Expenditure of the Parliamentary Assembly for the biennium 2024-2025
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 21 June 2023 (17th sitting) (see Doc. 15781, report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities
and Institutional Affairs, rapporteur: Ms Ingjerd Schou). Text adopted by the Assembly on
21 June 2023 (17th sitting).
1. In accordance
with Committee of Ministers Resolution (53) 38 on the budgetary
system of the Consultative Assembly, and in line with Article 20
of the Financial Regulations of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary
Assembly issues an opinion on its expenditure on a biannual basis.
The sums allocated to the Assembly from the ordinary budget of the
Council of Europe cover staff and operating costs, including those
of the political groups. Since 2010, the Assembly has presented
its opinion concerning its own expenses in the form of a resolution.
This Resolution has been drafted within the framework of the 2024-2027
programme and quadrennial budget cycle and covers the Assembly’s
priorities and expenditure needs during the period from 2024 to
2025.
2. The war of aggression launched on 24 February 2022 by the
Russian Federation against Ukraine led to the expulsion of the Russian
Federation from the Organisation on the grounds of a serious violation
of the Statute of the Council of Europe (ETS No. 1). This has had
an impact on the activities of the Council of Europe, including
the Assembly.
3. In terms of budgetary consequences, the expulsion of a major
contributor member State required the remaining 46 member States
to fill the gap in the 2022-2023 budget and to reallocate available
funding to priority activities, in particular those in support of
Ukraine, including within the framework of the Council of Europe
Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction”
(2023-2026).
4. In terms of political consequences, the 4th Summit of Heads
of State and Government of the Council of Europe highlighted, in
the Reykjavik Declaration and its appendices, the adjustment in
political direction and priorities of the Council of Europe’s work.
The Assembly expressed support for these in Opinion 301 (2023) “Budgets
and priorities of the Council of Europe for the period 2024-2027”.
5. Building upon the outcomes of the 4th Summit, during the 2024-2025
biennium, the Assembly will continue to play its role as the largest
European multilateral political parliamentary platform for debating
current challenges and emerging issues regarding human rights, democracy
and the rule of law. These values and principles are facing challenges
on the European continent and beyond, not least in relation to the
war of aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The
Assembly will continue to provide support to Ukraine, including
through interparliamentary co-operation, and to address the political,
legal and human rights consequences of the war, as well as to ensure
accountability.
6. Moreover, the Assembly will focus on parliamentary co-operation
and provision of support to member States and their parliaments
in delivering on a number of key priorities identified in the Reykjavik
Declaration. Notably, these priorities will include supporting the
implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights;
securing accountability and preventing impunity for the crime of
aggression and war crimes, crimes against humanity and grave human
rights violations committed during the Russian Federation’s war against
Ukraine; counteracting democratic backsliding and providing early
warning and rapid response; and addressing a new generation of rights,
including those regarding the environment and the use of artificial intelligence
and emerging digital technologies. The Assembly’s specific contribution
to delivering on the objectives defined at the 4th Summit is outlined
in the appendix to this Resolution.
7. Furthermore, during the 2024-2025 biennium, the Assembly will
continue to promote the ratification and domestic implementation
of key Council of Europe legal instruments by Council of Europe
member States and States that have geographical and political proximity
to the Organisation. Notably, it will contribute to the implementation
of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through parliamentary
involvement and co-operation.
8. Fulfilling its statutory role, the Assembly will ensure the
election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights and of
senior officials in the Council of Europe, in accordance with the
election schedule, and will review membership applications transmitted
by the Committee of Ministers.
9. The Assembly’s contribution to the implementation of the 4th
Summit’s outcomes and provision of enhanced support to Council of
Europe member States, in particular Ukraine, in addressing the consequences of
the ongoing war, would require structural reinforcement of the Assembly’s
Secretariat, as described in the appendix to this Resolution. The
Assembly expects due consideration to be given to these proposals.
10. At the same time, during the period from 2024 to 2025, the
Assembly will continue its modernisation efforts with a view to, inter alia simplifying and improving
the accessibility of its working tools and optimising expenditure
regarding, in particular, document production and printing, with
the aim of transitioning to a fully paperless operation, thus reducing
the carbon footprint of the Assembly and contributing to the Organisation’s overall
environmental effort.
