Expenditure of the Parliamentary Assembly for the biennium 2016-2017
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 21 April 2015 (13th Sitting) (see Doc. 13744, report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities
and Institutional Affairs, rapporteur: Mr Rudy Salles). Text adopted by the Assembly on
21 April 2015 (13th Sitting).
1 In pursuance of Committee of Ministers
Resolution (53) 38 on the budgetary system of the Consultative Assembly
and Article 24 of the Financial Regulations, the Parliamentary Assembly
issues an opinion each year concerning the expenditure relating
to its operation. The amounts allocated to the Assembly in the ordinary budget
of the Council of Europe cover its expenditure on staff and the
costs associated with its own functioning and the functioning of
its political groups. Since 2010, the Assembly has been presenting
the opinion concerning its own expenditure in the form of a resolution.
2 The Assembly is aware that the next biennial budget of the
Council of Europe is to be adopted against the difficult background
of consolidation in the public finances of the member States and
takes note of the Committee of Ministers’ decision to continue applying
the principle of zero nominal growth over the 2016-2017 biennium.
It nonetheless regrets this decision, in view of the relatively
small burden which contributions to the Council of Europe’s budgets
represent for the member States and also taking into account the
repayments made by the Council of Europe in respect of budgetary
surpluses or participation in the earnings of the European Pharmacopoeia.
3 The Assembly invites the Committee of Ministers to give careful
thought to the medium-term consequences of this budgetary stagnation,
which could be dramatic for the Council of Europe, since the Organisation
could find itself no longer able to meet its obligations (including
in terms of investments in new technology and in the upkeep of its
buildings) and hence to fulfil its role and its commitments towards
the member States.
4 The Assembly wishes to reiterate that, in recent years, it
has contributed to the policy of reducing costs, both in terms of
staff-related expenditure and in terms of operational expenditure.
However, it will not accept that, on account of this policy of strict
budget neutrality, the Committee of Ministers might be tempted to
make further cuts in its budget that may endanger its very functioning.
5 In this context, the Assembly welcomes the Turkish authorities’
decision to reinforce the Council of Europe by proposing to become
a “major contributor”. It urges the member States to accept this
proposal without reducing the amount of their own contributions
to the Organisation’s different budgets.
6 For its part, the Assembly has taken note of the motion for
a recommendation tabled by members of the Assembly on the allocation
of seats in the Parliamentary Assembly in respect of Turkey, a proposal
which aims to remedy the consequences of this country’s under-representation
(in terms of its population, Turkey ranks third among the Council
of Europe member States) by setting the number of seats to which
Turkey is entitled at 18 and by including Turkish among the Assembly’s
working languages.
7 The adoption of Turkish as a working language of the Assembly
would result in an estimated €700 000 increase in expenditure, which
could be met only with additional resources since the current budget
of the Assembly cannot cover such an expense.
8 For the 2016-2017 budget cycle, the Assembly will continue
its activities within the framework of its key missions, namely:
8.1 monitoring and reinforcing the
effectiveness of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No.
5), including the role played by human rights defenders in the member
States;
8.2 monitoring and reinforcing the effectiveness of the European
Social Charter (revised) (ETS No. 163) and of the Council of Europe
Convention on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and
Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201);
8.3 ensuring the honouring of obligations entered into by
the member States and of the commitments made by their authorities;
8.4 pursuing its examination of issues linked to mixed migratory
flows, including the conditions of detention and of removal of migrants;
8.5 considering the societal challenges posed by the information
society and Internet governance, and more generally the notion of
living together in diversity;
8.6 improving participation by members of the Assembly, while
strengthening interaction between the Assembly and the national
parliaments, as well as parliaments having or wishing to obtain
partner for democracy status (in particular those of Jordan and
Tunisia);
8.7 strengthening the capacity for European interparliamentary
co-operation, including enhanced participation in certain joint
programmes (in particular those concerning the southern Mediterranean
and the Eastern Partnership).
9 Over the 2016-2017 biennium, the Assembly will focus on:
9.1 general policy measures: with
stricter preselection of resolutions and recommendations reflecting the
Assembly’s concerns, so as to ensure better follow-up to adopted
texts within the national parliaments, and greater awareness of
these texts not only in parliaments of member States but also in parliaments
which enjoy observer or partner for democracy status;
9.2 communication and media: by improving media coverage and
by making debates more interesting and more lively (for example
by means of free debates and the questions put to the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe); in addition, the Assembly will pursue
its modernisation effort, particularly through technical developments
concerning its website and a reinforced presence on social networks
such as Facebook and Twitter. This policy also seeks to improve
integration of Assembly members, so that their work within the Assembly
is given a higher profile on their own websites and social media
accounts;
9.3 working methods: by switching to electronic production
of Assembly documents with a structured format in XML, so as to
enable automated publication and distribution of documents and improve management
of data;
9.4 regular adaptation of its Rules of Procedure and its working
methods to new developments (in particular those resulting from
the introduction of new technology).
