cosf s borne by national parliaments.
From 1971 onwards, it should be considered normal for such travelling and subsistence expenses to be included in the Budget of the Council of Europe. In future, provision should be made for such journeys every year. The specific estimate for 1971 is 60,000 FF.
Apart from the effect of the above proposal, the higher estimate for 1971 is due also to increases in the representational and similar expenditure incurred by the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and by committee Chairmen and Rapporteurs (increase : 4,000 FF).
Estimate for 1971 .............................. 170,500.00
Official journeys 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 higher estimate is due to the increase in 1970 in daily allowances payable to staff on officiai journeys. It may be necessary to adjust it if there is a change during the year in railway fares or in the scales of allowances for official journeys.
Estimate for 1971 .............................. 70,000.00
Remarks : By reason of the nature of the work which consultants are asked to do on behalf of Assembly committees, it is increasingly difficult to obtain the services of qualified experts because the fees offered them are too low. The increased estimate is intended to enable com-mittees' requirements to be met.
Estimate for 1971 .............................. 250,000.00
Remarks : In 1971 the Assembly plans to organise the following conferences :
Third Parliamentary and Scientific Conference ;
Second Symposium of members of parliament specialising in public health questions (Stock-holm) ;
Second Symposium on the legal Systems of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (Strasbourg) ;
Parliamentary Conference on Human Rights (Strasbourg or Rome).
All expenditure relating to these conferences is combined under this sub-head in order to indicate their ad hoc nature from both the operational and the budgetary point of view.
However, in view of their cost and the increase in the estimate under this sub-head, it is highly desirable that the host countries should help to meet the expenditure, as in the case of previous ad hoc conferences.
At the present stage, however, the estimate for 1971 should be sufficient to cover the organisation of the above-mentioned conferences.
Estimate for 1971 ................................ 11,500.00
Estimate for 1971 ................................ 10,000.00
The Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities will decide what proportion of this sum should be earmarked for the Prize itself and what proportion kept for expenses in connection with the presentation of the Prize.
Remarks :
This appropriation has remained unchanged for several years and should be in-creased (increase : 4,000 FF).
2. The Assembly has long been pre-occupied by the question whether other languages than English and French should not be used in the Council of Europe. It does not find the present situation conducive to the smooth progress of its work and would like to know the attitude of the Committee of Ministers in the matter.
If a decision to amend the present situation were to be taken in the course of the year, the estimates under Vote III of the Budget would have to be increased.
3. The Assembly notes that the higher estimates resulting from the above proposals would raise the total under Vote III from 2,215,000 FF in 1970 to 2,550,500 FF in 1971, i.e. an increase of 335,500 FF made up as follows :
Sub-head 69 Travelling expenses and allowances for travelling time ................+ 40,000.00
Sub-head 70 Sickness and accident insurance ............ + 11,000.00
Sub-head 71 Technical staff seconded by national administrations .............. 4,000.00
Sub-head 72 Publishing and printing ................. 9,000.00
Sub-head 76 Representational, travelling and other official expenditure incurred by members of the Consultative Assembly ................................ + 64,000.00
Sub-head 77 Official journeys ............... + 5,500.00
Sub-head 78 Consultation of experts ................ + 14,000.00
Sub-head 79 Organisation of ad hoc conferences .............. + 210,000.00
Sub-head 80 Europe Prize + 4,000.00 335,500.00
The major increases are in travelling expenses for members of the Assembly and, above all, the organisation of ad hoc conferences.
The Council of Europe Budget for 1970 totals 52,772,008.23 FF or 7,684,882.50 FF more than the Budget for the previous year (45,087,125.73 FF).
This increase includes :
a frozen appropriation of 1,710,000 FF for cost-of-living allowances ;
an appropriation of 1,317,755.23 FF carried forward for initial expenditure on setting up the permanent European Youth Centre ;
the effects of the devaluation of the French franc and the longer Assembly sessions, i.e. approximately 1,000,000 FF.
The general accounts for the financial year 1968 show cancellations of appropriations to an amount of 543,542.18 FF, i.e. 1.3%. This percentage is very small indeed, 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 takes careful note of the Auditors' findings.
(a) The Committee of Ministers has approved the creation, with effect from 1 January 1970, of a permanent A5 post to enable an office to be set up, in the Office of the Clerk, to centralise the control of documents (Table Office).
To assist with the setting-up of this new office, an officiai from the Assemblée Nationale and another from the House of Commons were temporarily seconded to the Secretariat during this year. An appointment will be made next year in the light of the experience thus gained. It now becomes necessary, the refore, to request the Committee of Ministers to create a new B3 post (secretary to the officiai in charge of the new office).
(b) The Assembly has been informed of the Secretary General's plan to set up a new Directorate of Local Authorities and Environmental Problems, which would involve transferring to it certain activities which are at present under the control of the Clerk but are independent of the Assembly. In the circumstances, it was suggested that a head of division might be transferred from the Office of the Clerk while retaining responsibility for several Assembly activities. On the other hand, the present number of posts of head of division is essential to the effective supervision of the secretariats of the thirteen committees. The Assembly the refore strongly recommends that this number should be maintained so as to avoid any impairment of efficiency of the Office of the Clerk.
Expenditure on furniture and eguipment
The Assembly recalls that the Committee of Ministers, in replying to Opinion No. 52, spoke of reexamining the question of modernising and partially replacing equipment when considering the next Budget.
The Assembly draws attention once again to the need to improve the organisation's operating conditions and feels, in particular, that it has become a matter of great urgency to settle the question of interpretation equipment for meetings held in places other than Strasbourg. Particularly the equipment of the Paris Office should be replaced in order to enable committees to work under satisfactory conditions.
The Assembly accordingly recommends to the Committee of Ministers that provision be made for the purchase or hire of adequate equipment.
Library expenditure
The Assembly considers that substantial improvements need to be made in the functioning of the Council of Europe Library.
It is recommended that the Committee of Ministers vote an appropriation for improving the organisation of this department.
The Assembly welcomes the Committee of Ministers' decision to accept France's generous offer of a loan of 70 million francs for the erection of new Council of Europe buildings and notes with satisfaction the appointment of Mr. Henry Bernard as architect.
It is urged, however, that all the other problems involved receive speedy consideration, so that the necessary decisions can be taken as soon as possible.
The Assembly requests the Committee of Ministers to keep it regularly informed of the progress made in this field and hopes that the preliminary plans will be submitted to it, so that it can express an opinion in good time.
The Assembly considers that the staff of the Council of Europe have still not received the information essential for their decision as to whether or not it is in their interest to receive credit for their service between 1 January 1953 and 31 December 1966.
Under these circumstances, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers extend by two years, i.e. until 31 December 1972, the time-limit given to Council of Europe staff to take a decision on this subject.