Continuing and enhancing the CSCE process

Recommendation 1126 (1990)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 10 May 1990 (7th Sitting) (see Doc. 6217, report of the Political Affairs Committee, Rapporteur : Mr Sager). Text adopted by the Assembly on 10 May 1990 (7th Sitting).

Thesaurus

1. The Assembly recalls its Recommendation 1119 (1990) and Resolutions 943 and 944 (1990), and the reports of its Political Affairs Committee (Doc. 6217) and its Committee on Economic Affairs and Development (Doc. 6206), drawn up following contacts between its Sub-Committee on Relations with the United States of America and Canada and the parliamentary and governmental authorities in Washington and Ottawa.

2. It is convinced that no consensus in favour of the creation of new pan-European or Atlantic institutions is likely or desirable at the meeting, envisaged for the end of 1990, of heads of state or government of the CSCE participant states.

3. The Assembly believes that the CSCE process will need to continue and be enhanced, both by increasing its responsiveness to peoples, represented by their parliaments, and by greater involvement of organisations possessing an intergovernmental infrastructure for implementation of CSCE decisions.

4. It considers that the Council of Europe, by virtue of its wide field of competence and expanding membership, is the best placed organisation to supply both the missing ‘‘parliamentary dimension'' and, in the Committee of Ministers, a body which can deal with certain CSCE matters and make proposals for action, taking account of changing circumstances between CSCE conferences.

5. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

5.1 consider the necessary amendments to the Statute, in order to give full voting rights for the relevant intergovernmental work to all non-memberstates of the Council of Europe, signatories of the Helsinki Final Act, similar to those under examination by the Parliamentary Assembly where its debates on CSCE (and OECD) matters are concerned ;

5.2 decide by the end of 1990 to increase the resources available to the Council of Europe on a scale commensurate with its widening membership and flexible system of co-operation, so that it may be in a position to respond adequately to the challenges of the post-cold war era.