The Assembly,
Having regard to paragraph 1 of Resolution (53) 38 of the Committee of Ministers, which stipulates :
"When drawing up the draft Budget for the Council of Europe, the Secretary-General shall consult the Assembly on that part of the draft Budget which comprises the relevant operational appropriations. Such consultation shall take place in accordance with a procedure to be laid down by agreement between the President of the Assembly and the Secretary-General";
Having regard to the letter from the Secretary-General dated 15th March 1962, laying down the procedure for such consultation ;
Having regard to the Budget of the Council of Europe for the Financial Year 1962, adopted by the Committee of Ministers, and the General Accounts for the Financial Year 1960, being the last completed and approved period,
Adopts the following Opinion :
1. Vote III of the Budget for 1963 should be formulated in the following terms :
Appropriation ........ NF 455,000
Remuneration for days worked by temporary staff recruited for Sessions of the Assembly and meetings of its organs between Sessions.
Article 32 of the Statute entitles the Assembly to meet for 30 days each year. In the light of experience, however, the estimate is based on 20 days' meetings, on the understanding that this reduction is without prejudice to the statutory right of the Assembly.
Appropriation ........ NF 115,000
Travelling expenses and allowances for travelling time for temporary staff recruited outside Strasbourg.
Appropriation ......... NF 5,000
Council of Europe contribution (60 %) to the premiums for insurance policies against sickness and accident in respect of temporary staff remunerated under Sub-head 49.
Appropriation ......... NF 55,000
Reimbursement to various national administrations of the salaries of staff seconded to the Council of Europe for special services during Assembly Sessions; travel expenses, subsistence allowances and insurance for these officials; gratuities for special work performed by lower-grade staff of national administrations in connection with meetings of organs of the Assembly outside Strasbourg :
NF
- radio-technicians .................................. 30,000
- PTT technicians .................................... 10,000
- police ..................................................... 9,000
- firemen ................................................... 5,000
- sundry gratuities outside Strasbourg .... 1,000
55,000
Appropriation ........ NF 212,000
- Official documents :
NF
Official Report ................................................................................... 82,000
Working Papers ............................................................................... 105,000
Index, Orders of the Day-Minutes of Proceedings, Texts adopted .. token entry
- Booklets on special subjects : Drafting, editing, publishing ............. 15,000
- Distribution to national legislatures of certain adopted texts :
Translating, printing ......................................................................... 10,000
212,000
Appropriation ......... NF 4,000
Hire of cars for the requirements of the Assembly and its organs.
Appropriation ......... NF 39,000
Representational travel and subsistence expenses incurred by the President of the Consultative Assembly in the course of his duties :
NF
- Round sum for representational expenses ...... 22,000
- Travel and subsistence expenses ...................... 17,000
39,000
Appropriation ......... NF 27,600
NF
- Special responsibility allowances ...... 4,800
- Salary of one shorthand-typist .......... 10,800
- Official journeys of staff .................. 12,000
- Sundry secretarial expenses .......... token entry
27,600
Appropriation ......... NF 60,000
- Entertainment and similar expenses incurred by the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and by Committee Chairmen and Rapporteurs ...... NF 10,000
- Travel expenses and subsistence allowances of members of the Assembly who, on behalf of the Council of Europe, attend meetings of Council organs held between the sessions of the Consultative Assembly and its Committees (Bureau of the Assembly, Joint Committee, Joint Cultural Committee, etc.) or make journeys on the instructions of the Assembly ............................... 35,000
- Miscellaneous expenses incurred by members of the Assembly in the discharge of specific duties for the Council, such as the cost of secretarial assistance, documentation and travel (Resolution (58) 4 of 27th March 1958).................................................................................................................... 15,000
- Accident Insurance ........................................................................ 1,600
61,600
Appropriation ........ NF 100,000
Official journeys of staff of the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly and other staff of the Secretariat whose attendance is required at meetings of Assembly organs outside Strasbourg.
Appropriation ......... NF 30,000
Travel expenses, subsistence allowances and fees for Experts consulted by the organs of the Assembly.
Appropriation ......... NF 8,500
NF
- Light refreshments for officials on night duty ..... 5,000
- Hire of loudspeakers for calling cars ....................... 200
- Night-watchmen .................................................... 1,500
- Reception and information service .......................... 800
- Miscellaneous and unforeseen expenses .............. 1,000
8,500
Appropriation ......... NF 5,000
NF
- European Prize ...................................... 2,500
- Presentation of the Prize (travel expenses of the Mayor of the prize-winning municipality, diploma and medal) ...................... 2,500
5,000
2. The Assembly recalls that the Committee of Ministers has not yet reached a decision regarding the appropriations necessary for the implementation of its Resolution 188, adopted on 29th September 1960, relating to the official languages of the Council of Europe.
This Resolution was adopted under Article 12 of the Statute of the Council of Europe, which invests the Assembly with an autonomous right to decide "in what circumstances and under what conditions other languages (than the official languages) may be used".
The appropriation necessary for the implementation of Resolution 188 should therefore be added to the appropriations appearing in Vote III of the 1963 Budget.
3. The Assembly thanks the Committee of Ministers for having agreed to the principle of accident insurance for members of the Assembly travelling on specific duties on behalf of the Council of Europe. This was proposed by the Assembly in its Opinion No. 35 on the 1962 Budget. The Assembly requests the Committee of Ministers to include an appropriation for the premiums under Vote III (Expenditure of the Consultative Assembly).
In its Opinion No. 35 on the 1962 Budget the Assembly stated its belief that a new permanent post of Administrative Officer should be created to allow for the additional work connected with the European Conference of Local Authorities. The Assembly wishes to thank the Committee of Ministers for agreeing to create this post.
The Assembly has been informed that, in the course of a reorganisation of the Secretariat, a number of new posts have been created and some other posts, including several Grade A posts, upgraded. As the driving force within the Council of Europe, the Assembly considers that in the interest of the organisation as a whole the staff of the Office of the Clerk should be strengthened by :
the creation of a new A-5 post ;
the upgrading of the present A-5 post to A-6 ;
the upgrading of two A-4 posts to A-5.
The Assembly also draws attention to the fact that in 1961 one A-2 post was transferred from the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly to the Directorate of Economic and Social Affairs. For the sake of economy, the Clerk of the Assembly agreed to accept a B-4 post instead of the A-2 which had been transferred, but in return he had to give up a B-3 post. The Assembly considers that a new B-3 post should be allotted to the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly.
The Assembly,
Recalling that in its Opinion No. 35 on the 1962 Budget it requested the speedy establishment of a pensions scheme for officials of the Council of Europe;
Having been informed that the work of the Study Group on Pensions of the four organisations (OECD, NATO, WEU and Council of Europe) has just resulted in the production of a preliminary draft pensions scheme, which will be transmitted to the Committee of Ministers through the Secretary-General ;
Having constantly concerned itself with the progress of the work on this draft scheme (which is now very close to the scheme in force in the European Communities), and being thus in a position to appreciate the effort made to find a completely satisfactory solution of this problem,
Requests the Committee of Ministers, at the earliest possible date, to take the necessary steps for the adoption of the draft to be presented to it by the Secretary-General.