11. Similarly, the Assembly welcomes the launch, in February 2023,
of the long-awaited renovation of the Assembly Chamber, scheduled
to be completed in 2024. The renovation works are expected to modernise
the Chamber’s equipment (including information technology, multimedia
and the voting system) and to upgrade it in line with modern safety,
security and accessibility standards. The Assembly looks forward
to the timely completion of the works.
12. In 2024 and 2025, the Assembly budget should continue to contribute
to the viable functioning of political groups. The political groups
are facing increasing financial pressure, especially relating to
rising staff costs due to inflation and increases in travel costs.
This affects the entire Organisation, not least because of the current economic
situation and the ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
While the Assembly will continue to cover the interpretation costs
of the political groups’ statutory meetings during part-sessions,
it believes that it would be timely and appropriate to increase
the overall allocation to the groups, so as to give them more flexibility
to organise their activities.
13. Lastly, the Assembly reiterates its view that the sustainability
of the Council of Europe’s activities and the full and effective
implementation of the outcomes of the 4th Summit of Heads of State
and Government of the Council of Europe require strengthening the
Council of Europe’s financial base. It believes that member States’
financial contribution to the Organisation should match their political
ambition, as expressed in the Reykjavik Declaration. In this context,
the Assembly will work closely with the Committee of Ministers and
the Secretary General to achieve this goal, relying on the support
of the parliaments of the Council of Europe’s 46 member States.
Appendix - Expenditure needs of the Parliamentary
Assembly
Staff expenditure
1. The budget of the Parliamentary
Assembly covers basic salaries, allowances (both non-recurrent and periodical)
and social insurance for staff of the Secretariat of the Assembly.
The information given is based on the present structure of the Assembly
composed of nine committees.
2. The entry into force, on 1 January 2023, of the new Staff
Regulations of the Council of Europe has made it possible to stabilise
the jobs of staff currently employed on precarious short-term contracts,
thus optimising the Assembly’s structures and staff resources. Ongoing
processes of selection and appointment of staff will be finalised
on 1 July 2023.
3. Thus, on 1 July 2023, the Assembly Secretariat will count
84 posts (including three A-grade national secondments) and one
specially appointed official (Secretary General of the Parliamentary
Assembly). Overall, there will be 49 A-grade jobs and 35 B-grade
jobs.
4. The Assembly Secretariat is organised around two directorates,
namely Democracy and the Rule Law (Directorate 1) and Human Dignity
and Sustainable Development (Directorate 2), the Table Office, the Information
Technologies and Events Department and the Administration and Central
Services Department.
5. Directorate 1 provides secretariat services to five general
committees and the Election Observation and Support Division. Directorate
2 includes the secretariats of four general committees and the Inter-Parliamentary
Co-operation and Parliamentary Projects Support Division.
6. The President’s Private Office, the Secretary General’s Office
(which also provides secretariat services to the Bureau of the Assembly
and the Joint Committee) and the Communication Division are directly answerable
to the Secretary General of the Assembly.
7. The existing structures and staff composition allow the Assembly
Secretariat to provide necessary services to its bodies and members
and to carry out its regular activities. However, the implementation
of additional priorities related, inter
alia, to addressing the consequences of the Russian Federation’s
war of aggression against Ukraine, the outcomes of the 4th Summit
and fulfilling the Assembly’s statutory responsibilities (namely
consideration of a membership application transmitted by the Committee
of Ministers), would require structural reinforcements. Indeed,
three posts of committee secretary (A2/A3 level) and one post of
committee assistant (B1/B2 level) would be required. These additional
staff resources would be assigned flexibly to priority sectors through
a horizontal “task-force” approach in line with the Organisation’s
People Strategy.
Operational expenditure
8. Thanks to the modernisation efforts,
the Assembly has made savings in recent years by rationalising its work
to reduce operational expenditure, notably by putting in place remote
preparation of verbatim records and by introducing digital tools
(PACE-Apps) with the aim of transitioning to a fully paperless operation.
9. That being said, the Assembly Secretariat is facing increasing
operational costs, notably relating to travel and accommodation
of parliamentarians and staff traveling on Assembly business, as
well as increased use of interpretation services during the growing
number of members’ fact-finding visits. Moreover, additional priorities,
as defined at the 4th Summit, and activities relating to the consequences
of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine would
increase the Assembly’s operational expenditure.
10. In this context, a budgetary perspective of zero real growth
is only a minimum requirement for ensuring the Assembly’s financial
stability and viability. An increase in the Assembly’s overall budgetary
envelope for operational activities would be required in order to
ensure the sustainability of the Assembly’s activities.
