Rationalisation of Assembly committees, sub-committees and working parties

Resolution 373 (1968)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 8 July 1968 (see Doc. 2416, report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure).

Thesaurus

The Assembly,

1. Convinced of the need to rationalise the work of the general committees set up at the beginning of each ordinary session;

2. Considering it necessary to specify the principles determining the composition, duration and terms of reference of sub-committees set up in accordance with Rule 45 (2) of the Rules of Procedure;

3. Desirous of defining the most appropriate procedure to study questions falling within the competence of more than one committee;

4. Considering the study that the Bureau of the Assembly has instructed one of its members to prepare on the question of rationalising the terms of reference of committees;

5. Considering the opinions which the committee chairmen expressed on the proposals contained in this study, in response to an invitation by the President of the Assembly,

6. Resolves to amend its Rules of Procedure as follows:

(a) to replace paragraphs 2 and 3 of Rule 6 (Examination of Credentials) by the following text:

“2. At the beginning of each ordinary session, a committee of ten representatives chosen by lot shall examine these credentials and shall at once report to the Assembly on the validity of the appointments and on their conformity with the requirements of the Statute of the Council of Europe in so far as no claim or contestation is presented.

3. The credentials remitted by members in the course of a session shall be examined in the same conditions by the Bureau of the Assembly which shall report immediately to the Assembly.

4. Credentials which are the subject of a claim or are contested shall be examined by the Committee on Rules of Procedure which shall report to the Assembly without delay.”

Paragraph 4, which now becomes paragraph 5, remains unchanged.

(b) To delete in paragraph 2 of Rule 42 (Standing Committee) the words:

“and the Chairmen of the Permanent Working Party on Parliamentary and Public Relations”.

(c) To replace paragraph 1 of Rule 43 (Appointment of Committees) by the following text:

“1. At the beginning of each ordinary session the Assembly shall set up the following general committees:

1 Political Affairs Committee,

2 Committee on Economic Affairs and Development,

3 Committee on Social and Health Questions,

4 Legal Affairs Committee,

5 Committee on Culture and Education,

6 Committee on Science and Technology,

7 Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities,

8 Committee on Rules of Procedure,

9 Committee on Agriculture,

10 Committee on European Non-Member Countries,

11 Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations,

12 Committee on Population and Refugees,

13 Committee on the Budget.”

(d) to add to the end of paragraph 2 of Rule 45 (Procedure in Committee), the following sentence:

“However, the number of members of a sub-committee may not exceed a third of the membership of the committee from which it emanates.”

(e) to add to the end of paragraph 8 of Rule 45, the following sub-paragraph:

“The secretaries of national delegations shall take part ex officio in meetings of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations. They shall sit in a consultative capacity.”

7. Resolves:

(a) to amend as follows the interpretative note to the title of Rule 43 (Appointment of Committees):

“The number of seats in the first seven committees enumerated in paragraph 1 is 33, in the next two committees 26, in the next two 22, and in the last two 18.”

(b) to amend as follows the first paragraph of the interpretative note to the first sentence of paragraph 3 of Rule 43:

“France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom have three seats in each of the first nine committees, two seats in each of the next two committees and one seat in each of the last two committees.”

8. Resolves to amend as follows the provisions of Resolution 104 (1956), previously amended by Resolutions 135 (1957), 198 (1961) and 250 (1963):

(a) Paragraphs 1 to 3 are replaced by the following text:

“1. The Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations shall maintain close links between national parliaments, the public and the Consultative Assembly.

To this end:

a it shall select Assembly texts for transmission to national parliaments for action;

b it shall propose to the President of the Assembly what measures shall be taken to acquaint the public with the Assembly's work;

c it shall co-operate with the Chairmen of political groups and committees and with the spokesmen and secretaries of national delegations;

d where necessary, it shall decide what funds are required for the translation, printing and distribution of the selected texts.”

(b) The former paragraphs 4 to 7 become paragraphs 2 to 5 with the following amendment:

In the new paragraphs 4 and 5, to replace the words “Working Party” by “Committee”;

9. Resolves to abolish the Joint Working Parties on Youth Questions, Regional Planning and Fresh Water Pollution, the Committee on Culture and Education having general competence in the first of these fields, the Committee on Regional Planning and Local Authorities in the last two.