B Explanatory
memorandum by Mr Gross, rapporteur
1 Introduction
1. At its meeting on 26 April 2013, the Bureau of the
Parliamentary Assembly decided, further to a letter dated 24 April
2013 from Mr Andreas Gross, Chairperson of the Socialist Group,
to the President of the Assembly, to refer the question of the term
of office and the ineligibility for re-election of committee chairpersons
to the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional
Affairs for a report. The reference was ratified by the Assembly
on the same day.
2. The aforementioned letter proposed amending Rule 45.7 of the
Assembly’s Rules of Procedure. This request is put forward in a
specific context, that is the early departure of two Assembly committee
chairpersons who will shortly have to relinquish office due to their
replacement in their delegation following national parliamentary
elections. In the matter of arranging their replacement in the course
of the year, the Socialist Group, to which the chair of one of these
committees appertains, wonders whether it would be possible to put up
a former chairperson of the committee as candidate.
3. The Committee on Rules of Procedure is therefore invited to
consider the question of committee chairpersons stepping down in
the course of the year after forfeiting their Assembly membership,
particularly as a result of national parliamentary elections, and
the problems which might arise from this situation of vacancy. It
could look into the need to envisage an amendment to the Rules of
Procedure in order to give the present rule a more flexible interpretation,
and decide whether or not it is expedient for this possible new
rule to apply to the entire bureau of committees, i.e. not only
to chairpersons but also to vice-chairpersons.
2 Regulatory
provisions in force
4. Under the terms of Rule 45 of the Assembly’s Rules
of Procedure, “The Bureau of each committee shall consist of the
chairperson and the three vice-chairpersons, normally elected at
the first committee meeting of each ordinary session …” (Rule 45.1);
“The chairperson and the vice-chairpersons of a committee shall
remain in office until the opening of the next ordinary session
of the Assembly. They may be re-elected for one further term, consecutive
or not. Moreover, a committee chairperson or vice-chairperson elected
in the course of a session for an incomplete term may be re-elected
for two further terms” (Rule 45.7).
2.1 Background and
brief recapitulation
5. The present wording of Rule 45.7 – prescribing an
annual term of office and chairmanship of committees limited to
two years maximum – was settled by
Resolution 1584 (2007) “Application
and amendment of various provisions of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure”,
Note on
the basis of the discussions of the Committee on Rules of Procedure
which were aimed at promoting speedier periodic renewal of committee
chairs in order to foster their increased and balanced rotation
among the political groups and the national delegations and to ensure better
gender balance.
6. Formerly, up to 1979, the term of office of committee chairpersons
was not limited, and the tendency prevailed for them to be re-elected
until such time as they left the Assembly, in some cases for over
ten years. In 1979, the principle of an annual term of office was
laid down, with the number of terms limited to four at the most
(
Resolution 684 on
the election of committee chairmen – these might be elected for
three annual terms, with a possible extension to a fourth term if
the committee so decided by a two-thirds majority). In 1983, the Rules
of Procedure came to specify that the maximum number of terms for
a committee chairperson, whether or not successive, remained limited
to four, but that a chairperson elected in the course of a session
for an incomplete term could be re-elected for four further terms
(
Resolution 811 on
length of committee chairmanships). This provision was confirmed
in 1985 (
Resolution
852 on revision of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly).
In 1991, the number of annual terms, whether or not successive,
for a committee chairperson was reduced to three at the most, but
a committee chairperson elected in the course of a session for an incomplete
term could be re-elected for three further terms (
Resolution 958 on
duration of the term office of committee chairmen). As from January
2008, with the entry into force of the provisions set out in
Resolution 1584 (2007),
the term of office of committee chairpersons was again reduced:
a committee chairperson or vice-chairperson was elected for one
year and could be re-elected for a single further term, whether
or not consecutive, or for two further terms in case of an incomplete
initial term. It should be noted that no other provision of the
rules was made before 2008 on limitation of the term of office of
committee vice-chairpersons.
2.2 Considerations
borne in mind by the Assembly in adopting these provisions
7. Whenever the Assembly has addressed the issue of
duration regarding committee chairpersons’ term of office, it has
always endeavoured to seek a balance between the advantages of stability
in the discharge of the office and the need for renewal of the incumbents.