11. The functioning of the Assembly includes the following tasks:
- the holding of the ordinary
session, divided into four part-sessions (held in January, April,
June and September/October each year);
- the meetings of the Standing Committee, held three times
a year between the part-sessions of the Assembly;
- meetings held outside the four part-sessions of the Assembly
by each of the nine general committees, sub-committees and ad hoc
committees of the Assembly or the Bureau;
- committee and sub-committee meetings held elsewhere than
in Strasbourg or Paris;
- conferences, symposiums, seminars and parliamentary hearings;
- activities connected with the Assembly’s interparliamentary
co-operation programme;
- visits by rapporteurs to prepare reports, including visits
to countries under the monitoring procedure or for post-monitoring
dialogue;
- election observation;
- modernisation and digitalisation of the Assembly’s working
methods.
12. Within the framework of its work programme, the Assembly will
prioritise the following activities during 2024 and 2025:
- supporting Ukraine’s resilience
against the Russian Federation’s war of aggression, strengthening
co-operation with the Verkhovna Rada and raising awareness on the
consequences of the war among national parliaments;
- ensuring accountability of the Russian Federation for
its actions and addressing the legal, humanitarian and human rights
consequences of the war of aggression against Ukraine, including
the issue of forcibly deported Ukrainian children to the Russian
Federation or temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories;
- contributing to delivering the outcomes of the 4th Summit,
notably:
- upholding democracy
and counteracting democratic backsliding, including by promoting
the implementation of the Reykjavik Principles for Democracy, fostering
the participation of young people in democratic processes and mainstreaming
the youth dimension in its work;
- ensuring a parliamentary contribution to the implementation
of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and continuing
parliamentary efforts to promote ratification and domestic implementation
of key Council of Europe conventions, within the Council of Europe
geographic area as well as the Organisation’s geographical and political
proximity;
- fostering exchange of good practices and developing legal
standards and policy guidelines on the right to a safe, clean, healthy
and sustainable environment;
- raising awareness among national legislators and informing
national public policies on the impact of new technologies, especially
artificial intelligence, on human rights and the integrity of democratic
processes;
- combating inequalities and discrimination, as well as
further enhancing equality between women and men and promoting women’s
empowerment;
- strengthening co-operation with the European Parliament,
including in the context of the European Union enlargement process,
and continuing active collaboration with international partner organisations,
in particular the United Nations, including regarding the implementation
of the Sustainable Development Goals;
- continuing and further strengthening dialogue with democratic
forces and civil society from Belarus and the Russian Federation
that respect the values and principles of the Organisation, including
the territorial integrity of sovereign member States.
13. Where interparliamentary co-operation is concerned, the Assembly
will continue to implement the different assistance and co-operation
programmes adapted to the needs of the parliamentary institutions,
in close collaboration with its committee secretariats. It is worth
noting here that it is currently engaged in a joint co-operation
programme with the European Union specifically concerning the Parliament
of Morocco (an Assembly partner for democracy), the aim of which
is to strengthen its role as a guarantor of parliamentary democracy.
14. During the 2024-2025 period, the Assembly will continue the
implementation of its ongoing co-operation projects, notably with
the aim of further integrating the parliamentary dimension into
the overall co-operation activities of the Council of Europe, including
within thematic and horizontal actions plans. Priority projects
will focus, inter alia on
strengthening relations and co-operation with the Ukrainian Parliament;
strengthening political dialogue with democratic forces from Belarus;
supporting parliamentary networks including Women Free from Violence,
the Network of Contact Parliamentarians for a Healthy Environment,
the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance and the Parliamentary Platform
for the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex
(LGBTI) People in Europe; and supporting the rights of the child
and social rights.
15. The Assembly will continue to observe parliamentary and presidential
elections in countries under its monitoring procedure, in close
collaboration with the European Commission for Democracy through
Law (Venice Commission) and the Assembly’s international partners
(the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR),
the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Parliament)
within the framework of international election observation missions.
16. Lastly, the Assembly will continue to support its political
groups through their budgetary allowance, calculated on a lump-sum
basis for each group for administrative assistance, plus an additional
per capita allowance which varies depending on the membership of
the group. In the face of increasing costs, notably due to inflation
and rising travel costs, the Assembly should consider increasing
the overall allocation to political groups in its budget, so as
to give them more flexibility to organise activities.
