Change in the composition of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly

Resolution 1712 (2010)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 12 March 2010 (see Doc. 12124, report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs, rapporteur: Mr Greenway).

Thesaurus

1. Among the measures contemplated by the Parliamentary Assembly in Resolution 1689 (2009) on the future of the Council of Europe in the light of its sixty years of experience are several proposals relating to its organisation and mode of operation.

2. Paragraph 28.8 of Resolution 1689 proposes associating ex officio with the Bureau of the Assembly the chairpersons of the national delegations of countries belonging to the Committee of Ministers troika (outgoing, current and forthcoming chairmanships). This proposal, aimed at increasing parliamentary influence over the chairmanships of the Committee of Ministers of the Organisation and ensuring greater continuity in the Assembly’s work, is important in the present context of enhancing the Assembly’s dialogue with the Committee of Ministers.

3. On several occasions the Assembly has adapted its Rules of Procedure to political realities. It considers that the national delegations perform a crucial role in promoting its decisions and in the follow-up to its adopted texts, both in the member states’ parliaments and vis-à-vis their governments. Having regard to the role of the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers in setting the Organisation’s priorities and to the role of the Bureau of the Committee of Ministers, responsible for co-ordinating the action of the successive chairmanships of the Organisation and for contacts with the Assembly, the Assembly considers that it would help improve co-operation with the Committee of Ministers if the chairpersons of the national delegations of the member states holding the current, the previous and the next two chairmanships of the Committee of Ministers participated in the Bureau of the Assembly.

4. The Assembly accordingly decides to amend its Rules of Procedure as follows:

“In Rule 13.3, after the first sentence, add the following sentence:

‘Chairpersons of the national delegations of the member states holding the current, the previous and the next two chairmanships of the Committee of Ministers shall be ex officio members of the Bureau entitled to vote. They may not be the Bureau’s rapporteurs for its reports. They cannot be replaced.’”

5. The Assembly decides that the amendment of the Rules of Procedure set out in this resolution will come into force upon its adoption.