Relations of the Parliamentary Assembly with international non-governmental organisations
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text adopted by the Standing Committee acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 1 July 1981. See Doc. 4740, report of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations.
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Considering that its relations with international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are based on Rule 45, paragraph 8, of its Rules of Procedure, and on Committee of Ministers Resolution (72) 35, on relations between the Council of Europe and international non-governmental organisations, adopted on 16 October 1972, following
Recommendation 670 (1972) of the Assembly ;
2. Considering the undeniable advantage which the Council of Europe as a whole and the Assembly with its committees in particular have derived from many years of co-operation with a great number of international non-governmental organisations enjoying consultative status ;
3. Welcoming the various measures taken recently to strengthen the Council's relations with NGOs, and in particular the close working relations established between the NGO Liaison Committee on the one hand, and the committees and the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly on the other ;
4. Aware of the role played by international non-governmental organisations in contemporary society ;
5. Believing, after several years' operation, that a review of the implementation of Resolution (72) 35 as far as the Assembly is concerned would be very useful, and that, at the same time, the other aspects of the Assembly's relations with NGOs should be evaluated ;
6. Welcoming the simplification of the procedure for granting consultative status which has resulted from the rules adopted in 1972,
7. Calls on the Secretary General :
7.1 to seek more information on how NGOs fulfil their obligation to provide periodical reports on the publicity they have given to the Council of Europe's work, and to make stricter use, where appropriate, of the possibility of withdrawing consultative status from NGOs failing in this duty ;
7.2 to provide regular space for information about NGOs in the Council of Europe's periodical Forum ;
7.3 to propose to the steering committees, to the ad hoc intergovernmental expert committees and to their subsidiary bodies to develop their working relations with NGOs in the light of proposals for co-operation submitted by the Assembly in this resolution ;
8. Invites the NGO Liaison Committee :
8.1 to encourage NGOs to send their periodicals to the Council of Europe regularly and to reserve space in their publications for Council of Europe news ;
8.2 to give more publicity to the texts adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly and to other Assembly material ;
8.3 to prepare a list drawing parallels between the various Assembly committees and those NGOs which are likely to take an interest in their activities ;
8.4 to explore further the possibility of having several organisations active in the same field agreeing on a single common observer for the corresponding Assembly committee ;
8.5 to consider holding a colloquy or a hearing on a political subject with the Assembly committees concerned ;
8.6 to have a new list prepared of NGOs having either national sections in East European countries or working relations with NGOs in these countries ;
9. Urges all Assembly committees to consider inviting a representative of the NGO Liaison Committee to their meetings from time to time, and to invite NGOs regularly to their hearings and conferences ;
10. Instructs its Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations to consider setting up a joint committee "Parliamentarians-NGO Liaison Committee", under its aegis to take over from the existing ad hoc joint committee which has proved its usefulness since April 1978
