Relations between the Council of Europe and international non-governmental organisation (consultative status)

Recommendation 670 (1972)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

See Doc. 3041, report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure. Text adopted by the Standing Committee acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 21 March 1972.

The Assembly,

1. Considering the undeniable advantages which the Council of Europe as a whole and particularly the Assembly and the Assembly's committees have derived from many years of collaboration with a large number of international non-governmental organisations enjoying consultative status ;

2. Noting, however, that this status has also been granted to organisations which do not maintain, or have ceased to maintain, working relations with the Council of Europe ;

3. Considering that current procedure for granting and supervising consultative status placed too heavy a burden upon the relevant organs of the Council of Europe,

4. Recommends that after the next triennal re-examination of the list of organisations granted consultative status the Committee of Ministers revise the "Rules on the relations between the Council of Europe and international non-governmental organisations" along the lines set forth in the following draft :

New rules on the relations between the Council of Europe and international nongovernmental organisations

1. The Council of Europe may establish working relations with international non-governmental organisations by granting them consultative status.

2. For this purpose the Council of Europe shall draw up a list of international non-governmental organisations which are particularly representative in the field of their competence and, by their work in a given sector, are capable of contributing to the achievement of that closer unity mentioned in Article 1 of the Statute as the assigned aim of the member States.

3. The organisations concerned shall undertake to :

a give the maximum publicity to the initiatives or achievements of the Council of Europe in their own field of competence ;

b inform the Secretariat General of those of their activities likely to be of interest to the Council of Europe ;

c furnish information, documents or opinions relating to their own field of competence as requested by the Secretary General ;

d report periodically to the Secretary General on the fulfilment of the obligation set out in subparagraph (a) above ;

e acquaint the Secretary General with their diary of meetings and admit an observer from the Secretariat to such meetings when so requested by the Secretary General.

4. The committees of the Assembly, the committees of governmental experts and other bodies of the Committee of Ministers, and the Secretary General may consult the organisations on questions of mutual interest.

5. The organisations :

a may submit memoranda to the Secretary General, who, if he sees fit, shall transmit them to a committee of the Consultative Assembly or a committee of governmental experts ;

b may be invited by an Assembly committee to express their views orally or in writing on a question included in that committee's agenda ;

c shall receive the agenda and public documents of the Assembly and be invited to send observers - without the right to speak - to public sittings of the Assembly.

6. The Secretary General shall keep a list of organisations enjoying consultative status with the Council of Europe.

7. Any organisation wishing to be entered on this list shall send to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe an application accompanied by a file (in French or English) containing its statute, a list of its member organisations, a report on its recent activities and a declaration to the effect that it accepts the principles set out in the Preamble and Article 1 of the Statute of the Council of Europe.

8. Every six months, the Secretary General shall inform the Committee of Ministers and the Consultative Assembly of the names of the organisations which he is considering adding to the list or removing from it, together with a summary of the relevant files and of his reasons for suggesting they be added to the list or removed from it, having regard to the rules laid down in paragraphs 2, 3 and 7 above. In the absence of any objection in the conditions prescribed in paragraph 9 below, the names of organisations that have thus been communicated shall be added to the list or removed from it, as the case may be, six months later.

9. During the six-month period, a member of the Committee of Ministers or three members of the Assembly of at least two different nationalities may request that an examination be made of the file of each organisation whose name has been communicated. In the former case, the examination shall be made and the decision to add the name to the list or to remove it from the list shall be taken by the Committee of Ministers. In the latter case, the Assembly, acting on a report from its competent committee, shall address a recommendation to the Committee of Ministers, which shall take a final decision.

10. The procedure described above shall not restrict the right of the Committee of Ministers or of the Assembly to initiate any action concerning other non-governmental organisations in pursuance of their respective Rules of Procedure.

11. An organisation whose application has been refused or which has been removed from the list may not submit a fresh application until three years have expired after the decision in question has been taken.

12. The Secretary General shall remove an organisation from the list if it has failed to comply with the obligations set out in paragraph 3 above or if it appears twice on the list as a result of having joined a larger organisation already on the list.

13. The organisations enjoying consultative status with the Council of Europe on the date of the entry into force of these rules shall, ipso facto, be entered on the new list of organisations granted consultative status with the Council of Europe.