In its 2007 report on application and amendment of various provisions
of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, the Committee on Rules of
Procedure observed that “fixing the duration of committee chairmanships
means regularly finding a compromise between two conflicting principles:
the maintenance of some continuity in the action and work of committees
and the need to achieve a rotation of chairmanships. … It is generally
admitted that distributing functions in the Assembly such as chairmanships
and rapporteurships to a larger number of members … would be appropriate”.
In one of its earlier reports, in 1978, the Committee on Rules of
Procedure already noted that “it can only be to the Assembly’s benefit
that a larger number of its members, coming from a greater number
of national delegations, be entrusted with important responsibilities,
become better acquainted with the Organisation and finally take more
interest in its work”.
Note
3 Discussion points
8. The Committee on Rules of Procedure is invited to
look into the expediency of making a change to the Rules of Procedure
concerning committee chairpersons’ term of office and ineligibility
for re-election. The items of information set out below may fuel
its discussion.
3.1 Conditions of appointment
of committee bureaux
9. The Rules of Procedure provide that committee bureaux
are elected “on the basis of an agreement reached among the political
groups within the Presidential Committee” (Rule 45.3), and that
the chair – and each of the three vice-chairs – must appertain to
the political group to which it was assigned under the terms of
that agreement. Moreover, it was recently settled, in 2012 by decision
of the Bureau on the basis of an opinion of the Committee on Rules
of Procedure, that the order of precedence of committee vice-chairpersons should
be established according to the agreement on the composition of
the bureaux of committees reached among the political groups, regarding
the attribution of a specific position of first, second and third
vice-chairperson.
Note
10. Committee chairs are thus assigned to the political groups
for a period of two years, in the same way as committee vice-chairs
which are also divided among them according to a strict political
balance. However, the arrangement enabling a committee chairperson
or vice-chairperson elected in the course of a session for an incomplete
term to be re-elected for two further terms may be problematic in
this context, in so far as it might call into question the political
compromise reached between the groups in January of each year.
Note
11. Of course, in practice, this arrangement seldom has occasion
to be applied, and chairpersons appointed in the course of a year
have not often been able to seek re-election for a second complete
term, precisely because of the agreement existing between the political
groups (as is still more apparent where vice-chairpersons are concerned).
The few recent examples below may be mentioned:
- following its chairperson’s
resignation in March 2011 after 14 months in office, the Committee
on Rules of Procedure elected a new chairperson from the same political
group (EPP/CD) in April 2011, who was re-elected in January 2012
but was not re-elected to serve a second complete term, the chair
of the committee having passed to another political group (SOC)
in January 2013;
- after its chairperson left the Assembly in November 2010,
the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population elected a new
chairperson in December 2010 from the same political group (EDG),
who was re-elected in January 2011 but served only one complete
term as the chair of the committee passed to another political group
(EPP/CD) in January 2012;
- following its chairperson’s resignation, the Committee
on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men elected a new chairperson
in April 2009 from the same political group (UEL); she ended her
term just a few months later in January 2010 with the transfer of
the committee chair to another political group (EPP/CD);
- conversely, following its chairperson’s death in August
2010, the Committee on Culture, Science and Education, in October
2010, elected a new chairperson from the same political group (SOC),
who was indeed re-elected for two complete terms, in January 2011
then in January 2012.
12. It sometimes happens that a committee refrains from holding
an election of a new chairperson in the course of a session, especially
when the chairperson’s departure occurs at year’s end, and then
avails itself of its vice-chairpersons to chair meetings pending
the next session (for example the Committee on Legal Affairs and
Human Rights after its chairperson left the Assembly in November
2011, or the (disbanded) Committee on Economic Affairs and Development
after its chairperson’s departure in November 2010).
13. At all events, since 2008 the rotation of committee chairs
has strictly followed a two-year cycle which in the final analysis
is not to be affected by any vacancy of a chair that may arise in
the course of a year.
