15/03/2013 Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs
Strasbourg, 15.03.2013 - Parliamentarians from Norway voted most often in plenary debates of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) during 2012, according to statistics made public today, holding on to the top slot they obtained in 2011.
A “league table” of the voting rates of national delegations, appearing in an annual survey prepared for the Assembly’s Bureau, shows that Norway’s five-strong delegation cast over 87 per cent of their maximum number of possible votes across the year. Norway also achieved the best global participation rate in the Assembly’s plenary sittings, its delegation taking part in nearly 94 per cent of sittings.
Other national delegations with high voting turnouts included Sweden (nearly 82 per cent), Switzerland (nearly 81 per cent) and Liechtenstein (just over 80 per cent).
The 318-member Assembly, which brings together parliamentarians from the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, adopted 74 texts during 2012. Members also voted on many individual amendments.
The statistics also showed a “significant improvement” in the number of members attending the Assembly’s 63 committee meetings during 2012. Luxembourg’s delegation came top, with an attendance rate of nearly 84 per cent.