10 The Assembly will also continue to support certain awareness-raising
campaigns on key themes, in particular:
10.1 the Parliamentary Network “Women Free from Violence”;
10.2 the anti-corruption platform;
10.3 the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance;
10.4 the Parliamentary Campaign to End Child Immigration Detention
(launched in 2015).
11 The Assembly will continue to carry out the activities provided
for in its Rules of Procedure by holding various elections in accordance
with statutory and convention requirements (Commissioner for Human
Rights, judges of the European Court of Human Rights), promoting
the various European distinctions it awards (the Europe Prize, the
Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, the Museum Prize) and observing
elections.
12 With reference to interparliamentary co-operation, the Assembly
draws attention to the work carried out by the Parliamentary Projects
Support Division of the Assembly secretariat, which has enabled
the development and the implementation of new assistance and co-operation
programmes suited to the needs of parliamentary institutions, in
close co-operation with the committee secretariats. Thus, in 2014,
the secretariat of the Assembly received and/or managed €329 600
in voluntary contributions for its thematic activities.
13 The Assembly wishes to express its sincere appreciation to
the member States and their parliaments (in particular Andorra,
Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal and Switzerland) which, through their contributions,
have enabled it to finance activities relating in particular to
the promotion of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing
and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS
No. 210, “Istanbul Convention”) and the Council of Europe Convention on
the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual
Abuse (CETS No. 201, “Lanzarote Convention”), the modernisation
of the Europe Prize and the renown of the Václav Havel Human Rights
Prize.
14 The Assembly expects the Turkish authorities’ decision to
propose to become a “major contributor” to be approved by the Committee
of Ministers without any counterbalancing exercise, thereby avoiding
further staff cuts and giving the Council of Europe the resources
it needs to provide a more appropriate response to the challenges
facing our continent following the serious crises caused by the
breaches of the rule of law and human rights violations that are
taking place within Europe.
15 In conclusion, the Assembly hopes that the investment budget
will not be reduced in the draft biennial budget and that the plans
to modernise the Assembly Chamber and the Council of Europe’s Paris
Office will be pursued.
Appended to this resolution are:
i a brief explanation of the main items of expenditure;
ii a table setting out the Assembly’s work programme according
to the results-based budgeting method.
Appendix 1 – Expenditure of the Assembly
Vote III – Staff expenditure
1. This appropriation corresponds to the basic salaries, allowances
(non-recurring and periodic) and social cover of the permanent staff
of the secretariat of the Assembly and of temporary staff.
2. The information provided here is based on the current structure
of the Assembly comprising 9 committees:Note 2
of these committees have 89 members (the Committee on Political
Affairs and Democracy, which also has 84 alternates, and the Committee
on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States
of the Council of Europe, which has no alternates), 5 others have
84 members (and 84 alternates), the Committee on Rules of Procedure,
Immunities and Institutional Affairs has 37 members (and no alternates)
and the new Committee on the Election of Judges to the European
Court of Human Rights has 20 members (and 20 alternates). As at
1 January 2015, the secretariat comprised 85 permanent posts, 5 structural
fixed-term positions, 1 fixed-term position in respect of a programme
and 1 specially appointed official, broken down as follows:
|
Permanent posts
|
|
1 specially appointed official
|
|
|
1 A7
|
1 B6
|
|
1 A6
|
5 B5
|
|
8 A5
|
10 B4
|
|
11 A4
|
17 B3
|
|
23 A2/A3
|
8 B2
|
|
Positions
|
|
4 A2/A3
|
1 B5 (programme)
|
| |
1 B3
|
3. At present, the secretariat of the Assembly is organised
so that the 9 Assembly committees have 49 staff working for them
(including 29 A-grade and 19 B-grade permanent staff members on
posts and 1 B-grade staff member on a fixed-term position).
4. The remaining 43 staff members (1 specially appointed official,
42 permanent staff members) work for the Bureau of the Assembly,
the Private Office of the President of the Assembly, the Table Office,
the Election Observation Division, the Parliamentary Projects Support
Division, the Central Division, the Communication Division and the
Information Technology Unit.