3.2 Impossibility under
the rules of a chairperson having already served his/her entire
term of office being elected to chair a committee
14. Since 1979, the Rules of Procedure have clearly stated
the principle that a committee chairperson who has served the maximum
number of terms provided for in a given committee, whether or not
consecutively, can no longer stand for the chair of that committee.
The same has applied to committee vice-chairpersons since 2008.
15. As was mentioned above (paragraphs 5 and 7), this principle
is founded on the desire to foster better rotation of responsible
posts in the Assembly among the five political groups and the 47
national delegations, which is made possible by the present system
of reviewing the “distribution ratios” for these posts in January each
year.
16. By way of comparison, it will be observed that the rules of
procedure of the other European inter-parliamentary institutions,
including those of the European Parliament, do not contain any provisions
laying down the procedure to be followed where a committee chair
becomes vacant. At the most, it is sometimes stated that a vice-chairperson
has the duty of filling the office in the chairperson’s absence.
On the other hand, some of these rules make the stipulation that
a chairperson or a vice-chairperson who have served their entire term
cannot again be eligible for the same office.
17. Likewise, the Rules of Procedure of the Congress of Local
and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe state in Rule
48.3 that “the chair and vice-chairs of a committee remain in office
for two years and may be re-elected for a second (but no further)
consecutive mandate”.
18. However, where a committee chair is vacated in the course
of the year, it may prove awkward to go ahead with the election
of a new chairperson who will only be holding office for a few months
without having the necessary time to become thoroughly conversant
with the requirements of the post, and will do so until January
of the following year owing to the need for rotation of the chairs
among political groups. That is why it might be reasonable to allow
a former committee chairperson to be elected in order to serve out
the current term of office. Promoting the candidacy of a former
committee chairperson is advantageous in that he or she has prior
experience of the post and would be immediately operational.
3.3 Maintaining the
unity of the regulatory provisions for all members of the committee
bureaux
19. The status of committee chairpersons and vice-chairpersons
was unified in 2008 with regard to the conditions of their election
and the associated rules. Without prejudging the committee’s final
decision as to the expediency of amending the relevant provisions
once again, the committee will need to consider whether these should
apply not only to chairpersons but also to vice-chairpersons of
committees.
20. Indeed, to the extent that vice-chairpersons have the function
of replacing the committee chairperson if unavailable, it may not
be desirable to extend to vice-chairpersons a possible amendment
of the rules concerning chairpersons’ term of office and ineligibility
for re-election. However, the role of committee vice-chairpersons
is important and the committee might therefore consider, in order
to maintain the unity of the procedures in force, allowing a committee
to fill a vacant vice-chair in the course of the year by authorising
a former vice-chairperson’s candidacy.
21. On the other hand, to avoid eventually causing complex or
inextricable situations, it is proposed not to change the provisions
on the election and the functioning of sub-committee bureaux. In
fact election to the chair and vice-chair of sub-committees is governed
by more flexible rules, and these posts are not the subject of a formal
agreement among the political groups regarding their apportionment
at the start of the session.
4 Proposal
22. At its meeting on 30 May 2013, the committee discussed
the following points:
- should
or should it not be envisaged to permit a former committee chairperson
who has served the maximum number of terms prescribed by the Rules
of Procedure in the chair of a given committee to stand for election
if the chair of that committee is vacated in the course of a session,
in order to complete the current term of office?
- should this possibility be extended to committee vice-chairpersons,
or not?
23. In the light of the observations made by the committee members,
the committee decided to propose to amend Rule 45.7 of the Assembly’s
Rules of Procedure as follows:
“The
chairperson and the vice-chairpersons of a committee shall remain
in office until the opening of the next ordinary session of the
Assembly. They may be re-elected for one further term, consecutive
or not. Moreover, a committee chairperson or vice-chairperson elected
in the course of a session for an incomplete term may be re-elected
for two further terms. If a committee
chair or vice-chair falls vacant in the course of a session, a former
chairperson or vice-chairperson of that committee who has served two
complete terms may be elected for an incomplete term until the end
of that session”.
24. This report will appear for discussion on the agenda of the
Standing Committee which will meet in Yerevan on 31 May 2013. The
amendments to the Rules contained in the resolution will come into
force upon their adoption.
