Reform of the Assembly’s working methods and its committee structure
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- 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 (20thSitting).
- Thesaurus
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.
4. The Assembly also considers it necessary to alter the composition of
committees and the allocation of seats among national delegations, on the basis
that every member of the Assembly should be able, in principle, to be a full
member of at least one committee.
5. The following committees will have 76 seats: the Political Affairs
Committee, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, the Monitoring
Committee, the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, the Social,
Health and Family Affairs Committee, the Committee on Culture, Science and
Education, the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development and the Committee
on Environment and Agriculture. But the Committee on Rules of Procedure and
Immunities and the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men will each
have 46 seats.
6. France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United Kingdom will have four
seats in committees with 76 seats and two seats in the two committees with 46
seats. Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine will have three seats in
committees with 76 seats and one seat in the two committees with 46 seats.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland will have two seats in committees
with 76 seats and one seat in the two committees with 46 seats. Albania,
Andorra, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland,
Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Norway, San
Marino, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and “the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia” will have one seat in each committee. The special rules concerning
the allocation of seats in the Monitoring Committee and the appointment of its
members will remain unchanged.
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:
“43.1. At the beginning of each ordinary session the Assembly shall set
up the following general committees:
1 Political Affairs Committee (76 seats);
Note
2 Committee on Legal Affairs and Human
Rights (76 seats);
3 Committee on Economic Affairs and
Development (76 seats);
4 Social, Health and Family Affairs
Committee (76 seats);
5 Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Demography (76 seats);
6 Committee on Culture, Science and
Education (76 seats);
7 Committee on Environment and
Agriculture (76 seats);
8 Committee on Equal Opportunities
for Women and Men (46 seats);
9 Committee on Rules of
Procedure and Immunities (46 seats);
10 Committee on the
Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of
Europe (Monitoring Committee) (76 seats).
Note
43.2.
France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United Kingdom shall have four seats in
each of the first seven committees and two seats in the next two
committees.
Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine shall have
three seats in each of the first seven committees and one seat in the next two
committees.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece,
Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland shall have two seats
in each of the first seven committees and one seat in the next two
committees.
Albania, Andorra, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Norway, San Marino, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia
and ‘the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ shall have one seat in each of
the first nine committees.
43.3. On the basis of the candidatures
proposed by the political groups, the Bureau shall nominate the 76 members of
the Monitoring Committee by applying the apportionment ratio based on the
so-called ‘D’Hondt principle’. These nominations shall be submitted to the
Assembly for ratification.Note In the event of objection, the matter shall be referred back
to the Bureau, which may submit revised nominations to the Assembly.
43.4.a. The Assembly may also set up ad hoc committees for specific
purposes. A motion to set up an ad hoc committee shall be referred to the
Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities for report. (unchanged)
43.4.b. An ad hoc committee shall cease to exist after its report has
been considered by the Assembly. (unchanged)
43.4.c. Subject to
ratification by the Assembly or the Standing Committee, the Bureau of the
Assembly may also set up ad hoc committees reporting to it, in which case it
shall prescribe their duration, terms of reference and composition. An account
of their work shall be given to the Assembly as part of the Progress Report of
the Bureau and the Standing Committee.Note
(unchanged)
43.5. Substitutes, like Representatives, may be
appointed members of a committee. Besides the full members, an equal number of
alternates of the same nationality shall be appointed for each committee except
for the Monitoring Committee.Note (unchanged)
43.6. Without prejudice to Rule 43.3,
candidatures for membership of the committees shall be addressed to the
President of the Assembly, who shall submit to the Assembly, the Standing
Committee or, failing that, the Bureau proposals for their composition. Any
disputed nominations shall be forwarded by the President of the Assembly to the
national delegation concerned. If confirmed proposals or new proposals are
disputed, the Assembly or the Standing Committee shall decide [...].
43.7. Where a seat is vacant on a committee other than the Monitoring
Committee, it may be provisionally occupied by a Representative or Substitute
from the national delegation to which the seat is allotted, the Representative
or Substitute being appointed by the chairperson of that delegation.”
ii. Replace Rule 47.6 as follows:
“Meetings of the Joint
Committee, the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities […] and the
Monitoring Committee shall not be open to members of observer and special guest
delegations. Nor can these delegations attend meetings of the Committee on
Economic Affairs and Development, or any of its sub-committees, when they are
examining budgetary or administrative questions connected with the Council of
Europe, or when they are discussing the powers of the Assembly in relation to
the Council’s budget.”
iii. Replace Rule 48.3 as follows:
“A committee of 76 seats may not appoint more than three standing
sub-committees, and a committee of 46 seats may not appoint more than two,
unless authorised by the Bureau of the Assembly with a two-thirds
majority.”Note
In the case of
the committees listed in Rule 43.1 as Nos. 6 and 7, the decision of the Bureau
of the Assembly shall be taken by a majority vote.
8. This
resolution shall enter into force at the first part of the 2001 session of the
Assembly (22 January 2001).