5. In view of the current situation regarding staff expenses
and in the event of the continuation of zero nominal growth in the
draft budget for the 2016-2017 biennium, the Assembly is preparing
itself to meet the requirement that it reduce its staff expenditure
by freezing three posts or positions. However, the prospect of an
increase in Turkey’s contribution to the different budgets of the
Council of Europe gives a reason to hope that this freeze will not
prove necessary and, instead, that a structural reinforcement may
prove possible.
Supplies, services and other operational
expenditure
6. In recent years, the Assembly has made substantial savings
by rationalising its work to reduce its operational expenditure.
Since 2005, the Assembly’s overall budget has been falling steadily
in constant terms.
7. The Parliamentary Projects Support Division has enabled
the development and the implementation of new assistance and co-operation
programmes suited to the needs of parliamentary institutions, in
close co-operation with the Assembly committees. This division is
also tasked with co-ordinating, along with the Directorate General
of Programmes, the implementation of interparliamentary co-operation
activities funded via joint programmes with the European Union (the
South Programme and the Eastern Partnership). The co-operation activities
pursued make it possible to respond to the specific needs of the
parliaments of Council of Europe member States or those enjoying
partner for democracy status. Thus, in 2014, the Assembly received and/or
managed €329 600 in voluntary contributions for its thematic activities.
8. In parallel to its co-operation activities, the Assembly
has decided to support certain awareness-raising campaigns on key
themes, such as:
- the Parliamentary
Network “Women Free from Violence” whose aim is to promote the Istanbul Convention
and to assist with the organisation of events at national level
and visibility events supported by network members;
- the anti-corruption platform established in April 2014
to cover the Assembly’s work in this field;
- the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance, a network of parliamentarians
set up in January 2015, the members of which undertake to campaign
against racism, hatred and intolerance, in co-operation with their national
parliaments, at national and European levels.
9. As regards external communication and visibility, the Assembly
will continue its modernisation efforts through technical developments
concerning its website and a reinforced presence on social networks
such as Facebook and Twitter. This policy also seeks to improve
integration of Assembly members, so that their work within the Assembly
is given a higher profile on their own websites and social media
accounts.
10. The Assembly will also continue to support its political
groups through their allocation, which is based on a lump sum for
secretarial assistance paid to each of the existing groups along
with an additional per capita amount which varies according to their
membership.
11. To sum up, the draft budget for 2016 and 2017 in real
terms (not including inflation, salary adjustments and the possible
freezing of three posts or positions), which includes pension contributions
for staff, amounts to:
|
Year
|
StaffNote
|
Other expenditure
|
Total
|
|
2016
|
€11 285 400
|
€5 318 200
|
€16 603 600
|
|
2017
|
€11 285 400
|
€5 318 200
|
€16 603 600
|
|
For
information, the budget for 2015
|
|
2015
|
€11 285 400
|
€5 318 200
|
€16 603 600
|
12. In conclusion, the Assembly thanks the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe for the work done to modernise the Assembly
Chamber, despite the difficulty of the current financial situation
(in particular the replacement of the electronic voting system and
the refurbishment of the presidential rostrum). It hopes that this
modernisation effort will be continued in the coming years, depending
on the funds available in the Council of Europe’s investment plan.
This should concern in particular refurbishing of the public gallery
and changing of the Assembly Chamber seats. It should also be noted
that the introduction of a sixth working language for the Assembly
will require some renovation work to adapt the Paris Office.
Appendix 2 – Functioning of the Assembly
|
Intervention logic
|
Performance indicators
|
|
Expected result 1
The
part-sessions are efficiently organised and executed in line with
Assembly members’ expectations.
|
At least 70% of registered speakers have taken
the floor during the debates.
Adopted texts are transmitted
to organisations concerned within the specified deadlines.
|
|
Expected result 2
Committee
meetings, hearings and conferences take place in conformity with
members’ decisions.
|
2016-2017: no more than 10 meetings per committee
are held each year.
The impact of texts adopted by
the Assembly is monitored at national parliament level.
|
|
Expected result 3
Interparliamentary
co-operation, observation of elections and assistance to national
parliaments are managed according to political events.
|
Proposed co-operation programmes which are designed
to meet the specific needs of parliaments and attract voluntary
contributions are drawn up.
Election observation missions
are organised in accordance with decisions of the Bureau of the
Assembly.
|
|
Expected result 4
The
visibility of the Assembly is improved in the member States.
|
Activities of the Assembly are reflected in the
media, with at least 1 300 articles every year in the print media
(according to the Directorate of Communication’s press review statistics).
A
2% increase in the number of external users of the Assembly’s website
and in the number of subscribers to its Facebook and Twitter accounts.
|
;
